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Houston commercial real estate services firm Partners has acquired Providence Commercial Real Estate Services, a San Antonio commercial real estate brokerage founded in 1991.
Providence founders, brokers Steve Garza, Dan Gostylo and Phil Crane — who deal predominantly in office and industrial properties as well as land transactions — will join Partners’ San Antonio office as partners in the company. All former Providence staff are being retained in the acquisition.
“We’re trying to grow our San Antonio office,” said Jon Silberman, co-founder of Partners and one of the Business Journal’s Texans to watch in 2023. The firm’s San Antonio brokers Lindsey Tucker and John Colglazier had longstanding relationships with Providence, so they initiated negotiations in early summer 2022.
Silberman explained that acquiring a brokerage is different from acquiring other companies.
“We bought them, so there was some compensation involved,” Silberman said, without divulging an exact dollar figure. “They’re partners now, so they have a stock in ownership.”
With its San Antonio office around 25 strong, Silberman said there is room to bring that number up to about 40 team members.
“We’re still looking to add some retail and property management capabilities in San Antonio,” as well as appraisal and development team members, he said.
He did not disclose if any other acquisitions were currently in the works. However, Silberman revealed the firm is negotiating terms for a new office space intended to accommodate a growing staff.
“It’s got double the space we have now,” he said, without revealing the location of the new office.
The firm’s San Antonio branch currently offices on the city’s North Side.
Formerly known as NAI Partners, Partners recently shed the NAI Global brand.
“There are strings attached with NAI branding,” Silberman said.
For instance, the firm recently expanded into Dallas but would not have been able to so previously because NAI branding guidelines do not allow for competing offices in a market.
Silberman indicated the firm is comfortable continuing to make investments in Texas despite a high interest rate economy. The state’s in-migration and job growth will keep it insulated from the worst a potential recession may have to offer.
“I think 2023 will be a good year — not a great year. We’ll probably see a decline in production metrics on a per-broker level, but there won’t be a major downturn in Texas,” he said.
With that, Silberman said the firm has spent the past few decades expanding horizontally by adding development, property management and investment sales to its brokerage services.
“We’re definitely going outside of Texas. Our first foray will be into the Southeast area, unless an opportunity arises to move into different markets,” he said.
The firm is eyeing Florida, Tennessee and the Carolinas as the most immediate potential markets.
"Our goal is to be regional. The natural progression then is to have a national footprint," Silberman said. "Does that mean we’ll be in every major market? I don’t know."
Representatives for Providence did not respond to a request for comment.
