Real estate firm hires away Babcock Ranch official

SARASOTA — Ian Black Real Estate has launched a land and development advisory division and hired the head of the master-planned Babcock Ranch community in Charlotte County to run it.

The Sarasota-based commercial real estate brokerage and property management company's hiring of Tom Danahy marks the latest in a series of expansions. Earlier this year, Ian Black formed a corporate tenant representation arm to provide unique services to existing and new clients.

The firm's development advisory division will “provide guidance and expertise to users looking to purchase, develop or sell large plots of land, as well as commercial developments and master-planned communities.”

Danahy has more than four decades of development experience, most notably with Babcock Ranch and Lakewood Ranch, the sprawling master-planned community that is being developed in Manatee and Sarasota counties.

In all, he's developed more than 150,000 acres in 11 states, Ian Black says.

“This new division will allow us to broaden our base and expand our reach throughout the state of Florida, and even globally, if the demand is there,” says Ian Black, the founding partner of the eponymously named firm.

Prior to joining Ian Black, Danahy was president of Babcock Ranch, which is being developed by Kitson & Partners to contain nearly 20,000 residences and as much as six million square feet of commercial space.

He also was president of LWR Communities, the master developer of Lakewood Ranch in conjunction with Schroeder-Manatee Ranch Inc., and worked in a top executive role with Nicklaus-Sierra Development Corp., which manages several communities developed by golf legend Jack Nicklaus.