Saunders Ralston Dantzler joins SVN network

Saunders Ralston Dantzler Real Estate, a Lakeland-based commercial real estate brokerage firm that specializes in Interstate 4 corridor properties, has joined the SVN network of firms.

The company joins SVN after an affiliation of more than a decade with Coldwell Banker Commercial.

Gary Ralston, a Saunders Ralston Dantzler principal, says the new affiliation will allow the firm to expand its commercial real estate services.

“SVN is a network of remarkable properties and some 1,600 advisors nationwide,” Ralston says. “Their approach as a company is different, and we think this puts us in a position to compete with all the national brands of brokerages and then some.”

He adds that the SVN network encourages collaboration more than many firms do, which will provide opportunities for the firm’s 32 agents.

As part of the move to SVN, Saunders Ralston Dantzler and the affiliated Saunders Real Estate, which focuses on land sales and has been involved in transactions totaling in excess of $2.5 billion since its inception in 1996, will consolidate.

Dean Saunders, a founder of both firms, was named the top land broker in the U.S. last year by an industry magazine that tracks property transactions.

R. Todd Dantzler, the firm’s other named partner, in 2012 was named Florida Realtor of the Year.

With its latest affiliation, the SVN network in Florida grows to nine offices containing roughly 160 agents. Along the Gulf Coast, SVN maintains affiliations with commercial real estate brokerages in Charlotte and Sarasota counties and in cities Bradenton, Sarasota, Fort Myers and Naples.

In all, the Boston-based SVN has offices in more than 200 locations worldwide.

“Our core philosophies match up nicely with SVN,” Ralston says. “And number one on that list is we both put our clients’ interests above our own.”