Marcus & Millichap Vets Horvath, Tremblay Launch Rival Firm
February 10, 2016 — By Joe Clements
LYNNFIELD — Marcus & Millichap has picked up a formidable competitor in markets from New England to the deep South—and it comes directly from within. Bright and early this morning, longtime Marcus & Millichap superstars Robert Horvath and Todd Tremblay launched their own brokerage company here on the North Shore, unveiling a far-reaching machine that will list properties in territory covered to the tune of $1.6 billion closed the last three years alone, a geography stretching from Maine to Florida and Texas.
“It’s business as usual,” Horvath tells therealreporter.com Wednesday morning in acknowledging all 14 of Horvath & Tremblay’s inaugural staffers are from the Marcus & Millichap regional organization, the main targets of the nascent firm being net leased and multi-tenanted retail listings plus multi-family product. The latter specialty is being run by a three-person contingent active in metropolitan Boston’s white-hot apartment sales arena over the past several years, their efforts setting record pricing in many urban transactions. The trio is Vice President Dennis Kelleher, Senior Associate John Pentore and Associate Michael Alvarez while the retail expertise consists of the firm’s eponymic principals, plus Senior Associate Jeremy Black and Associates Brian Ahrens, Peter Butler, Kyle Danielson and Matthew Nadler. Other support professionals include Marketing Director Leigh Barcamonte and Financial Analyst Charles Duggan.
“We have a very strong group that we intend to grow,” Horvath says, a platform laser-focused on churning out results for their clients on both the selling and buying side. “This is a bunch of hard-working, hard-charging folks who are here at 6:30 every morning and at it until 7 o’clock at night,” explains the founding principal whose group is headquartered at Market Center, the sprawling mixed-use lifestyle project along Route 128 in which Horvath & Tremblay occupies a facility with enough room to accommodate 30 brokers. Among the features of the specially designed fit out is a buy side desk for 1031 exchange activity plus electronic media.
The ultimate goal is to have offices in other parts of the expansive service area, including Washington, DC, the Carolinas and down to Florida and Texas, eventually increasing up to 150 brokers. As detailed in the 2014 annual Real Reporter review, where the Horvath and Tremblay squad completed a record $640 million in conclusions that season alone, their coverage has canvassed all of New England this decade and also the Eastern Seaboard and down into Texas, markets that are presently being serviced by the Horvath & Tremblay retail team. The multifamily group is more centered in New England but Horvath says the intention is to offer residential listing services in those markets once offices are opened.
Several websites have been established to further serve customers, the main one being horvathtremblay.com while there is also htapartments.com and htretail.com. Much advance planning went into the company to have it operational from the outset, Horvath says of a program cast in the image of successful Gotham brokerage firm Massey Knakal, with Horvath & Tremblay’s layout framed by an open trading floor setup not dissimilar to Wall Street save for being in a more airy environment with plentiful natural light.
In departing Marcus & Millichap, at which his team did over 550 deals in the three years for the aggregate $1.6 billion mentioned earlier, Horvath stresses the decision was based on an opportunity for Tremblay and him to have their own shop versus dissatisfaction with the company which touts itself as the country’s largest brokerage organization dedicated to investment sales, the footprint on a national scale involving more than 1,500 professionals in 78 offices. “Marcus & Millichap has been a great partner and helped create some very strong relationships,” Horvath says. “They have an excellent network and really great people I have really enjoyed working with, but the timing just seemed right” to go independent.
New England office sales manager Tim Thompson says he was informed on Tuesday of Horvath’s intentions. “I consider Bob a friend and obviously a great broker,” says Thompson, adding, “We are sorry to see him go and we wish him well.”
Todd Tremblay
Robert Horvath
