BermanCRE Launches Brokerage and Advisory Platform in DC Region
By Keith Loria September 18, 2023 4:04 pm
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Real estate firm Berman Enterprises has opened a new office for its brokerage and advisory arm, BermanCRE, in its home city of Rockville, Md.
BermanCRE was launched in Miami Beach in May 2022 to represent buyers, sellers, landlords and tenants across various asset types. Company President Ben Berman has lived in Miami for more than a dozen years, but given that Berman Enterprises’ other companies are based in the D.C. region, the company had long hoped to open a BermanCRE outpost near the District..
BermanCRE’s Rockville office, at 5410 Edson Lane, is its first in the D.C. region. It marks the third office for BermanCRE, following a second outpost that opened in Atlanta.
“Berman Enterprises has been in the D.C. market for three generations and close to 80 years,” Berman told Commercial Observer. “We had always thought about having a significant presence in the D.C. area, but there were a few factors holding us back.”
That included waiting for the right person to come along to get the office up and running.
In that regard, the firm hired industry veteran Justin Shay as managing director of multifamily investment sales to lead the firm’s mid-Atlantic multifamily investment sales team. Shay is responsible for business development, client relationships, and investment sales of existing multifamily assets and development opportunities.
“I have really great respect for the Berman family and their presence in the market,” Shay told CO. “Now, it’s a little bit of a transitional market, and a little bit of a down market with the current economic environment, so we see it as a great time to come and grow and build with our collaborative brokerage environment.”
Shay comes from Transwestern, where he was senior vice president of the mid-Atlantic multifamily sales team for nearly 13 years. He brings more than 20 years of experience to his new role, and has sold more than 55,000 multifamily units throughout his career, totaling more than $6.5 billion in transaction volume.
“Ben and I share a common commitment to being trusted advisers for our clients, offering unwavering support and guidance, even in challenging market conditions,” Shay said. “Our first steps are getting the brand out there and find[ing] out what the market’s needs are in the next 12 to 18 months.”
Berman recognizes that this is a volatile and unpredictable market for right now and the foreseeable future.
“Nobody knows where interest rates and/or cap rates are going to settle out, and our focus right now is on relationship development,” Berman said. “Whether folks have short-term debt coming up where they need to figure out what to do in any avenue, people just want to understand and process what is happening in different sectors of the market, from interest rates to cap rates to the relationship of leasing in multifamily, office, retail and industrial. Our No. 1 goal is to be that resource for clients.”
Keith Loria can be reached at Kloria@commercialobserver.com.
