Cushman & Wakefield has acquired Toronto commercial real estate firm Ashlar Urban Realty, which represents more than 150 urban assets, for an undisclosed price.

“We’re really focused on strategic growth and what attracted us to Ashlar was their professionals and their culture,” said Cushman & Wakefield Canada chief executive officer Chuck Scott.

“They really put their clients first all the time. They’re a very client-centric organization, as are we. They share our passion for a culture of high performance, so it’s a great fit that way.”

Ashlar’s specialties

Ashlar was founded in 1999. It has specialized in investment sales, office, retail and land development and is cited as a pioneer in recognizing the potential of downtown Toronto’s east and west corridors.

Ashlar is most active in the class-B office market, having represented Allied Properties REIT (AP.UN-T) in more than 30 brick-and-beam repositionings on King Street West and downtown east. It has repositioned 10 assets with Slate Asset Management and worked on six projects with Hullmark Developments.  

The firm recently assisted in the repositioning of six major assignments in Toronto’s Junction district and proposed new developments in the revitalizing Port Lands neighbourhood. It has completed work with the municipal, provincial and federal levels of government.

“Great focus on agency leasing”

“They have a great focus on agency leasing, both in the retail and office space, along with urban capital markets,” said Scott. “Those are areas that I think will be a great combination inside our platform.”

Ashlar founder and president Craig Smith joins Cushman & Wakefield as an executive vice-president along with Jeff Thomas. Mike Scace becomes a senior vice-president and Fraser McKay a vice-president of their new company.

Thirty-one former Ashlar employees are now members of the Cushman & Wakefield family.

Scott said they’ll be able to leverage Cushman & Wakefield’s expanded service platform and offer clients project and development services, valuation and advisory services, strategic occupancies and facility management, as well as greater international reach.

Ashlar will move to new office space

Cushman & Wakefield recently signed a 10-year lease with Oxford Properties Group and moved into 35,000 square feet of space on the 14th and 15th floors of the TD Canada Trust Tower at 161 Bay St. in downtown Toronto to house its national headquarters.

Ashlar will remain in its Pearl Street offices until it moves into the new space in early summer.

“The great news is that we’ve transformed our workplace here into something that can accommodate a lot of mobile working,” said Scott, noting his company had future growth in mind when it secured the lease.

“They have full access to this premises immediately and will come and go as they please.”