South Florida CRE Veteran Named Principal With CNL Commercial Real Estate

After serving nearly 4 years as Executive Vice President with Colliers International South Florida, 27-year commercial real estate veteran Randy Olen has joined Orlando-based CNL Commercial Real Estate as Principal.
Olen is known for his expertise in office building leasing, tenant representation and repositioning of assets, as well as his ability to create value-added services for clients throughout the real estate process, including analyzing the markets, identifying specific client needs, lease negotiations and client move-in.
Prior to joining Colliers, Olen served as principal of Holly Realty, representing a variety of properties including 4000 Ponce Building, Espirito Santo Plaza, Grove Plaza and Town Center One. Randy has also served as senior vice president of CBRE, senior managing director of Insignia/ESG and senior director of Office Leasing at Cushman & Wakefield.
Since its founding in early 2007, CNL Commercial Real Estate has grown from 12 partners to more than 110 employees. The company offers a full-service real estate platform focused on industrial, office and retail, and has a division that specializes in churches and educational properties. Additionally, the company has a full-service development and investment platform focused on acquisition and development opportunities in the growth markets in which it operates.
In July, it was reported that CNL is moving ahead with a plan to make $300 million in acquisitions over the next 18 months.In April, CNL closed on the first acquisition for its CCRE Sponsor Equity Fund I — a $45 million purchase of the Sawgrass Lake Center office complex in Fort Lauderdale. The company is now working on a possible new deal in Dallas — a large, vacant commercial building.

David Willett of Boston was brought on as director of acquisitions for the buying fund. Willett formerly worked for New Boston Fund, a real estate investment management firm.

“The goal is to invest in markets where we have an office and presumably have local expertise on the ground,” said Pryse Elam, president of developments and investment for CNL.

Elam said the Fort Lauderdale purchase is a good example of what CNL is seeking: viable commercial buildings that suffered a loss of tenants during the recession.
In addition to its headquarters in Orlando, CNL Commercial Real Estate currently operates offices in Atlanta, California, Charlotte, Dallas, and Tennessee, as well as three additional location in Florida, including Jacksonville, Tampa and South Florida.
 

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