JLL expands Canada retail operations through Northwest Atlantic acquisition

This will enable JLL, the largest third-party property management firm in the U.S., to “provide an extensive range of real estate and leasing services to retailers seeking to enter, expand or operate in Canada,” according to a prepared statement from the firm. JLL describes Toronto-based Northwest Atlantic as “the leading independent Canadian retail tenant representation and advisory firm.”

JLL has not disclosed the price paid for Northwest Atlantic, which represents roughly 65 retailers and has been involved in transactions comprising some 75 million square feet of retail space across Canada.

"Retailers' needs are changing dramatically as e-commerce impacts everything from site selection to store configuration and supply-chain logistics," said Brett Miller, CEO of JLL Canada. "Our new partnership and combined operations with Northwest Atlantic enhance and broaden the scale and scope of our service offerings for retailers."

Northwest Atlantic was founded in 1991 and is privately owned by 11 shareholders, including CEO Tim Sanderson and principals Lawrence Hildebrand, Scott Lee,  Dianne Lemm and Chris Wood. The firm represents global, national and local retailers across all categories and specializes in the leasing of power center, street-front and enclosed-mall retail segments. Among its 45 staff members are 22 brokers.

"We joined JLL because of its practice-team structure, which allows us to continue operating as a specialized unit and does not change our hands-on approach with our clients," said Sanderson, now a JLL executive vice president. "We can now give our clients access to a full suite of offerings from JLL that we didn't have on our own, such as office and industrial services, project management, and capital markets expertise, through JLL's national retail investment group."

JLL, for its part, welcomes new opportunities north of the border. "We've been growing our retail advisory services throughout the United States since 2015 and looking for the right cultural fit to increase our presence in Canada," said Naveen Jaggi, president of retail advisory services for JLL Americas. "Northwest Atlantic's client-centric mentality and unwavering commitment to their clients' success made them the right group to add to our expanding global retail business. By joining forces with the Northwest Atlantic team, we've now created an opportunity for our clients worldwide to tap into a unified business across the United States and Canada for seamless, platinum advisory services."