CBRE Showcases New Hires

NEW YORK CITY-It’s anything but business as usual for CB Richard Ellis as the heretofore all-but-invisible player in New York real estate is suddenly coveting the spotlight. CBRE execs yesterday held a Times Square press conference to reveal some major new hires, a pledge to communicate more freely and a $120-million budget shift to fund Tri-State area initiatives.

While the notoriously press-shy firm’s new open-door policy has yet to stand the test of time, lack of firepower won’t be a public relations problem for the foreseeable future. The Los Angeles-based brokerage house used yesterday’s event to showcase some high-powered personnel additions including Mary Ann Tighe, former vice chairman at Insignia/ESG, who will serve as CBRE’s newly appointed president and CEO of the New York Tri-State region.

Cherrie Nanninga, former deputy chief financial officer and director of real estate for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, was also on hand as CBRE’s new chief operating officer of the firm’s Tri-State operations. Nanninga said she will begin her stint at the firm not in a traditional brokerage role, but rather as “a facilitator, working behind the scenes making sure everything goes smoothly.”