Colliers Hires Joe Lin from CBRE To Head Asia Markets Business in Australia

A former managing director in CBRE’s Taiwan office has headed south to Sydney, as the distance between Asia and Australia continues to shrink for the region’s real estate investors.

Joe Lin has taken the newly created role of National Director of Asian Markets at Colliers International in Sydney, where he will work alongside Colliers’ Head of Investment Services Matthew Meynell.

After leaving rival property brokerage CBRE where he served as managing director for Taiwan, Lin will now be servicing inbound institutional investors from Asia and their partners as part of Colliers Asian Markets initiative. The cross-border investment specialist has handled more than $1 billion worth of deals across Asia and the UK, according to an announcement by the NASDAQ-listed firm.

Colliers Taps CBRE Veteran for Sydney Role

Mingtiandi reported that Lin would be stepping down from CBRE Taiwan in January. The registered architect joined CBRE as Director of Project Management in September 2009, and was named Managing Director in November 2011. No replacement has yet been announced for Lin, but Tom Gaffney continues to serve as Managing Director of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan for CBRE, a position he took up in early 2016.

At CBRE Taiwan, Lin led a team of 200 employees, growing revenues tenfold in six years and expanding the agency’s presence and service offerings in the local market, Colliers’ Meynell said in a statement. “He is highly skilled across a range of expertise and his vast experience in Asian markets makes him an invaluable acquisition to the Colliers team,” Meynell added.

“Asian capital will remain as one of the largest contributors for real estate transaction in Australia,” Lin said in the statement. “I am very excited to join Colliers which has a dedicated team in this area and to assist my clients in expanding their portfolio in Australia.”

Brokerage Aims To Lure Asian Investors Down Under

Lin’s track record includes the $100 million acquisition of the Taipei headquarters of Zurich Insurance by Hong Kong-based Phoenix Property Investors; the $85 million purchase of a Qualcomm fabrication plant by Taiwan’s TSMC; and Taiwan-based Cathay Life’s acquisition of London’s Woolgate Exchange and Walbrook building for $490 million and $900 million, respectively.

Maynell, who has been with Colliers for a decade, also leads the national Auction and Insolvency Property Services strategies in addition to Asian Markets in Australia.

Canada-based Colliers International operates in 69 countries and has more than 12,000 professionals around the world. The fast-growing consulting firm reported corporate revenues of $2.3 billion, or $2.7 billion including affiliates, in 2o17.