Holly Duran
Principal
Colliers
Chicago
Colliers’ Holly Duran is a powerhouse and one of the city’s, and country’s, most influential and successful brokerage professionals in CRE today.
During her career, Duran has been the driving force behind lease negotiations for more than 23 million square feet of space, consistently securing highly aggressive, flexible, and cost-effective deals for her clients.
Duran is also the former founder/owner of Holly Duran Real Estate Partners LLC, a boutique commercial real estate services firm in Chicago that she formed in 2004 after acquiring the Real Estate Services Group of The Levy Organization, where she had served as managing broker and long-time business partner to Principal Larry Levy.
She quickly grew the Women Business Enterprise-certified operation into one of the city’s top firms, known for its unique focus on global services for the futures, options, and financial markets industry.
Duran’s transaction list is extensive and enviable. She has negotiated numerous sale/leaseback transactions on behalf of her clients including the historic Chicago Board of Trade Building, the Kansas City Board of Trade Building, and the NYMEX Building at 300 Vesey St. in New York. In addition to her work in major financial centers around the world, she also represents clients in data center leasing and other complex transactions internationally.
Known for her tenacity, Duran has won praise from clients and colleagues alike and is the recipient of multiple honors including The Greater Chicago Food Depository’s “Tenant Representative of the Year” award.
Duran’s clients have nothing but praise for this professional’s work.
“Holly Duran and her team is a strategically oriented business partner that achieves tremendous value for their global clientele,” said Craig Donohue, chief executive officer at Cboe Global Markets and former chief executive officer at CME Group. “During my tenure as CEO of CME Group, Holly helped guide our long-term global real estate strategy as we completed more than $20 billion in mergers and acquisitions and expanded our global footprint including acquisitions and divestitures in our real estate portfolio. If you’re looking for a strategic partner who understands your business versus a firm to handle a specific transaction, Holly–and Colliers–is who you should choose.”
“Holly Duran and her team worked tirelessly to find our new office space and worked alongside us during every phase of the buildout and reconfiguration,” said Cheryl Sandner, senior managing director with Brokers Risk, a division of One80 Intermediaries. “She negotiated a rightsizing and extension of our lease with extremely favorable concessions and helped us create a beautiful office on time and on budget with minimal frustration.”
Duran is a fierce advocate for her community and a devoted supporter of Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, an active board member of the Children’s Memorial Foundation, and a long-time sustaining member of the Children’s Service Board. Additionally, Duran, leveraging her real estate network, supports the Covenant House Illinois Sleep Out fundraiser hosted at the CME Center. Covenant House provides housing and support to Chicago’s youth facing homelessness.
A champion for women, Duran is a founding member of the organization that would eventually become CREW. In addition, she is an initial investor in Bonfire Chicago, a career development business aimed at helping women excel in the workplace by equipping them with the skills to achieve success on their own terms.
