By Michelle Dupler

Two Tri-City commercial real estate firms have joined forces to become the newly formed NAI Group LLC.

In the wake of the departure of former principal Lance Bacon from NAI Tri-Cities in July, remaining principal Todd Sternfeld partnered with Vicki Monteagudo of Century 21 Tri-Cities to open the new commercial-focused firm.

NAI Group LLC bought the former NAI Tri-Cities partnership and will operate a new real estate company under the moniker NAI Tri-Cities Commercial, according to a news release. In addition to Sternfeld and Monteagudo, former NAI Tri-Cities brokers Derrick Stricker and Kevin O’Rorke will continue with the new firm, joined by Chief Financial Officer Lisa Monteagudo, Office Administrator Linda Sims, and new broker Jazmine Murillo.

NAI Group LLC has moved inside the Century 21 Tri-Cities building at 89 Gage Blvd. in Richland. A complete remodel was completed for the NAI team.

Sternfeld has a commercial real estate career spanning 34 years that includes working with businesses ranging from local small businesses to national brands such as U.S. Bank, Aflac, Met Life, and Quizno’s, the news release said.

Vicki Monteagudo has 20 years of experience in the real estate market. She plans to continue to own and operate Century 21 Tri-Cities, a residential real estate firm, while also working with NAI Tri-Cities Commercial to grow in a different sector.

The new partnership comes following Bacon’s decision to leave the former NAI Tri-Cities to join the Kennewick office of Kiemle & Hagood Co., a Spokane-based competitor that expanded with satellite offices in Eastern Washington and Missoula, Montana, within the past year.

Gordon Hester, Kiemle and Hagood vice president and co-owner, told the Journal of Business at the time Bacon joined the firm in July that a deal to handle real estate matters for Providence Health Care, a network that now includes Kadlec Regional Medical Center and its clinics, drove the Spokane firm’s decision to open a Tri-City office.

Once that decision was made, Bacon was brought on board to help grow the firm’s portfolio of 600,000 square feet of commercial space in the Tri-Cities — and seven million square feet total. He is focusing on the firm's commercial, leasing and sales growth in the Tri-Cities.

Bacon was one of five original principals who founded NAI Tri-Cities in 2009. The company has been affiliated with NAI Global since its inception, and will continue that affiliation, according to a news release.