Clifton Blake has merged with Metropolitan Commercial Realty Inc. to create a rebranded firm called CB Metropolitan Commercial Ltd. (CB Metcom). 

Clifton Blake is a fully integrated real estate builder, operator, lender and asset manager with a global investor base spanning institutions, family offices, wealth managers and high-net-worth individuals.

CB Metcom brings to Clifton Blake an active broker network of more than 250 professionals and a track record of nearly 2,000 deals.

Clifton Blake chief executive officer KC Daya told RENX in an exclusive interview the two companies have worked together on both acquisitions and dispositions for more than a decade and their respective teams had developed a solid relationship during that time.

“We've quietly maintained a real estate brokerage for a number of years as a wholly owned subsidiary, and now that real estate brokerage is a combined entity with the partners of the former Metropolitan Commercial,” Daya explained.

A handshake deal came together quickly earlier this year between the two privately owned and Toronto-based companies before lawyers completed a full agreement. Terms of the merger weren’t disclosed.

Synergies for both companies

“They give us a lot of market intelligence from the street level, which we always appreciate,” Daya said. “Having a full brokerage team in-house that operates across multiple asset classes gives us extra force on the ground so we get data very quickly.”

Daya said the brokerage will enhance Clifton Blake’s acquisition efforts and give it an extended reach through a network of agents with direct relationships with property owners throughout Toronto.

CB Metcom will also act as a sales team when Clifton Blake wants to shed a property, while its leasing people will provide additional support for attracting tenants to the company’s mixed-use development projects.

“It just enhances our competitive advantage in the space in terms of attracting product and filling our buildings, and vice-versa for them,” Daya said. “This creates deal flow.”

Clifton Blake has a mortgage fund that provides financing to other real estate developers and operators. Those bridge loans have an exit point, sometimes involving the sale of a property, and that presents an opportunity to refer that business to CB Metcom.

“They also provide market intelligence to the mortgage team in terms of underwriting,” Daya said. “If we need to know specifically what the lease rate is on a strip of a street for any asset class, we have that information.

“Or if we want to know what buildings are trading at on a price-per-square-foot in real time, we have that information at our fingertips. It gives us a great advantage in that regard.” 

Office integration has taken place

Clifton Blake had excess space at its downtown Toronto office location that it had maintained for expansion purposes and CB Metcom’s employees have integrated into it. No jobs were lost as a result of the merger.

“There's certainly a cost savings on office space and marketing,” Daya pointed out. “We have an in-house marketing team, so they get to leverage that. All the branding has been consolidated.”

Daya expects Clifton Blake to expand outside of Toronto and said that will be easier to do by expanding the brokerage or lending business into a new market before it starts developing and owning assets in the area.

“Part of our near-term business plan is to get CD Metropolitan licensed in other major cities as a way to gain market intelligence before we put capital at risk in a different city,” Daya added.

Ming Zee is heading CB Metro

Ming Zee was the president and principal partner of Metropolitan Commercial Realty, which he co-founded with David De Courcy in 2006, and is now overseeing CB Metcom.

“Ming has a very lengthy background in commercial real estate brokerage,” Daya said. “The business is 19 years old and has had a lot of activity and a prior track record in land assemblies for urban infill developments, which is very much in line with the business of Clifton Blake.”

“We’re stronger together,” Zee said in a media release. “By joining Clifton Blake, we’re offering something rare in the market, our brokerage team now operates within a fully integrated real estate platform, supported by capital, lending, and development expertise. 

“We are well-positioned to expand our capabilities, surpassing previous limitations in the scope of services we offer to our clients.”

Clifton Blake’s structure

Clifton Blake Asset Management is the parent of:

• the CB Wilkinson construction management company;
• the Roxborough Communities property management subsidiary;
• the Clifton Blake Capital Corp. lending business;
• and, now, CB Metcom.

CB Wilkinson was formed a year ago by the merger of Clifton Blake and Wilkinson Construction Services Inc.

Clients can invest in Clifton Blake through: the Clifton Blake Private REIT; the Clifton Blake Mortgage Income Fund Trust; the Clifton Blake Bridge Fund series; and Clifton Blake Family Office Real Estate Advisory Services.

American-based partner CB South Capital provides specialized capital structuring for real estate assets in major markets and provides cross-border referral opportunities to the parent company.