Keep it Small, Keep it All

Keep it Small, Keep it All:
Terrell, Oliaro Strike Out on Their Own

Joe Terrell of Highgate Partners (left) and Matt Oliaro of Oliaro Commercial, LLC (right).

There's a long tradition of Atlanta commercial real estate brokers striking out from national and global firms and successfully making it on their own, guys like Scotland Wright, Rick Lackey, Dan Granot, Alan Joel and C.J. Young who realize that the overwhelming majority of deals are generated and consummated locally.

Well, add two more to the list, as Joe Terrell, former Carter Executive Vice President and Principal at Bullock, Terrell & Mannelley, has launched Highgate Partners, while former Jones Lang LaSalle industrial broker Matt Oliaro has launched Oliaro Commercial LLC.

Terrell brings 35 years of experience in development and brokerage to the table, including the development of Riverside Business Park's 3 million square feet of industrial and flex space and partnerships over the years with the likes of Prudential and JP Morgan. He joined Carter in 2005 to lead its brokerage team and decided to start his own firm toward the end of 2009 with his partners, "me, myself and I."

"For the first time in my career, I don't have what you'd call a Harvard Business School business plan," Terrell said.

What he does have is three decades of experience and connections that he will lend to raising private investment equity and, on the transaction side, helping clients formulate real estate strategies, whether they're downsizing or growing firms positioned to capitalize on a weak market.

"There's just some good, fundamental real estate that will become available," Terrell said. "There's a lot of turmoil in our industry. It's not like anything I've ever seen.

"Big is good, but big is not always better," Terrell said. "I'm just going to try and stay nimble and take advantage of opportunities that come my way."

For his part, Oliaro describes himself as a street broker, willing to go door to door to generate local deals with local companies, and he also plans to focus on investment listings as distressed assets increasingly hit the market, offering opportunities for aggressive brokers to move properties at competitive price points.

"Hopefully, capital markets will free up a little bit, and there are investors out there with cash looking for bargains," Oliaro said.

Still, his primary focus will be tenant rep, he said.

"I love tenant rep deals because I know when I go into the market, I'm going to make the deal nine times out of 10," Oliaro said.