Global commercial real estate firm Colliers is expanding its U.S. multifamily capabilities with the purchase of a Dallas-based investment firm in a deal that has been in the works for about a year.
Toronto-based Colliers has acquired Greystone Sales Group LLC, or GREA Dallas, for an undisclosed sum. The deal adds the multifamily investment sales firm and its 25 executives, three of whom are located in Arkansas and the remainder in Dallas, to the Colliers team.
Dallas continues to be "one of the most dynamic multifamily markets in the U.S. with strong economic fundamentals, rapid population growth and consistent investment activity,” making the region a focus for the firm, Colliers U.S. and Latin America President and CEO Gil Borok told CoStar News. "With 25 professionals serving private and institutional investors nationwide, the team adds both scale and specialized multifamily capabilities."
Other major brokerages are also betting on the multifamily sector. Cushman & Wakefield bought Pinnacle Property Management Services a few years ago to expand its apartment property management business.
GREA Dallas is expected to be "fully integrated" into Colliers, Borok added, ensuring clients benefit from "seamless access" to Colliers' services and global relationships. In Dallas, Colliers has an office totaling nearly 27,000 square feet of 1717 McKinney Ave. in Uptown, a place it's been in for the last 15 years.
GREA Dallas has a low-rise North Dallas office building at 5728 LBJ Freeway. Borok said he expects to integrate GREA Dallas into Colliers' Dallas office in 2026 and that could have the real estate services firm weighing office options.
Colliers already has a "strong multifamily service line" that advises clients throughout the country on acquisitions, dispositions, financing and strategy, Borok said. This acquisition beefs up Colliers' "depth and reach" and plans to invest in key growth sectors, he added.
Colliers has been working on this acquisition for about a year, with talks picking up the pace in the past six months, said Todd Franks, chairman and founding partner of GREA Dallas.
"We were being pursued by several different larger institutional firms, and Colliers was the best fit in terms of collaborative culture," Franks told CoStar News. "They have a great entrepreneurial spirit. We also believe their presence on the West Coast will help feed Dallas' pipeline. We also have a lot of clients in California, and this will help fill a gap for us in having a presence there."
The resources Colliers was able to offer, including site selection and engineering services teams, are expected to help GREA Dallas' business with multifamily sales and development, Franks said.
Not many multifamily developments in Texas pencil out right now unless it's a special site that can justify top-of-market rents, Franks said. That has investors buying good sites — especially with income-producing real estate on it — right now in preparation for when it makes more economic sense.
For multifamily trades, it's not difficult to find equity when it comes to a 1990s vintage or newer property, Franks said, but the older properties can have trouble finding that same capital. For buyers needing "a lot of equity," it can be a difficult proposition, even for well-located properties.
"Being a part of the Colliers platform will allow us to grow and better serve our clients," Franks added.