The Mele Group, a self-storage investment team led by Michael Mele, has joined real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) and will be based in the company’s Tampa, Fla., office. The group had been the predominant self-storage advisory team for commercial property-investment firm Marcus & Millichap (M&M).

In addition to Mele, the 16-person team includes real estate brokers Devin Beasley, director in Tempe, Ariz.; Robert Bloch, senior director in Bethesda, Md.; Luke Elliott, executive managing director in Tampa; Brian Fulton, senior associate in Tampa; Trey Hammond, senior director in Tulsa, Okla.; and Noah Obuchowski, senior associate in Washington, D.C. The remaining nine employees are supporting staff.

The group will work closely with C&W self-storage brokers Paul Boyle, executive director in Phoenix; Jim Lewis, senior director in Portland, Ore.; and Greg Wells, senior director in San Diego; as well as Kate Spencer, a managing director in Dallas who’s also part of the firm’s Valuation & Advisory group.

The Mele Group’s client base consists of individual property owners, real estate investment trusts, and private institutional-level funds and firms. Since its inception in 1999, the group has closed nearly 350 self-storage transactions totaling more than $3.5 billion. In 2018, it closed 48 deals involving 63 properties in 16 states, according to the source.

“Self-storage is a high-demand market that has grown exponentially since our team started out two decades ago,” Mele said.

Mele joined M&M in 1999 as an agent specializing in the self-storage sector. He rose to senior associate in May 2002, vice president of investments in January 2008, senior vice president of investments in 2014, senior managing director of investments in February 2017, and executive managing director of investments in September 2018.

He ranked among M&M’s top 20 agents five times and was the No. 1 National Self Storage Group agent on six occasions. He earned four “Chairman's Circle of Excellence” awards, five “Chairman's Club” awards, 15 “National Achievement Awards” and 17 “Sales Recognition Awards.”

Founded in 1917, C&W offers a complete range of services for all property types including consulting and appraisal, corporate services, debt and equity financing, investment banking, leasing, and sales and acquisitions. The company employs 48,000 people in approximately 400 offices and 70 countries. In 2017, the firm had revenue of $6.9 billion across core services of property, facilities and project management, leasing, capital markets, valuation and other services.

Source:
GlobeSt.com, The Mele Group Makes a Move