From left: Mark Jaccom and Michael Cohen

Mark Jaccom is planning to step down as CEO of commercial real estate services firm Colliers’s tri-state office after less than two years in the position, the Wall Street Journal reported, as the company recently decided to shake up top management of its New York City offices.

Until last Thursday, Dylan Taylor, the company’s national CEO, was slated to take over the position but, in a last minute change of plan, Michael Cohen, the grandson of Williams Real Estate co-founder Victor Cohen, will now take over the role.

“It was too tempting coming back here,” said Cohen, who resigned from a similar role at the brokerage in 2007 as a result of personal matters. “Old habits die hard.” [more]

Mark Jaccom, CEO of Colliers

From the July issue: Mark Jaccom is trying to poach brokers from rival firms, and he seems to want everybody to know it.
Sitting at the head of a large conference table in the Madison Avenue headquarters of Colliers International Tri-State last month, Jaccom held up a two-page spread imprinted with a baseball diamond, and smiled. Next to each base were the corporate logos of firms like CBRE, Cushman & Wakefield and Newmark. Next to each logo: a name.
“If they’re on first base, we’re starting to talk,” said Jaccom, the pugnacious, 55-year-old CEO of Colliers’ Tri-State operations. “At second, they’re really interested. And at third base, we’re in contract. I have 20 contracts out. And I’m talking to another 30.”
These are busy times at Colliers Tri-State’s offices, which Jaccom and his corporate partners in Toronto have vowed to grow along with the rest of the international firm into a powerhouse that can compete with the biggest industry players. [more]

Colliers International has promoted Joseph Caridi to COO of the New York Tri-State region. Caridi, who was previously vice president, joined the firm in late 2008. He handles day-to-day operations and oversees the production and revenue components, including brokerage operations and consulting services. He is also responsible for expanding service lines, recruitment, and the negotiation of corporate acquisitions and the creation of new offices. Before joining Colliers, he was an executive vice president of Newmark Knight Frank, becoming executive director of brokerage and advisory services in the New York Tri-State region in 2006. TRD [more]

Mark Jaccom

Commercial real estate services firm Colliers International has rebranded Long Island brokerage Sutton & Edwards, according to Mark Jaccom, CEO of Colliers’ tri-state region. The nearly 50-year-old Sutton & Edwards, which has offices in Lake Success and Ronkonkoma, will now operate under the Colliers name, giving the brand more of a foothold in the Long Island market, according to Jaccom. “Bringing [Sutton & Edwards] under the Colliers International umbrella is a tremendous coup for us,” Jaccom said. Sutton & Edwards currently manages 2.5 million square feet, with clients including GE Capital, Prudential Life Insurance and State Farm Insurance. Colliers has existing tri-state region offices in Manhattan, Connecticut, New Jersey and Long Island. TRD

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Mark Jaccom

Commercial real estate services firm Colliers International has rebranded Long Island brokerage Sutton & Edwards, according to Mark Jaccom, CEO of Colliers’ tri-state region. The nearly 50-year-old Sutton & Edwards, which has offices in Lake Success and Ronkonkoma, will now operate under the Colliers name, giving the brand more of a foothold in the Long Island market, according to Jaccom. “Bringing [Sutton & Edwards] under the Colliers International umbrella is a tremendous coup for us,” Jaccom said. Sutton & Edwards currently manages 2.5 million square feet, with clients including GE Capital, Prudential Life Insurance and State Farm Insurance. Colliers has existing tri-state region offices in Manhattan, Connecticut, New Jersey and Long Island. TRD

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With his transition to CEO of Colliers International, a commercial real estate services firm, set for April 21, Mark Jaccom told the New York Times that Colliers is “in expansion mode.” Although his company manages around 20 million square feet currently, Jaccom said Colliers wants to double that within the next five years, a goal he recognizes is a “tall order.” But Jaccom said he’s adept at nabbing new tenants. “Anybody can lower the rent and throw more concessions,” Jaccom said. “You have to be flexible enough to give a tenant the right to give back space if necessary… we educated our landlords early enough.” Additionally, Jaccom told The Real Deal in the March issue that now may be the time for broker poaching.

From the March issue: There’s a recession. Deals are scarce. Commissions are shrinking. It’s a great time for broker rustling.
Commercial services firms are aggressively poaching their
competitors’ brokers and research analysts, figuring they will be
better positioned to win market share once a rebound takes hold. The
slow transaction volume means fewer money-making deals are tying
brokers to their firms, creating ripe opportunities for rival firms to
exploit the age-old tension between the lower-ranked agents and their
senior producers. [more]

The average asking rent for office space in the northern end of Midtown has dropped significantly to $59.31 per square foot, from
$88.81 per square foot a year ago. “Tenants once priced out of Midtown
now see it as a viable destination. Demand drives deals, and we’re
seeing that play out,” said Mark Jaccom, CEO of Manhattan-based
commercial real estate services firm FirstService Williams. Other
stabilizing factors in Midtown include the amount of available
rentable space. Nearly two-thirds of the available space in Midtown is
at 450 West 33rd Street as well as the Empire State Building.
Additionally, new affordable options in Midtown and other parts of the
city have tenants flocking from downtown, which posted the largest
availability rate increase, to 13 percent up from 11.6 percent last
year, according to FirstService Williams. [more]

Manhattan office taking rents have fallen by as much as 40 percent from
the second quarter of 2008 to the same period in 2009, commercial real
estate firm FirstService Williams says in a report issued today. While
the survey showed average asking rents in Manhattan were down 26
percent quarter-over-quarter, to $58.52 per square foot from $79.39 per
square foot, the taking rent fell even more. “Our measures of
taking rents indicate that the average may be down in the range of 35
percent to 40 percent over nearly the same time period,” the report
says. But the survey also says there were signs of improvement. more
[more]

There were no surprises in the Manhattan commercial real estate market
in the first quarter of this year, according to Mark Jaccom, CEO of
FirstService Williams. The market continued to decline, with the
availability rate rising to 12 percent, up from 10.9 percent at the end
of the fourth quarter of 2008, according to a first-quarter report from
the commercial real estate firm released today. “Large financial institutions that are major users of space in the city
had earlier announced both employment reductions and goals to utilize
less space per employee,” so the higher availability rate isn’t
unexpected, Jaccom said. TRD [more]