Martin Forster, CCIM – Senior Director
Following 10 years in the international bond market, initially with Merrill Lynch in London and Geneva, Martin’s real estate career began at the Trust Real Properties division of Continental Illinois National Bank. From 1979, while based in London, he traveled extensively throughout Europe, the Middle East and the United States serving high net worth investors in US real estate. Following a residence of more than 3 years in Dubai, UAE, he moved to Stuart, Florida in 1986 where he established his own commercial brokerage and property management companies. In 2003 he joined Marcus & Millichap in Orlando, specializing in the brokerage of retail shopping centers. In 2004 he and his team, The Pocklington, Pocklington & Forster Retail Investment Group, moved to GVA Advantis, a subsidiary of the St. Joe Corporation, and to Cushman & Wakefield in 2007. In 2009, he co-founded Cushman & Wakefield’s Central Florida Resolution Team to help lenders and owners with troubled property.
In early 2011 he joined Hold-Thyssen in Winter Park, Florida. Martin’s strong financial, analytical and workout skills and decade long focus on retail property is an ideal match for the Central Florida real estate market and the firm’s US and international clientele.
Since 1993 Martin has held the Certified Commercial Investment Member designation of the CCIM Institute. CCIMs are recognized experts in commercial real estate investment analysis, valuation, brokerage, leasing and asset management. Long a member of the Florida CCIM Chapter, Martin recently chaired the Scholarship Committee liaising with Florida’s major universities. He is a frequent editorial contributor and commentator for a range of real estate and business publications, including the CCIM Institute’s Commercial Investment Real Estate magazine, The Florida Real Estate Journal, The Orlando Business Journal, Orlando Sentinel and Southeast Real Estate Business.
He is an active member of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and a past board member of the Central Florida Commercial Association of Realtors (CFCAR). In 2005 he was named by CoStar Group as one of Orlando’s Power Brokers, and in 2009 he was a CFCAR Hallmark Award winner as the Orlando area’s No 2 Retail Producer.