CBRE Ottawa Celebrates 25 Years

There has been a lot of change in the last 25 years. Computers got smaller. Frosted tips came in and fell out of style. And Dictaphones went the way of the dodo bird. The way CBRE Ottawa operates has also changed tremendously in that same period.

“We used to write entire leases by hand,” says Connie Marszowski, Operations Manager at CBRE Ottawa and the office’s only remaining founding employee. “It’s hard to believe how much the day-to-day has changed since then.”

This July 1, Ottawa didn’t just celebrate Canada Day. It also marked 25 years since CBRE set up its outpost in the nation’s capital. This milestone comes after a record-breaking year for the local office.

“We’ve leaned in on diversification, talent and data,” says CBRE Ottawa Managing Director Louis Karam. “Most of CBRE Ottawa’s business historically came from office leasing, but we’ve recently expanded our market share across various asset types.

“We’ve also invested in professional development to foster a culture of learning and raised the bar on our research with better data collection and market analysis. These strategies built on CBRE Ottawa’s strengths, helping us better inform clients making strategic decisions, and translating into record revenue in 2023.”

Humble Beginnings

CBRE Ottawa opened its doors on July 1, 1999 after the company approached brokers Jim Shotton and Ian Shackell to set up a new branch in the capital. CBRE, then known as CB Richard Ellis, was growing its presence across Canada, having opened a new office in Montreal a few years earlier.

“Jim and Ian asked if I wanted to manage their new office at CBRE,” recalls Marszowski, who worked at Royal LePage with Shotton and Shackell at the time. “I had planned to work in high-tech but after about two minutes of researching CBRE, decided it looked like a fantastic opportunity. I never expected I’d be at CBRE for 25 years.”

For the first three months, the trio worked from a temporary office where they shared a single desk. Marszowski earned her real estate license to support the team from a structure and policy standpoint. “We were such a small team that we each had to wear many hats,” she says. “We never could have guessed how much our team would grow over the following years.”

In September 1999, the trio moved into CBRE Ottawa’s first exclusive office space, a 1,551 sq. ft. space at 344 Slater Street. Their mission? To take Ottawa by storm by providing market-leading client service.

Big Changes

Soon after setting up their first office, Marszowski, Shotton and Shackell began to hire brokers dedicated to different property types. After reaching a head count of ten employees in 2004, they moved offices again, this time nearly doubling their square footage with a 2,700 sq. ft. office on Albert Street.

In 2008, CBRE Ottawa acquired Tempest Management. Three years later, the brokerage, Project Management and Infrastructure Ontario teams merged into a full-floor office at 333 Preston Street. Less than a year later, the office added a Valuation & Advisory Services team.

“The merger brought new perspectives and skills, not to mention a nice change in dynamic to the office,” says Marszowski. “We went from being a pure brokerage office to having a broad range of service lines. It enabled us to offer best-in-class service for all our clients’ needs and made our office events more interesting.”

Marszowski and her team worked closely with the new employees to facilitate their transition to CBRE and integrate services across the different business lines to better serve clients.

In August 2018, CBRE Ottawa added a Debt & Structured Finance team to support local clients in the placement of debt and equity. Then in 2021 Louis Karam joined the ranks of CBRE Ottawa as Managing Director. Under his leadership, CBRE returned to downtown Ottawa, renewing its commitment to a new wellness-centred office at Constitution Square for the more than 30 current employees.

Closing Deals

Over the years, CBRE has grown its market share within Ottawa and closed some of the region’s most significant real estate transactions.

Nico Zentil has been responsible for some of the biggest deals in Ottawa's commercial real estate history. In 2017 he led the sale of Constitution Square, the 1.06 million sq. ft. Class AA office complex housing CBRE Ottawa’s current offices. The $480 million transaction remains the largest deal ever in Ottawa commercial real estate. Zentil in 2021 teamed up with Peter Senst and Jaysen Smalley from Toronto’s National Investment Team on the $350 million sale of Place de Ville, a 1.2 million sq. ft., four-building office complex. Last year, Zentil once again partnered with NIT Toronto on the $277 million sale of 160 Elgin Street, Ottawa’s largest office deal of the year. CBRE earned Best Ottawa Business Awards for all three transactions.

Zentil also participated in the largest multi-residential transaction in Ottawa’s history with the sale of Island Park Towers, a complex of 642 multi-residential units in the Westboro neighbourhood, for $267 million in 2021. “These deals demonstrate investors’ belief in the Ottawa market and show that collaborative effort across several CBRE offices can yield results for our clients,” says Zentil.

In 2022 and 2023, Christos Panagiotakos helped TCU Development Corp. secure $105 million in loans for the acquisition of 12, 29, 36 and 134 Robinson Avenue, which enabled TCU’s first large-scale acquisition of four rental apartment buildings in Sandy Hill. Panagiotakos procured a Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. co-investment fund and favourable terms for the client by collaborating with the borrower to find financing solutions.

CBRE also leads in the retail sector, with Jamie Boyce brokering the sale of the former Chapter’s bookstore at 47-57 Rideau Street to the National Capital Commission for $22.8 million in 2023. This is the biggest retail sale deal in CBRE Ottawa’s history.

Other notable deals include Erik Falardeau’s record-breaking sale of 212 acres of land at 5618 Hazeldean Road in 2022; Brian Seymour and Dominic Dostie’s office lease for networking and software company Ciena in 2015; and Steve Piercey’s leasing of a 69,000 sq. ft. industrial space to Dustbane in 2022.

“Our teams work tirelessly to exceed client expectations,” says Karam. “These deals are a testament to CBRE’s strength and leadership within the Ottawa market.”

More Than Real Estate

CBRE Ottawa doesn’t just serve the community, it believes in building it up and supporting local residents and the causes that matter most to them.  

For the past 15 years CBRE Ottawa employees have taken part in the JDRF Ride in support of finding a cure for Type 2 Diabetes. They have raised funds for CBRE’s current national charity, the Canadian Mental Health Association. At least twice a year the office also donates to a blood drive through Canadian Blood Services. CBRE Ottawa also participates in the Leaders for Mental Health Breakfast each fall and donated $20,000 to the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre last year.

In 2018 the office started taking part in the Shoebox Project. Every holiday season since, a group of employees gather to fill boxes with gifts and essentials for homeless women.

“These causes hit close to home for a lot of people in our office,” says Aileen Terrien, a Senior Graphic Designer who oversees several of CBRE Ottawa’s volunteering initiatives. “Giving back is something our office takes to heart. It not only benefits the local community, but it also brings us closer together.”

What’s Next

The team plans to celebrate CBRE Ottawa’s 25th anniversary by going big on their annual cocktail party on the eve of the Ottawa Real Estate Forum in October. Beyond that, CBRE Ottawa is getting ready to welcome a new sales manager for day-to-day support as Karam oversees the Ottawa office in addition to his new role as Managing Director for CBRE in Quebec.

“Ottawa is evolving from the traditional government town into a large city with the potential for exciting change,” Karam says. “After 25 incredible years, CBRE is best positioned to help our clients anticipate the opportunities ahead.”