JLL Canada has hired two executives from a competing brokerage to expand the reach of its growing multi-residential investment sales platform.

“Three years ago, JLL did not have a presence in the multi-residential sector,” said president Brett Miller. “We developed a strategy and then built and acquired teams in each major market, the biggest being Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto and Edmonton.”

Michael Betsalel and Earl Kufner

Michael Betsalel and Earl Kufner will cover Ontario and provide leadership and guidance to JLL’s national multi-residential investment team.

Betsalel has been named senior vice-president and sales representative. He developed the Colliers apartment team in 2005 and has completed nearly $1 billion worth of multi-residential transactions in Toronto (left in the image).

Kufner, who also joined JLL from Colliers, has been given the same title. He has 17 years of experience in commercial real estate brokerage in Toronto and has assisted in approximately $1.2 billion worth of transactions, with an emphasis on the sale of multi-residential properties (right in the image).

“Michael and Earl will be able to scale up their business by being integrated into a capital markets team that has scale, depth and global reach,” said Miller.

“JLL’s competitors service the multi-residential sector on either an ad-hoc basis with generalists or as independent, one- to two-person groups of brokers. JLL functions as a team, thus pooling knowledge, resources and relationships to better perform for clients.”

Bill Goold Realty

The addition of Betsalel and Kufner augments JLL’s January acquisition of Bill Goold Realty, one of Western Canada’s most successful commercial and multi-family residential property brokers. The company has sold more than $1.2 billion in commercial and rental properties in British Columbia over 25 years and completed more than 30 transactions valued at $335 million in 2015.

“Bill Goold Realty has been a huge success,” said Miller. “Not only will they break their previous sale volume records, but they have also created and benefited from synergies with other JLL business lines in Vancouver.”

JLL’s multi-residential properties

The biggest multi-residential property that JLL Canada is working with is Salisbury Village Apartments, which features 296 one- and two-bedroom units in four four-storey wood-frame buildings with underground parking located on 5.93 acres in Sherwood Park, Alta.

The firm is also brokering sales for two multi-residential properties in Vancouver as well as one in each of Chilliwack, Saanich and Port Coquitlam, B.C. It also has an apartment building in Trois-Rivières, Que. for sale.

“Overall, the multi-residential sector is very dynamic,” said Miller. “Multi-residential investments have consistently yielded solid returns with the lowest level of volatility.”

JLL has more than 280 corporate offices in more than 80 countries and has a global workforce of more than 60,000. It provides management and real estate outsourcing services for a four-billion-square-foot portfolio and completed $138 billion in real estate sales, acquisitions and finance transactions in 2015.