The future of CBRE

From the January Issue: As the city’s dominant commercial services firm, CB Richard Ellis has a star-studded roster of brokers and brings in business from around the globe. Top producers in Manhattan include veterans such as Darcy Stacom, who brokered the largest real estate deal in history with the 2006 sale of Stuyvesant Town for $5.4 billion, and Mary Ann Tighe, who led the company with 5.6 million square feet leased in 2008. There’s also Stephen Siegel, the reigning godfather of Manhattan brokerage. That’s not to mention the firm’s corps of junior brokers, and an analysis and research department that is, perhaps, the most sophisticated in the city. But despite all of its cachet, there is evidence that the global real estate giant is in a bit of a slump in Manhattan — even as it’s holding up internationally. While all firms have been battered by the depressed market in New York, CBRE’s challenges seem to go beyond the weak economy. Data indicate smaller competitors such as Newmark Knight Frank (which is just one-fifth of CBRE’s size globally) are eating into the firm’s market share in leasing and landlord representation in Manhattan. And ironically, CBRE may be hobbled by its own strength — and reliance — in doing business with large corporations, many of which are now hurting.  More