Commercial Real Estate Advisors

What Commercial Real Estate Advisors does

Commercial Real Estate Advisors (CREA) is a privately held boutique commercial real estate advisory firm headquartered at 10401 Connecticut Avenue, Suite 100, Kensington, Maryland, with a second office at 322 North Shore Drive in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The firm serves property owners, tenants, investors, and corporations across the Greater Washington, D.C. region (Maryland, Virginia) and Pennsylvania, working across commercial office, multifamily residential, industrial, medical office, and educational asset classes. Its client base includes private owners, families, trusts, corporations, private investors, and business owners/developers, with a dedicated sub-vertical in healthcare tenant representation. The firm is led by Founder and Principal Lance Ford, MBA, CPA, alongside Partner John H. Misleh (CCIM, RPA), Director Justin Talesnick, four Advisors, an Asset Manager, and a Controller, supplemented by property management/engineering and accounting/lease administration staff.

The firm delivers its services through five integrated lines: Commercial Real Estate Brokerage (leasing and tenant representation for office and retail, on a transaction-fee basis); Property Management (tenant screening, rent collection, maintenance, and inspections on a recurring/subscription basis); Consulting (acquisition, investment, sale, lease, finance, repositioning, and redevelopment advisory, billed as professional services); Conversions/Adaptive Re-use (analysis and project management for repositioning underperforming assets); and Investment Sales (sale-leaseback, 1031 exchange, portfolio disposition, and strategic acquisition advisory). The underlying technology stack is described as "cutting-edge building management technology" without further specification; no proprietary platform, API, or AI/ML capabilities are disclosed. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed.

The go-to-market motion is sales-led and relationship-based: senior-level advisors engage clients directly and remain accessible throughout the engagement lifecycle, in a one-on-one service model. Distribution is regional and direct, with no disclosed digital or channel partnerships. The team collectively cites over $1 billion in completed transactions and 20+ years of industry experience per professional, supported by credentials including CPA, CCIM, RPA, CPM, CBI, and MBA. Management highlights a client retention rate that consistently outperforms the local D.C. market, positioning long-duration relationships as a primary commercial advantage. There is no evidence of external institutional ownership, funding rounds, M&A activity, or partnerships; CREA is founder/management-controlled and self-funded.

Name

Commercial Real Estate Advisors

Legal name

Commercial Real Estate Advisors

Website

https://crea-inc.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Commercial Real Estate Advisors is a privately held boutique CRE advisory firm headquartered in Kensington, MD with a Pittsburgh office, offering brokerage, property management, consulting, conversions, and investment sales services to property owners, tenants, investors, and corporations across the Greater Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania markets.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Commercial Real Estate Services

NAICS

Offices of Real Estate Agents and Brokers (53121)

SIC

Real Estate Agents & Managers (For Others) (6531)

akta.pro primary industry

Commercial Real Estate Brokerage (Leasing & Sales) (FSAEAJAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Real Estate Investment Advisory (Acquisitions/Dispositions, Capital Allocation) (BPAJANAA), Real Estate Strategy & Portfolio Consulting (Corporate/Institutional) (BPAJANAB)

Keywords

• Commercial real estate brokerage
• Property management services
• Tenant representation
• Real estate investment sales
• Healthcare real estate advisory

Headquarters

HQ city

Kensington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Commercial Real Estate Brokerage: Leasing and sales brokerage services for landlords and tenants looking to lease or sublease office and retail space. Provides market knowledge and focuses on unique client requirements.
2. Property Management: Professional management services including tenant screening, rent collection, maintenance and repairs, and property inspections. Aims to maximize asset value through revenue growth, expense management, and occupant experience enhancement.
3. Commercial Property Consulting: Advisory services for acquisition, investment, sale, lease, finance, repositioning, or redevelopment of property. Includes leasing administration, construction management, due diligence, and capital markets advisory.
4. Investment Sales: Specialized sales and advisory services for income-producing and owner-occupied properties. Includes sale-leaseback, 1031 exchange, portfolio disposition, and strategic acquisition services.
5. Conversions/Adaptive Re-use: Analysis and project management for converting underperforming assets. Includes building surveying, site evaluation, compliance, legal issues, risk mitigation, budget management, and guiding through the conversion process.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Core offering

Commercial Real Estate Advisors is a boutique commercial real estate advisory firm offering brokerage, property management, consulting, conversions/adaptive re-use, and investment sales services. The firm is headquartered in Kensington, Maryland and serves clients throughout the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, with particular specialization in healthcare and medical office real estate.

Product overview

Commercial Real Estate Advisors is a boutique commercial real estate advisory firm offering five integrated service lines: Commercial Real Estate Brokerage (leasing and tenant representation), Property Management (comprehensive property oversight), Consulting (strategic advisory across leasing, construction, due diligence, and capital markets), Conversions/Adaptive Re-use (asset repositioning guidance), and Investment Sales (transaction advisory for income-producing properties). These services are delivered as a unified advisory practice focused on the Greater Washington, D.C. region and Pennsylvania market, with senior-level advisors working directly with clients through the full transaction lifecycle.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Commercial Real Estate Brokerage

Quantifiable outcome

• $1 billion+ in completed transactions
• +2 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Greysteel: Mid-Atlantic commercial real estate investment sales and advisory firm focused on the Mid-Atlantic region including DC. Comparable boutique investment sales and advisory focus to CREA's investment sales and consulting practices.
• Newmark Group: Full-service commercial real estate advisory firm offering leasing, investment sales, and capital markets. Comparable to CREA in service breadth and client types, but with national scale and public-company resources.
• Avison Young: Privately held commercial real estate services firm with similar boutique-to-mid-market positioning, offering brokerage, property management, and investment sales. Closest direct peer to CREA in size, ownership structure, and senior-advisor-led service model.
• Transwestern: Commercial real estate firm offering agency leasing, property management, and capital markets across major U.S. markets including Washington D.C. Comparable to CREA in service lines and DC regional presence, but with broader geographic footprint.

Regional players

• The Donohoe Companies: Washington D.C.-area commercial real estate and hospitality company with development, management, and brokerage operations. Closely comparable DC regional focus to CREA, and previously a former employer of CREA advisor James Kernan.
• Rappaport Companies: Washington D.C.-area commercial real estate firm offering leasing, property management, and investment sales across retail and office assets. Highly comparable DC regional footprint and asset-class focus to CREA.

Broad incumbents

• JLL (Jones Lang LaSalle): Global full-service commercial real estate firm spanning brokerage, property management, investment sales, and capital markets advisory. Overlaps with CREA across all five service lines but operates globally with significantly greater resources.
• Cushman & Wakefield: Global commercial real estate services firm with strong brokerage, property management, and capital markets capabilities. Directly comparable to CREA's integrated service model with substantially broader geographic reach.
• Colliers International: Global commercial real estate services firm offering brokerage, property management, valuation, and investment sales. Comparable service breadth to CREA with mid-tier global positioning versus CREA's boutique model.
• CBRE Group: Global commercial real estate services firm offering brokerage, property management, valuation, and capital markets across all asset classes. Directly comparable service stack to CREA but at vastly larger scale and with national/international coverage that CREA cannot match.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/commercial-real-estate-advisors-dmv-pa

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Commercial Real Estate Advisors