Cresa, a global real estate firm focused exclusively on tenant representation, has hired JLL Inc.'s former Florida market leader to grow its presence in the Sunshine State.
Tim Rivers joined Cresa from JLL on Aug. 1 and remains based in Tampa. While Cresa has offices in Orlando and Miami, Rivers is also charged with launching a Tampa office.
"Florida has become a top priority," Rivers told the Tampa Bay Business Journal.
Cresa's focus on occupier services for industrial and office real estate was a major draw, Rivers said. With a post-pandemic shift to hybrid work, in which employees split time between an office and a remote location, identifying the right space is more complex than ever for office tenants. On the industrial side, tenants need more storage space. After the pandemic-induced supply chain shortages, many warehouse users have switched from a "just in time" inventory model to a "just in case" model that keeps more stock on hand.
"It really was the dynamics in our real business model today — the occupier focus and really understanding how, coming out of the pandemic, their needs and specific requirements have changed," Rivers said of the move to Cresa. "The way people are doing business today really is specific to what makes sense for them, and how their culture, productivity and flexibility affect the workspace."
Rivers said he hopes to hire three to five Tampa brokers before the end of the year. Cresa's current Florida head count is 15, and Rivers aims to have 20 employees statewide before 2023.
Cresa is still looking for office space in the Tampa market, Rivers said, and hasn't decided whether to open in a coworking space or sign a more permanent office lease.
"We're really just kicking the tires," he said. "We haven't made that decision."
This article was published in the Tampa Bay Business Journal. See it here.