While commercial real estate, especially in Miami, has been a bit of a boys’ club, a host of firms are showing that the barrier is slowly breaking down. Today, some of the city’s top commercial real estate brokerages are led by women, many of whom honed their skills at established firms like Cushman & Wakefield and Codina Bush Klein. “We’ve accelerated the pace, and it might be that we’re about to see a transformation in the landscape of women in commercial real estate,” said Tere Blanca, who opened her namesake commercial real estate firm two years ago. Blanca, along with several other realtors, said commercial real estate could see a shift similar to what the legal profession experienced. [more]

Blanca Commercial Real Estate has added two real estate industry veterans to its team, hiring Hank Klein and David Valdez. Klein, who has been named a vice chairman, was previously with Flagler Realty, Codina Bush Klein Realty, and with Cushman & Wakefield of Florida, which is the former firm of Blanca’s president and CEO Tere Blanca, who left Cushman to start her own brokerage last March. Valdez, named an executive vice president, was formerly the vice president of corporate services and real estate at Goldman Sachs. In just a year, Blanca’s company has vaulted to fourth in The Real Deal’s rankings of market share for listed office space. [Sun Sentinel]
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When Tere Blanca resigned as senior managing director and branch manager of Cushman & Wakefield of Florida to start her own firm earlier this year, some questioned the wisdom of her timing.

Then others saw the writing on the wall. Within weeks, Cushman & Wakefield began eliminating executive positions from its ranks.

Less than eight months after Blanca left Cushman & Wakefield, the commercial real estate entrepreneur has picked up two of Miami’s premier listings — 1450 Brickell in Downtown Miami and One Park Square at Doral. Both listings were previously with Cushman & Wakefield.

Indeed, while many larger brokerages are struggling — CB Richard Ellis lost $6.6 million in the second quarter of 2009 — Blanca Commercial Real Estate appears better able to adapt to changing market conditions. Boutique firms like Blanca don’t have the debt that larger institutional players may have. [more]

Another top executive at Cushman & Wakefield has left the
beleaguered commercial real estate firm. Jay Caplin, head of the
capital markets group in Florida and a 22-year company veteran, moved
to Steelbridge Capital as a managing principal, a Miami real estate
investment firm. Cushman’s Tere Blanca, a former branch manager,
started her own firm last year, and Florida executive director Hank
Klein was told in June that his position was being eliminated in a
reorganization. Deal flow has been sparse at Cushman this year. [more]

Executive director Hank Klein said he’ll be leaving his post after the
New York-headquartered commercial brokerage told him his job is being
eliminated. Klein said the move is not a shock given the context of the
weak economy. Tere Blanca, the former senior managing director who
recruited Klein two years ago, left the company in February to start
her own firm. Cushman is cutting 200 jobs nationally. [more]