Davis Hires Stephen Rice, Marcus Tabs David Fiore to Run Respective CT Operations

BOSTON—Some breakups are more complicated than others, and then there are those that just seem that way. Case in point on the latter would seem to be the continued reshuffling of a partnership between investors Jonathan G. Davis and Paul R. Marcus, longtime colleagues who opted to go their separate ways in 2008. Sort of.
Through a series of ventures, the independent Davis Cos. and Marcus Partners continue to hold certain assets together, including their landmark Reservoir Woods office complex in Waltham, but this week the firms issued a press release announcing that as of April 1st, they are implementing the “final phase of their joint venture reorganization,” this one relating to 1.1 million sf owned in Connecticut. The assets will remain under the control of the original partnerships, the advisory explains, but their management oversight is being split “on an asset-by-asset basis” between the separate companies. In the release, Marcus says “I am very proud of what Jon and I accomplished together in Connecticut and I am pleased that we will continue working together on the properties that we acquired and developed.” For the Nutmeg State portfolio, that includes a number of assets in Branford, Danbury and Norwalk, plus others in Glastonbury and Wilton. In a separate release, Marcus announced it will formally open an office in Wilton, Connecticut, at 24 Danbury Rd., and has appointed longtime colleague David Fiore to oversee operations in Connecticut and the mid-Atlantic region.

The Davis Cos. had its own significant side announcement , unveiling the hiring of veteran Boston real estate professional Stephen C. Rice as Regional Director for its office in Norwalk, CT. Davis was effusive in an interview relaying that Rice’s arrival fresh off opening the Wayside Commons lifestyle center in Burlington and repositioning the former Raytheon headquarters in Lexington into the US headquarters of Shire Pharmaceuticals—a property that fetched $200 million in 2010—gives the Davis Cos. a proven professional who will guide the firm’s expansion in the tri-state region of Connecticut, New Jersey and New York. It is an area Rice is quite familiar with, having run the Coldwell Banker brokerage operation there in an earlier time. Plus, he resides in Redding, CT, much closer than his former operations headquarters in Framingham. “That works out well,” concurs Rice, who says he will still regularly be in Boson to meeting at the Davis Cos. headquarters. “I’ll still be stopping at the Charlton rest stop,” he advises, nonetheless concurring he is pleased by “the geographic change.”

Thin on details, Davis says his company sees plenty of deals on the horizon in the tri-state region as the recovery commences. “It is important we build our skill base to position ourselves for the coming opportunities, and Steve is going to be a great contributor to that,” says Davis, who approached the multi-faceted Rice during a chance meeting. “I just saw it as a tremendous opportunity to get a really great senior person,” Davis relays in explaining his pursuit. The Davis Cos. focus on the tri-state area has already expanded into Pennsylvania, having secured the note on two office buildings in Valley Forge that are about to be taken over through a deed in lieu of foreclosure. Rice says he is eager to dig in on all such opportunities. “I am looking at a lot already,” he says, with the prior stint at Coldwell Banker providing plenty of contacts in the region. The key, says Rice, is to uncover “diamonds in the rough” as opposed to a sea of under water properties with limited chance of recovery. “It should help,” he concurs of having the in-depth market knowledge.

As for Marcus Partners, Fiore is having his own homecoming, having represented the Davis Cos. in the region for more than a decade. While referring details of the reorganization to Paul Marcus, Fiore says “the move should free us up to be more active” on the investment scene. “We are pursuing new acquisitions,” says Fiore, who also would not identify prospects. Multifamily is one arena Marcus Partners is eyeing, he says, as are bread-and-butter industrial and office assets. The firm’s most recent investment was a medical office building outside Atlanta, GA.