NAI/Latter & Blum will officially announce later today at the annual Real Estate Trends seminar that it is acquiring the commercial division of Donnie Jarreau Real Estate—a deal that will further expand market-leader NAI/Latter & Blum’s local presence.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Jarreau will continue to work in commercial real estate under the NAI/Latter & Blum umbrella, along with the four commercial agents from his firm. They will operate from their existing offices in the Southdowns Shopping Center as NAI/Latter & Blum-Donnie Jarreau Real Estate.
The residential division of Donnie Jarreau Real Estate was not included in the deal. It will operate separately under a new name.
NAI/Latter & Blum, which is the commercial division of the New Orleans-based Latter & Blum, is the largest commercial real estate firm in the Gulf South and also the largest in the Baton Rouge market. According to the 2016 Business Report Book of Lists, the firm had 42 local agents, and commercial sales and lease volume of more than $154 million. The firm also ranked No. 51 on the listing of the area’s largest private companies, with revenue of $103.6 million in 2014, up from $97.5 million the year previous.
“It gives us additional reach in certain real estate disciplines like retail development and investment,” says Karl Landreneau, director of commercial sales and leasing for NAI/Latter & Blum. “That is where he is strongest so we’re combining his deals with our strong suits.”
For Jarreau—whose firm did not disclose sales volume in the Book of Lists but was ranked in 2015 as the market’s eighth-largest commercial real estate company with then 10 brokers—the deal gives him and his agents access to more resources and technology in an increasingly competitive field.
“I felt my guys were on an island like a lot of the smaller companies,” Jarreau says. “It was time to align them with the larger companies. I felt I needed to be with the largest and the biggest to get the support and technology that the large companies have.”
The deal will also enable Jarreau to continue doing commercial development, which is his passion.
“They are encouraging me to continue to develop and continue to acquire and then the brokerage company will manage our portfolio,” he says. “So it makes sense. We expand their market share and it’s a great deal for me.”
—Stephanie Riegel
