- What Marcus & Millichap’s Western Canada NNN group has been growing
- Why The move has helped the team to become more customer facing
- What next The coming year looks to be one of continued success
Marcus & Millichap expanded its Western Canada NNN group in recent months with the addition of two team members and the promotion of two others to senior vice presidents.
The promotions and expansion come in the wake of hearty results for the team, as interest in the acquisition of single-tenant retail investment properties picks up.
Over the last three years, the “velocity” of the deals the group’s been handling has grown, Curtis Leonhardt, first vice president of investments, told Green Street News. Leonhardt said it’s a case of growth leading to growth, with more members initially added three years ago resulting in an activity spike as client engagement improved.
“Expanding our services, being able to have more people on the phone dealing with clients and to be customer facing is where we’ve grown,” he said.
Since Jan. 1, 2024, the group has overseen 46 transactions in more than 20 markets totaling $219m. The team expects the number to go up as it has 37 transactions under contract tallying up to $234m.
The increase in interest in retail assets and the exposure to portfolio sales between $20m and $40m have been a driver of the growth, Leonhardt said. The market’s focus has been more on multifamily properties in recent years but waning interest in the asset class has helped retail’s fortunes.
In turn, it has led to movement within the team. Leonhardt and Joe Genest were recently promoted to senior vice presidents while financial analyst Dazle Gumabao and marketing and sales coordinator Natasha Yuen are both new additions to the team.
Other team members include senior agent Jon Buckley, associates Andrew Gormley and Armaan Sohi, senior marketing coordinator Josiah Ganzeveld and research project coordinator JD Andrews. Another member will be joining this summer.
Cross-provincial opportunities
Activity between Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver was split evenly over the last year, but demand in the Alberta markets has picked up in the last two years for Leonhardt’s team.
“There’s been obviously a growth story in Alberta markets across the board,” he said. “That has attracted investors when you combine that with the opportunity for higher yields.”
Cross-provincial investments have been a key part of the equation. Recently, the team entered negotiations on an 18-location portfolio of Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants across three western provinces. Demand for the portfolio mostly came from private investors, Leonhardt said.
The team will also be coming out with a seven-property Kal Tire portfolio in the coming month, he added.
Leonhardt expects the success from last year to continue throughout 2025.
“I think it’s going to echo a lot of 2024 where you see private investors making up a large component of the buyers for retail assets,” he said. “I think we will see buyer action pick [up] throughout the year.”
