There’s a new player in town.

On April 1, Tom DeWaay, Jeff Panzi and his son Colin Panzi have left CB Richard Ellis/Hubbell Commercial to open the first Iowa branch of Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services Inc., an Encino, Cali.-based investment company that focuses on commercial real estate brokerage services.

Marcus & Millichap has offices in 34 other states and 1,300 brokers nationwide. Last year the company closed more than $20.7 billion of investment transactions.

DeWaay and the Panzis had a strong year in 2007 at Hubbell Commercial; together the team closed $120 million in apartment building sales and brought the Clarke Portfolio to the company, a deal that added 1,685 apartment units to Hubbell’s portfolio.

“I wouldn’t say it was hard to leave Hubbell, but it was just a good opportunity,” DeWaay said. “There are no hard feelings between companies, but it was an opportunity we had to seriously consider and look at.”

Representatives from Marcus & Millichap approached the three brokers from Hubbell with a chance to open an office for Iowa.

“They came to us,” DeWaay said. “They knew that we were a group of brokers that focused on investment property sales, and it was just a good fit for both of us.”

DeWaay said he and the Panzis will concentrate on generating new listings for the area and will have a strong focus on apartments. They will leave behind the day-to-day leasing work they used to do at Hubbell.

“Apartments make up a large bulk of our sales,” DeWaay said. “Apartments right now are by far the most active property type in the nation.”

Colin Panzi, the youngest broker in the new venture, said Marcus & Millichap uses a proprietary database and listing software that they hope will give the newly formed office an edge in the market. The brokers will be able to get a listing to other real estate brokers and investors across the nation within 24 hours. The national reach of Marcus & Millichap is something that wasn’t available to them before.

“We have many more buyers that have come to us that have never come before,” said Jeff Panzi, an area broker with 15 years of experience. “From both the East and West coasts, people are looking at Iowa for the first time.”

The new Marcus & Millichap office will be located at 1011 Office Park Road in West Des Moines. The team hopes to be relocated by mid May.