The Behar Group Realty Inc., Brokerage began as a family business in Toronto in May 1992. Avi Behar and Greg Evans completed the succession plan for ownership and management in 2017, launching what they affectionately call The Behar Group 2.0
Now, after growing to 60 people with a thriving brokerage and advisory business in Ontario, the company is expanding its footprint to Western Canada, opening offices in Vancouver for the B.C. market and in Calgary for the Alberta market.
It has hired Larissa Jacobson-Rooke, a veteran in the commercial real estate industry formerly with QuadReal, as its Executive Vice President, Western Canada to spearhead growth in the region.
Avi Behar, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and Broker, of The Behar Group, said the province of Ontario has been the company’s domain with the Golden Horseshoe Area being its core geographic node.
“Over the years, we’ve expanded our business across Canada, the United States, and beyond, typically through strategic partnerships with other brokerages or with other best-in-class consultants in various markets,” he said. “We’ve always been very client focused, and we’ve endeavoured to always do what’s best for the client. That means engaging the best in any given market.
“Establishing a formal presence in Western Canada is a natural transition for us. Many of our clients on the landlord, tenant, buyer, and seller sides have continually pursued business outside of Ontario. We’ve been intrigued with the idea of developing offices outside of Ontario, and Western Canada seems to be the logical next step. However, we never wanted to do it without having the right individual who could properly grow and expand our platform.”
Greg Evans, President, Broker of Record, for The Behar Group, said the company doesn’t grow because of a simple desire to grow but organically because “of a magnetism we’ve been very proud to develop in our company brand and in our company culture.”
“When we think about expansion to other provinces, it’s really just an extension of what we’re doing now in Ontario. It’s not really about the province per se. It’s really about the people and Larissa became an obvious extension of our company culture even before she joined us,” said Evans.
“That was the catalyst. I’m quite conservative in terms of our growth plans and I would rather be small and mighty and punch above our weight class as we’ve been accused of doing for many, many years rather than grow too fast or too large. For me, expansion was a very methodical process. We evaluated the business opportunity, knowing that when we dedicate our attention and our resources to business we’re successful in what we do. Adding Western offices is very much a long-term, non-impulsive implementation of a plan.”
Evans has been working on the compliance elements of expansion. In the last few months, the company has been registering The Behar Group Realty Inc. to be licensed to trade in B.C. and Alberta.
“I have enjoyed working with and getting to know Avi and Greg, over the last year.Their philosophy behind how they handle clients in everything was huge for me, it just felt like a natural fit.,” said Jacobson-Rooke..
Prior to joining The Behar Group, she was Vice President, Retail Leasing with QuadReal Property Group. Before that she had also been Director of Leasing for Bentall Kennedy and Sales Representative with CB Richard Ellis.
“I am excited to spearhead the growth in Western Canada for The Behar Group, a leading boutique brokerage firm in Canada. Finding alignment of values is key for a move like this, and I appreciate and align with the values of integrity, authenticity, creativity and collaboration of the leadership and team members at The Behar Group. I look forward to supporting the needs of our Landlord, Tenant and Investor clients while building the platform and business further in Western Canada,” she added.
While The Behar Group is best known for retail landlord and tenant brokerage and advisory work, the full-service brokerage team is active in all asset classes including land sales, investment properties, automotive, medical, entertainment, and hospitality.
