Cushman’s Mosler relinquishes co-chair role, shifts exclusively to brokerage

Bruce Mosler and 1290 Sixth Avenue

Bruce Mosler has announced that starting in January, he will no longer be co-chairman of Cushman & Wakefield, a position he assumed in March after stepping down as CEO. Instead, he will become chairman of global brokerage, Mosler told The Real Deal today in an interview at his 1290 Sixth Avenue office.

“In January, I am going to return to brokerage full-time as chairman of global brokerage,” said Mosler, who got his start as a real estate broker at Newmark Knight Frank.

The position is a new one for the firm.

In March, Glenn Rufrano, CEO of Centro, a publicly traded REIT, took the reins as Cushman’s CEO. (note: correction appended) Mosler then became co-chairman, sharing the position with John Cushman III.

As co-chair, Mosler has gotten back into the brokerage game, becoming a “strategic real estate consultant” for developer Charles Cohen, the president and CEO of Cohen Brothers Realty. Earlier this month, Mosler represented Cohen Brothers in one of the year’s biggest leasing transactions: Meredith Corporation, publishers of Ladies’ Home Journal, signed for a 212,594-square-foot space at Cohen’s 805 Third Avenue.

“I love brokerage — it’s my passion,” Mosler said. And as co-chairman, he wasn’t able to fully concentrate on it, he said.

“As co-chairman, I felt that I had a foot in both camps,” he said. Going forward, “I’ll continue to help be a part of strategy and support Glenn.” But in the new job, “I’ll focus fully on business development,” he said.

The move has been in the works for some time, he said.

“This is something I discussed with Glenn…. that I would do this role for a year to help transition, and I would gravitate to chairman of global brokerage,” he said. “This was all planned.”

For more details, look for “The Closing” interview with Mosler in the December issue of The Real Deal.