CBRE Victoria Deepens Its Bench with New Talent

CBRE Victoria is in serious growth mode, as evidenced by the opening of its new office later this year.

Office founders Chris Rust and Ross Marshall have also been adding new talent to their roster to help clients take their businesses and commercial real estate portfolios to the next level.

“There’s an incredible amount of activity on Vancouver Island and we had to grow if we wanted to be a part of all the opportunities to support our clients,” says Rust. “So we went looking for some good additions to bolster our organization and optimize a full range of services for our clients.”

Their deepening bench now boasts Jeff Lougheed, Andrea Teahen, Mitch Bryan, Cooper Anderson, Crystal Brandt and Mai Nguyen.

The group is further bolstered by Nanaimo-based Patrick Gunville, who joined CBRE earlier this year as a senior sales associate focusing on Northern Vancouver Island.

Gunville, who specializes in multi-family apartment buildings, development sites, and income-producing assets, is working closely with the Victoria investment and leasing teams, helping CBRE grow its geographic coverage in B.C.

“We are positioned to exceed our clients’ expectations across Vancouver Island,” Rust says, “and it feels great.”

CBRE Victoria's new recruits (clockwise from top): Cooper Anderson, Jeff Lougheed, Andrea Teahen, Mai Nguyen and Crystal Brandt.

Full Bench, Full Service

Key to the new lineup has been Jeff Lougheed, who came to CBRE from a competing firm and now heads up the leasing division. Rust says Lougheed was promised, and received, listings on the day he started. With more than 15 years of real estate experience and an existing book of business, Lougheed adds some real firepower to CBRE Victoria.

For Lougheed, the appeal of CBRE lies in the full ecosystem of services the global company offers him, particularly in-house marketing resources.

Having a strong capital markets team behind him is a bonus. “It creates a full-service brokerage firm.”

“It was also important for me to have a strong team alongside me to help expand and grow my business.”

Lougheed is joined by Andrea Teahen, an office leasing specialist, and Mitch Bryan, a sales associate, who is focused on retail leasing. Both are uniquely talented and bring a diverse skillset to their work. Additional leasing support comes from real estate services and marketing assistant Crystal Brandt and marketing specialist Zach Eaves.

It helps that CBRE’s brand is well-recognized nationally and internationally. “It adds more strength to my business, and makes a big difference when reaching out to new clients,” Lougheed says.

“So much business is national or global in nature now. Having a greater ecosystem outside Victoria that is supportive and collaborative is a benefit to me as an advisor and sales professional, but also to my clients.  

“Plus the approach to business is different here,” he adds. “It’s more advisory-oriented and less transactional, and that suits my personality and approach to real estate.”

Nurturing Young Talent

CBRE Victoria is nurturing young talent in Cooper Anderson.

“He’s a super talented guy with attention to detail, and is one of the best at staying connected with his clients through a real estate transaction,” Rust says. “We are excited about his growth and potential to elevate real estate services on the Island.”

Anderson graduated from the University of Victoria’s business program and joined CBRE as a sales trainee. He’s now a full-fledged broker, having gotten his licence, with support from CBRE.

He works on industrial and retail lease listings, assisting Rust and Marshall. 

“Because of the breadth of the CBRE platform, we have a lot of inquires coming in from other parts of the country,” Rust explains.

“Cooper is helping us to make those connections from local to global and he assists us on mission-specific goals.”

As a young broker starting out, Anderson feels well supported at CBRE Victoria.

“I think CBRE, and the management team in Victoria in particular, do a fantastic job helping to eliminate the barrier other young brokers might face in getting their business off the ground,” he says.

“I’ve not only hit the ground running, but I’m suddenly training for long distances. That’s not the same experience my colleagues have had elsewhere.”

CBRE Victoria’s new home will be at The Atrium at 800 Yates Street.

Seeking Market Data Dominance

We’ve all heard how data is the future and it’s no different for commercial real estate in Victoria and across Vancouver Island.

As it fleshes out its leasing and investment teams, CBRE Victoria is also taking its research operation to a new level with the addition of Mai Nguyen.

Market intelligence is a central plank of CBRE’s competitive advantage globally, and Nguyen’s mandate has been to build out the industrial and retail database with the goal of establishing an unmatched, comprehensive research platform for CBRE Victoria.

Nguyen, a University of Victoria grad like Anderson, admits she didn’t know much about commercial real estate when she reached out to CBRE in response to a job posting.

“I was trying to do something new, something I’ve never done before,” she says. “I wanted to get some well-rounded experience and I’m so grateful I found a dynamic and challenging industry like commercial real estate.”

She’s getting that experience now, as developing databases and delivering market intelligence is no small feat. But Nguyen says she’s equal to the task. “I like big projects like this.”

That’s the spirit all of CBRE Victoria’s new recruits share, according to Rust.

“We’ve added a super talented group of people to our team and we couldn’t be more excited,” he says.

“I’m confident that there is no group on Vancouver Island better suited to tackle the most complex real estate challenges and deliver winning outcomes for our clients.”

  CBRE Victoria is Expanding Into a New Office for a New Era