Personnel Changes Hit
Top Brokerage Firms

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News from the ever-hyper (and hyped) world of commercial brokerage is something that's not always newsworthy. Suddenly, though, there's been enough going on of interest that we thought a brief rundown of all the fun would be in order.

The biggest deal: Latest rounds in the face-off between CB Richard Ellis and Cushman & Wakefield go to the former: sources say that CBRE, which was tapped last week by Larry Silverstein as the leasing agent for his still-in-construction 7 World Trade Center, a 1.6 million-square-foot edifice -- also gets the nod for leasing up Brookfield Properties' available 900,000 square feet at its trophy 3 World Financial Center. Both buildings are adjacent to the 9/11 attack site, although 7 WTC won't be ready for occupancy until 2006. The combined 2.5 million feet of future haggling is indeed a huge prize, though its luster is somewhat dimmed by the current less-than-robust downtown Manhattan marketplace. Whether it will gleam gold won't be known for awhile. While both properties rank as A-plus, they'll have to compete with another 700,000 square feet that Wachovia is placing on the market at nearby 1 New York Plaza, a class A building where landlord Trizec -- with a hand from Jones Lang LaSalle, acting for Wachovia -- will undoubtedly be able to offer aggressive rents.

At 7 World Trade, designed by David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Silverstein opted for CBRE's Steve Siegel, Mary Ann Tighe and Howard Fiddle over a similarly high-powered Cushman & Wakefield team led by Bruce Mosler and John Cefaly after what sources say was a roller-coaster ride of meetings and bargaining. It was a winner-take-all confrontation, and C&W took its lumps graciously. Interestingly, Silverstein, who has never faced a leasing challenge of this magnitude and Brookfield, which is accustomed to nothing but mega-deals, clearly both feel the downtown market is challenging enough to require outside help.

But it's not all just about leasing agencies. The past several weeks have also seen their share of musical chairs at CBRE and C&W. In mid-August CB Richard Ellis' highly regarded vice chairman and general manager Joseph Harbert was snagged by Cushman & Wakefield as its chief operating officer, a coup by any measure. One of Harbert's duties at CBRE, along with being in charge of Manhattan office brokerage operations, was to run its retail services. So CB struck back, and announced in late September that it had lured away Susan Kurland, a top Cushman & Wakefield retail broker who has worked closely with C&W CEO-to-be Bruce Mosler. But C&W has already been beefing up its retail operation, and it is unclear whether Kurland's departure will have a significant impact. CB also named Mitch Rudin, a longtime Insignia stalwart, as president of its brokerage operations for the New York tri-state region.

So with all this running around, is anything getting done? We'll see this week, when Cushman & Wakefield unveils the Q3 '04 readings from its Office Barometer. The early word: look for some surprises, such as a pickup in San Francisco activity, and some same-old same-old. Stay tuned.

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