Close Up: Gary Walker

SCM Real Estate Services joined forces with New York-based Coldwell Banker Commercial Alliance late last week (like the Avengers) and SCM founder/prez Gary Walker tells us he's adding offices (and multiple brokers) in Dallas and Fort Worth by year’s end.

We snapped Gary soon after the new signage went up in the office. His company’s new name: Coldwell Banker Commercial Alliance DFW. The HQ will remain in Arlington, he tells us. Coldwell Banker Commercial Alliance was launched in 2012 by New York-based Waterfall Asset Management. But, it’s a historic brand, Gary says. "Half the people I’ve told have said that was their first job in the business was at Coldwell Banker Commercial," he tells us. (They need to start having reunions.)

Gary tells us he was ready to be part of something larger with other partners and additional money to put into the business. The Baylor alum (here at the Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Day with his son, Luke) tells us his firm should be able to grow rapidly with the additional support. He says the CBC Alliance will continue to operate as a middle-market company serving local and regional tenants and private client owners. He hints that there could be opportunities for like-minded independent shops with similar goals and tells us there are already meetings in the works about growing the firm. The CBC Alliance plans to be in 10 major cities, Gary says. (The Ted Nugent model: Intensities in 10 Cities.)

Gary (here, hitting the slopes in Gunnison, Colo., with his family) established SCM in 1992 and will remain the managing partner of SkyWalker Property Partners and managing member of the $100M Hangover Opportunity Fund (an investment vehicle with commercial real estate holdings). He tells us Theron Bryant will lead the Fort Worth office as a market director and is actively seeking office space for CBC Alliance and Carol Sosebee, also a principal of SCM, remains COO and director of property management. An annual volunteer effort for Gary is his involvement with Homes of Hope. Every year, he travels south of the border with family and friends over a long Memorial Day weekend to build modest homes for the needy.