Savills Studley Ventures into Canada

By Scott Baltic, Contributing Editor

Michael Colacino

The year-and-a-half since the merger that created Savills Studley continues to be a busy time, as the company announced on Monday that it has acquired Real Facilities, a Toronto-based full-service CRE firm that handles tenant representation exclusively. The office will continue to provide tenant representation, transaction management, capital markets, project management and design services in the office, industrial and retail product types.

Stan Krawitz, Real Facilities’ founder and president, will oversee the operations for Savills Studley as executive vp and head of Canada and will work with senior vp Allen Grinberg, senior vp and Ontario branch manager Ken Norris, and Savills Studley president Michael Colacino.

“It was important that Savills Studley create a strategic presence in Toronto, the fourth-largest commercial real estate market in North America. We are very excited by the opportunities this acquisition presents for our clients, as many multinational firms have targeted the greater Toronto area for growth,” Colacino said in a prepared statement.

“Joining Savills Studley provides us with a true global platform for our clients. Many Canadian companies are expanding to the U.S., as well as seeking locations in Europe and Asia,” Krawitz added. “Savills Studley and Real Facilities have collaborated on numerous large transactions for clients on both sides of the border for more than five years. In many ways, this is just the formalization of the great partnership we’ve enjoyed; the transition has been seamless.”

“The acquisition fits into Savills Studley’s five-year plan to double the size of the business by continuing to recruit elite tenant rep brokers, open and/or acquire new offices in strategic markets across the U.S. and Canada, and continue to grow service lines,” according to a Savills Studley spokesperson.

The acquisition is Savills Studley’s first in Canada, but its fourth overall this year. In April, the company purchased Cooper Brady Partners in Silicon Valley, a two-office firm with 21 brokers and ten project managers.

Savills Studley also purchased Vertical Integration, of Tampa, strengthening its occupier services and workforce strategy business, and New York-based management consulting firm KLG Advisors, which provides strategic location and workforce advisory services, including portfolio evaluation and realignment, to large corporations.