Colliers absorbs Pointe Group

Colliers absorbs Pointe Group
A few leasing signs and some marketing materials still need to be converted, but commercial real estate services firm Colliers International is nearly finished absorbing brokerage Pointe Group Advisors.

With Pointe Group, a property management specialist formed in 2003, Colliers gains some 70 real estate professionals, management of more than 7 million square feet and offices in Miami, Sarasota and St. Petersburg.

“This gives us opportunities not available to us as a regional firm,” says Alfie Hamilton, a Pointe Group vet who is now an executive vice president with Colliers.

In Sarasota, the rechristened Pointe Group leases and manages the Northern Trust Building downtown and the four-building Gateway Professional Centre, near Interstate 75, which sold in May for $37 million in one of the largest commercial deals of 2015 in Southwest Florida.

Unlike Colliers' Tampa Bay affiliate, though, Pointe Group — formally known now as Colliers International South Florida — will be owned directly by the Toronto-based firm.

“We've been committed to expanding our operations in South Florida, and this is another major step forward,” Craig Robinson, president of Colliers' operations in the U.S., says in a statement.

“The integration of Pointe Group Advisors' highly experienced team of professionals will not only strengthen our local operations but also continue to position Colliers in the region that serves as a gateway to Latin America.”

More Benderson building
Even as it celebrates the one-year anniversary of the Mall at University Town Center, Benderson Development Co. isn't taking a breath in developing the land around the $315 million shopping hub it owns with Taubman Centers Inc.

At The Square at UTC, a center currently occupied by Home Depot, Staples, Carrabba's and others less than a mile from the mall, Benderson is adding a 19,000-square-foot building.
Tenants include restaurants Oak & Stone; Newk's Eatery; and Keke's Cafe, along with Hand & Stone Massage and Budget Blinds.

Mark Chait, Benderson's director of Florida leasing, says the fully occupied building will be completed by early next year.

“As the area further develops, there's greater demand for retail, Chait says.