MINNEAPOLIS — Cushman & Wakefield and NorthMarq Real Estate Services have reached an agreement to create a joint venture and merge their operations in Minnesota. The new venture, which will operate as Cushman & Wakefield/NorthMarq Real Estate Services, will become the region’s largest brokerage, property and facilities management firm when the deal closes, expected to occur on September 30, 2011.
The new organization will combine employees from both offices, becoming one of the largest firms of its kind in the U.S., with more than 500 employees. In addition, the venture will be the region’s largest property and facility management firm, with more than 55 million square feet of properties under management in the region, as well as the region’s largest brokerage company, with more than 80 brokerage professionals.
NorthMarq Real Estate Services will be the venture’s majority partner, and Jeff Eaton, president of NorthMarq Real Estate Services (pictured at left), will lead the new venture.
“The creation of this joint venture supports the long-term strategic plan we launched in 2008,” Eaton said in a statement. “This unique shared ownership structure creates strong alignment of interests between the companies and allows full access to corporate resources. We are excited about the benefits this partnership allows our employees as well as investor and corporate clients.”
NorthMarq Real Estate Services is part of Marquette Real Estate Group, which is owned by the Pohlad Family of Companies. Related company NorthMarq Capital is not part of the joint venture and will continue to independently operate its commercial mortgage banking business nationally.
Cushman & Wakefield, which was founded in New York in 1917 and operates more than 230 offices worldwide, has had a presence in Minnesota since 2002 under the leadership of Clint Miller (pictured at right). Miller will join the newly merged operation as a member of the senior leadership team.
“This is very much in line with Cushman & Wakefield’s strategy, which is a growth oriented strategy,” says Miller, currently executive managing director and market leader with Cushman & Wakefield Minnesota, who spoke to REBusinessOnline for a phone interview. “We’re a relatively young office, and despite the fact we have a good presence, NorthMarq is one of the leading firms in this marketplace, and they have a great group of clients and property professionals. We compete with them all the time, so the ability to be teamed is desirable.”
Miller adds that the venture will touch every commercial property type and service line through the venture, representing tenants and corporations as well as properties. On the whole, he says, the Minnesota market is stable — Minneapolis/St. Paul has the 15th or 16th largest MSA (depending on whose data you have, he says) and the 12th largest CBD, home to 20 Fortune 500 companies.
“This market is a great place to do business, and we’re ahead of our plan for the end of 2010 through 2011, which reflects the fact that our clients here look for global solutions, even when the economy is anemic,” Miller says. “Working in Minnesota as a global platform gives us the chance to do a lot of business — unemployment is 2 percentage points better than the national average, and we’re bullish on the forecast and our pipeline here. Capital markets are attracted here, there is investment money coming in and investment sales transactions getting done.
“On a personal note, this is a reunion for me, as I spent 12 years at NorthMarq and its predecessor companies,” Miller adds. “We’re building a team-oriented, collaborative culture, which is something clients want today. That’s the way we’ve always been, and the way of NorthMarq operates as well, so it’s a cultural match as well as complementary business fit.”
— Dan Marcec