Franklin Street opens regional HQ in Austin with expansion plans
Move will help the firm take on Texas, the Southwest, leaders say

By Cody Baird
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Feb 27, 2024

A Tampa-based commercial real estate brokerage has established a regional headquarters in Austin that leaders expect will serve as a gateway to markets in Texas and the Southwest.

Franklin Street, a full-service brokerage, has opened an office in West Austin, according to a Feb. 21 announcement. The brokerage will handle office, industrial, multifamily and retail leasing, said Kurt Keaton, president of real estate and management services.

The move marks the company's third new office in 18 months, following expansions into Nashville, Tennessee, and Charlotte, North Carolina, and it has "aggressive" plans to scale up, according to the announcement. Keaton said the plan is to grow in a couple of markets over the second half of this year.

“We really felt like now is the time to grow and expand into Texas, and we wanted to lead with Austin for a number of reasons,” Keaton said in an interview. “It’s our kind of market. It’s our kind of city. Certainly, it’s well-established now, but we felt like there’s a lot of growth ahead. So from our standpoint, we felt like it was the right jumping-off point for us to then further expand into Texas and from there into other Southwest markets.”

The company handles investment sales, tenant and landlord representation, capital advisory, insurance, property management and project management services for clients. It also has offices in Atlanta and Chicago, plus Florida offices in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and Jacksonville, according to its website.

Keaton said the diversified business model has enabled Franklin Street to expand even when other brokerages have pulled back. The company's insurance division, for instance, is a sizable part of its operations, with over $75 billion of commercial assets insured.

Franklin Street is making its Austin debut with an initial 11-person team led by regional managing director Ryan Bohls, a native Austinite who helped establish Newmark’s Central Texas office. Bohls also served as vice president at Jones Lang LaSalle and most recently as managing director at Partners.

More senior leaders will be announced soon. Other team members include former staffers of JLL, Marcus & Millichap, Silicon Valley Bank and Cushman & Wakefield.

Franklin Street's new regional headquarters is located in a half-floor office at 3321 Bee Cave Road. Franklin Street’s occupier services team represented Franklin Street on the deal, while Jeff Henley of Kucera represented the landlord.

Franklin Street was founded in 2006 by CEO Andrew Wright. The firm had $7 billion in transaction value in 2023. It ranked as the seventh-largest commercial property management firm in Tampa in 2023, with 3.3 million square feet of property managed.