Barclay Street builds notable talent pool
David Wallach, president of Barclay Street Real Estate, has worked hard all year on his company wish list to add an experienced industrial sales team, reopen his Edmonton office and expand its property management services.
At a Tuesday breakfast at Belgo he was able to announce his advancements in all three, which took up a lot of his time, primarily in ensuring he was able to recruit the right people to work together in the competitive world of commercial real estate.
A big part of the attraction is Wallach’s management style and leadership philosophy — qualities he learned while serving as president and general manager of a professional basketball team in Israel.
The new Barclay Street office, located on 106th Avenue S.E. in East Lake Industrial Park, will be led by Jon Mook, one of this city’s most senior industrial realtors, as vice-president, industrial division. Most recently he was senior vice-president and partner at the Calgary office of an international real estate company.
Joining him on his new Barclay’s team are Casey Stuart and Ryan Murphy — also from the same firm — and Greg Allbright who has been a lone industrial salesperson in Barclay Street’s downtown office since moving here from Montreal three years ago.
The new 2,300-square foot southeast office will concentrate on building up a portfolio of industrial clients in sales and leasing of industrial buildings and land throughout the city.
The Edmonton office was partnered with a real estate firm there, but the relationship did not work.
Now it has been reopened under general manager Doug Grinde, a 20-year veteran with Barclay Street who moved to Edmonton with his family, and who is busy recruiting a new team to serve that city.
And Dion Chrapko, who has 20 years of real estate and property management experience, most recently with GWL, has joined Barclay Street as its new vice-president of property management.
Chrapko and his team will oversee a current portfolio of about 40 buildings in Calgary and Edmonton, while endeavouring to add to that number.
Wallach’s downtown Calgary office has had an exceptional year in both sales and leasing.
Its most recent investment sale was the purchase of the historic seven-storey Burns Building by Allied
REIT through Barclay Street’s Kelly Carver and Earl Adelman for $13.1 million.
The character property across from City Hall has two vacant floors where Gibbs Gage Architects resided for many years before its recent move to the new Palliser South tower.
Its location is becoming more desirable with the amount of new development to the southeast and I would not be surprised to see the ground floor space opened as a restaurant again.
Carver has a long-standing relationship with Allied REIT and has sold it a sig- nificant amount of heritage real estate in both Montreal and Vancouver as well as in Calgary, including the Leeson & Lineham Building on Stephen Avenue Walk.
Current properties being offered for sale through Barclay Street include the 100 per cent leased main floor retail at Casel Marché on the corner of 17th Avenue and 24th Street S.W.
It’s Calgary’s newest culinary destination where J. Webb Wine Merchant, Cassis Bistro, Market 17, Blush Lane, Vie Cafe and Bros Dough Pizza have earned fine reputations.
Wallach has had a lot on his plate, but he has also found the energy to sit on the board of TCN Worldwide network of independent commercial real estate firms.
He has taken on the responsibility for Canadian growth and, to date, has recruited companies in Montreal and Toronto and Winnipeg who see the benefits to their clients of affiliating with some 1,200 other professionals around the world, and is encouraging others in Vancouver, Winnipeg and Halifax.