Silicon Valley Agent Jumps to JLL After 25 Years at Cushman

Silicon Valley commercial agent Clarke Funkhouser is leaving Cushman & Wakefield after 25 years to become the senior managing director at JLL’s Silicon Valley offices, according to a JLL press release.

Funkhouser specializes in agency leasing and tenant representation and has experience with “some of the region’s leading Fortune 100 technology companies, growth firms and major institutional investors,” according to the release. Though he will be based out of JLL’s Menlo Park office, he joins the team of Todd Husak, Mark Bodie and Toss Vallentine operating from both Menlo Park and the firm’s new San Jose office.

Bart Lammersen, JLL’s executive managing director and broker leader, said Funkhouser’s experience, market knowledge and long-held relationships would be “invaluable” to the agency, and added that he is a “great cultural fit as we strive to be the preferred destination of top brokers in the Bay Area.”

Funkhauser is leaving an executive managing director role he has held at Cushman for the last three years. He joined the firm when it was still DTZ/Cassidy Turley back in 1999.

“It was a challenging decision for me as I had been in the same office since the late 90’s and have great friends and partners at Cushman,” Funkhauser said. “Ultimately, I was convinced by JLL’s strong presence on the occupier, property services and capital markets side of the business and by the opportunity to work with some great people to grow the local agency business.”

Cushman has had leadership issues of late, and is about $3 billion in debt. Last year, the agency told investors it aimed to cut spending by $90 million through job cuts after profits plunged by 80 percent.

It also faces a class-action lawsuit, filed in San Francisco, that claims the brokerage stiffed workers out of at least $21.6 million in wages and fees. As that suit makes its way through the courts, another suit from the same main plaintiff was filed last month alleging sexual harassment, negligent supervison and retaliation.