Newmark Grubb Knight Frank has hired Cushman & Wakefield’s Fred Smith, an office leasing broker who has represented clients in more than 30 million square feet of deals.
Smith, 60, has worked at Cushman for 31 years and has represented the likes of Facebook and CBS. Most recently he worked as vice chairman in the firm’s New York office, and he will take up the same role at Newmark, the Wall Street Journal reported. Details of Smith’s deal with Barry Gosin’s firm were not immediately available.
Earlier this month, Newmark [TRData] poached Ron Bennett, from Cushman to expand the firm’s industrial practice in San Diego. Last year, the firm also hired most of Cushman’s Boston sales and leasing brokerage team.
“They’re investing,” Smith said. “I’m an example of an investment.”
The shakeup comes as commercial real estate services firms brace themselves for a Brexit-fueled slowdown. As a result, Cushman & Wakefield is expected to postpone its initial public offering, which it planned for later this year. Shares in firms including the CBRE Group, JLL, Savills PLC and Colliers International have plunged following Britain’s exit from the United Nations over fear of dropping commissions. [WSJ] — Kathryn Brenzel