Lee & Associates, the largest broker-owned commercial real estate firm in the nation, have announced the opening of its first office in Canada and outside the United States.

Lee & Associates Commercial Real Estate (BC) Ltd., which is located in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, is headed by CRE veteran Chris Anderson, the former president at DTZ Vancouver Real Estate Ltd.

“In the last year, we have been talking aggressively with Chris about the possibilities of a Lee office in Canada. When Chris and his partners attended our Broker Summit in October that was a defining moment in their decision to join our firm. We are extremely excited about the talent that Chris and his partners are bringing to our company and what this will mean to our client services,” said Jeffrey Rinkov, CEO of Lee & Associates.

Prior to joining the DTZ brand, the Vancouver office operated as an affiliate of JJ Barnicke, headquartered in Toronto. JJ Barnicke joined DTZ as the Canadian affiliate in 2008 and grew to 15 offices Canada wide and included a mix of both corporately owned shops and affiliate locations in some key markets.

Said Anderson: “With the recent merger of DTZ, Cassidy Turley and Cushman & Wakefield, our affiliate office had been orphaned by the new combined brand. Since we first learned of the pending merger we identified, researched and had discussions with several of the top ranked commercial real estate brands, both in the United States and Canada. Everything kept pointing back to Lee & Associates as the right fit for our business model and more importantly, our culture.”

The opening of Lee & Associates Vancouver BC will mark the second step the firm has ventured out of the country. In October, Lee & Associates joined Gerald Eve, a real estate advisory business headquartered in London, to form a strategic alliance.

About Lee & Associates

Lee & Associates is the largest broker-owned CRE firm in the country. With locations across the U.S. and more than 800 brokers nationwide, Lee & Associates provides a wide range of specialized commercial real estate services on a local, regional and national level.