Two of the area’s largest commercial real estate firms on Thursday announced their recent merger.
 
The deal between Coldwell Banker Commercial Sun Coast Partners LLC and Harley & Associates Commercial Real Estate Inc. became official Jan. 8, according to a news release. The companies are operating under the Coldwell Banker Commercial Sun Coast Partners name.
 
“I felt I had a choice to make, and it was either to not change and stay the course or take my business to the next level,” said Don Harley, Harley & Associates owner, who now joins Coldwell Banker Commercial as a principal. “I made that choice to go to the next level.”

Grayson Powell, managing partner and general manager of Coldwell Banker Commercial, said the merger adds Harley as a senior vice president for Coldwell Banker Commercial and Glenn Imboden, formerly of Harley & Associates, to the company's roster of agents. It also adds them to the company's office space, in Suite 102 at 1430 Commonwealth Drive. 

Coldwell Banker Commercial has 15 agents and about 25 employees total, Powell said.

Harley and Powell previously worked together at Landmark Commercial.

“This merger is a really great opportunity and something we have wanted to do for a long time,” Powell said. "He’s got a very good set of skills that complements what I do and vice-versa, and so it really makes a very good fit."

Harley & Associates formed in 2001, completing more than 700 commercial sale and lease transactions up until the merger. The firm had an office at 108 Giles Ave. in Wilmington until it relocated its corporate office to Suite 101 at 398 Carl St.

The firm handled several properties in Brunswick County, and while the merger increases Coldwell Banker Commercial's presence overall, Powell said in reference to Brunswick that "it also helps us get a larger market share in that territory that I think we all benefit from."

Harley & Associates has been the exlusive leasing and marketing firm for the Exum Family LLC, which owns the Waterford Business Center among other properties, and those duties have been taken over by Coldwell Banker Commercial, Powell said, as Harley & Associates brought their clients with them into the merger.

Powell did not disclose any of the merger's financial details.