Valbridge Property Advisors|Auble, Jolicoeur & Gentry Inc., has set course for a strong future, thanks in part to its charter membership in a national network that launched last year, says Bruce Jolicoeur, senior managing director of the Spokane Valley-based franchise.

The longtime Spokane-area commercial real estate appraisal firm has joined with 42 other appraisal companies to create the Valbridge network nationwide, Jolicoeur says.

Real estate appraisal companies analyze and calculate the value of commercial property and advise clients on real estate investment decisions, including whether to buy, sell, hold, or lease properties.

Jolicoeur says he recognized a few years ago that a national network of firms would help Auble, Jolicoeur & Gentry remain competitive.

“Banks now do computerized ordering,” he says. “That creates the need to have a big profile.”

That need, he says, was illustrated in one instance in which Jolicoeur did appraisal work for a construction loan for a Spokane-area hotel, but when the developer wanted to convert the construction loan to lower-interest, long-term financing, the second lender required that an appraisal be conducted by a national appraisal company. In that case, an out-of-town appraiser with little expertise in the Spokane got the job and conducted the appraisal relying largely on Jolicoeur’s earlier analysis.

Independent appraisal firms around the country had similar experiences, Jolicoeur says.

“It was clear that if we were going to compete, we were going to have to be part of a national company,” he says.

Auble, Jolicoeur & Gentry was the first franchise to raise the Valbridge sign when Valbridge came online in March 2013, making it the third largest commercial real estate appraisal company in the U.S., Jolicoeur claims. 

Valbridge’s largest competitors include Seattle-based Colliers International, Los Angeles-based CBRE Inc., and New York-based Integra Realty Resources Inc., he says.

Karlene Perry, the Spokane Valley franchise’s CEO, is on Valbridge’s 10-member corporate board, Jolicoeur says.

The official name of the franchise here—Valbridge Property Advisors|Auble, Jolicoeur & Gentry Inc.—incorporates both its new and longtime brands, but is a “mouthful to say when answering the phone,” Jolicoeur says.

“We kept Auble, Jolicoeur & Gentry, because the name is well known here,” he says. “Perhaps as Valbridge becomes more known, the (Auble, Jolicoeur & Gentry) name will have less value.”

Though Valbridge is based in Florida, Spokane is making a name for itself within the company, Jolicoeur says.

The Valbridge corporate handbook and banners and graphics for many Valbridge offices are produced in Spokane, and Valbridge is considering contracting its corporate accounting here, he says.

“If you can do well in Spokane, you can do really well in other parts of the country,” Jolicoeur says.

Jolicoeur is a former director of the Appraisal Institute, a global association of real estate appraisers that administers the most recognized general appraiser certification program in the industry.

He says many of people who were on the Appraisal Institute board also are managing Valbridge franchises.

“As a franchise of a national organization, we retain local ownership and management,” Jolicoeur says.

With collective resources under the Valbridge umbrella, however, Auble, Jolicoeur & Gentry has access to nationwide expertise.

“When working with people in Los Angeles, New York, Florida, and Texas, you begin to develop a real skill set,” he says. “We tend to do more difficult appraisals.”

Jolicoeur, for example, was involved last year in appraisals for Joe Albi Stadium, in northwest Spokane, and the Masonic Center downtown.

“I was able to reach out to people all over the nation,” he says. “That’s a big help, and clients get a better appraisal product as a result.”

Spokane Public Schools has an option to acquire Joe Albi Stadium in exchange for maintaining it through 2017, a transaction that’s valued at $1 million, although no cash would change hands. Greg Newell, president of Spokane-based PowerHandling International Inc., bought the Masonic Center last year for $1.1 million. 

The consolidation of firms into a national appraisal network enables Valbridge franchises to bid on portfolio work for large companies that have properties in a number of cities.

“We didn’t have the ability to do that before,” Jolicoeur says.

The network, also provides other advantages, he says. 

“We were able to get health insurance coverage as a big group,” he says.

Today, Valbridge has grown to 46 franchises and a total of 65 offices in the U.S.

The Auble, Jolicoeur & Gentry franchise has three offices, including the Spokane Valley office, an office in the Riverstone development in Coeur d’Alene, and its newest office in the Tri-Cities.

The Spokane Valley office has a staff of 21 people consisting of 10 appraisers, six researchers, and an administration and support staff of six people. Including its smaller offices in Coeur d’Alene and the Tri-Cities, the Auble, Jolicoeur & Gentry franchise has a total staff of 27.

Six partners own the franchise, which is in a growth mode, Jolicoeur says. “We’re looking for one or two people, if we can find the right ones,” he says.

Jolicoeur says the franchise here projects 5 percent revenue growth this year compared with revenue in 2013, which was a strong year. Revenue in 2012 was down compared with 2010 and 2011, he says.

“We’re a $2.5 million-gross company,” Jolicoeur says of this year’s projected revenue.

Appraisers are busiest when the market is changing, he says.

“When the market is down people want to know what their property is worth,” he says. “When the market’s up, there’s a lot of sales activity.”

This year has brought challenges, though, Jolicoeur says.

“There’s not a lot of lending,” he says. “That cuts back on the amount of bank work.”

Currently, some sectors of the market are only changing slowly while there’s not a lot of change in others, Jolicoeur says.

The apartment market is strong, and new construction also is on the rise, Jolicoeur says, adding that the company is seeing some increase in appraisal work for residential subdivisions.

One trend in the industrial market is that some business owners are buying single-tenant buildings instead of renting.

The office market, however, has been static.

“The office market is just bumping along,” he says. “There’s not a lot of new business formation. Some businesses are expanding, but not many.”

Jolicoeur says that slow segments of the market are being offset by work coming through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Bonneville Power Administration, and transportation, municipal, school district, and utility projects.

“As long as there’s litigation, we also will do a fair amount of work for attorneys,” he adds.

Auble, Jolicoeur & Gentry’s roots here go back to 1974, when Dave Auble joined the James S. Black & Co. real estate brokerage to launch an appraisal division of the company.

Jolicoeur joined James S. Black as an appraiser in 1982. Auble bought the appraisal business from the real estate company in 1985, operating it as Auble & Associates Inc. until 1999 when the name changed to Auble, Jolicoeur & Gentry, to include its managing partners, Jolicoeur and Joe Gentry. Auble is no longer a partner, but still does some research for the franchise, Jolicoeur says.

The firm opened a Coeur d’Alene office in 2007, at 1874 N. Lakewood Drive.

In 2012 the partners bought the 5,900-square-foot building at 324 N. Mullan Road, in Spokane Valley, and moved the appraisal firm there from its longtime quarters in the James S. Black Building, at 107 S. Howard, downtown.

Auble, Jolicoeur & Gentry opened its Tri-Cities office earlier this year.

Corporatewide, Valbridge is looking to expand internationally, potentially opening offices in Canada and Mexico, Jolicoeur says, adding, “From there, who knows?”