Colliers Boosts Japan Team with Senior Valuation, PM Hires

Global property brokerage Colliers International is beefing up its valuation and project management capabilities in Japan with a pair of senior hires. The Toronto-headquartered firm has appointed Masahiro Fuse to lead its Valuation & Advisory Services team in Japan, while naming Dick Olango as Senior Director of Project Management.

Based in Tokyo, both executives join the company from rival consultancy CBRE Group. Through the new hires, Colliers continues to raise its profile in Asia’s second-largest economy after bringing Hideki Ota on board from JLL to lead its Capital Markets & Investment Services (CMIS) division in Japan earlier this month.

Colliers launched its wholly owned, company-branded business in the country last September, ending its 20-year affiliate relationship with local partner KK Halifax.

Investment Maven Joins Growing Team

As Head of Japan Valuation & Advisory Services (CIVAS), Fuse is now responsible for serving up valuation, appraisal and advisory solutions to domestic and international clients, as he works with the company’s various service lines in Japan and throughout Asia. He has been reporting to Japan managing director Katsuji Tokita after officially taking the role in April.

Fuse has over two decades of real estate experience, including 12 years in valuation and advisory roles, and has advised on a total of over $12 billion in assets from office properties to golf courses. Prior to joining Colliers, Fuse served as a Director at CBRE Japan, overseeing business development. He has also held a series of senior roles involving investment and deal sourcing at Hospitality Partner Group, Real Property Advisors, ING and PAG, after an initial stint as a general manager at CBRE.

Although head of CIVAS is a newly created position at Colliers Japan, the company has had valuation capability in the country since last September, via licensed appraisers on the Capital Markets team.

“I’m confident that with Mr. Fuse’s abundant valuation experience and extensive network in the Japan investment sector, he will lead the team to deliver superior valuation advice and act as a strategic partner for investors and developers across Japanese markets,” commented David Faulkner, Asia Managing Director of Valuation & Advisory Services in a statement.

Colliers Taps Nairobi-Born Architect for PM Role

Olango, who steps on board Colliers effective this month, previously worked for CBRE Japan where he was a senior member of the project management team. The Nairobi native brings over 14 years of architecture, construction and project management experience to the new role, spanning office expansion, relocation and due diligence for multinational clients in Japan, from Amazon to Cisco.

The award-winning architect has also served as an adjunct lecturer at Nippon Engineering College in Hachioji. In his new role, Olango reports to Head of Japan Occupier Services Hazumu Iwase.

“We continue to strengthen our Asia project management platform by bringing in proven leaders like Dick,” noted Saacketh Chawla, Head of Project Management Asia in the statement. “Japan is a big growth opportunity for project management and Dick’s addition to the team enhances our capabilities which will see us increase our market share very quickly.”

NASDAQ-listed Colliers, which had corporate revenues of $2.3 billion last year, is stepping up its Japanese footprint as part of a five-year strategy to double its size by 2020. The property services firm tapped Katsuji Tokita and Hazumu Iwase to lead its newly launched Japan entity last September as managing director and executive director, respectively.

Colliers also recently boosted its project management services in mainland China six-fold by acquiring Shanghai-based SIP Group in March.