"That thing is definitely going to happen," one source tells GlobeSt.com, a notion supported by several other market observers. The Codman Co. was a portal through which dozens of the region's top commercial real estate professionals passed during their ascension into the industry, but the firm has been diminished over the past 20 years by a series of departures and ownership changes and the arrival of national players on the scene. Although longtime principal Lawrence Bianchi remains on board as chairman emeritus, most of the company's leadership has moved on, with the latest change occurring in 2004 when owner Paul Simard was bought out and replaced by several new principals, many of whom remain on board.

Among the professionals taking an ownership position were James Belli, David Campbell and Steve Prozinski. Repeated calls to Prozinski, Campbell and other Codman officials this week were not returned, but Prozinski did previously dismiss the notion that a sale was "imminent," as one source had claimed. An NKF spokesperson declined to discuss the matter at all when offered several opportunities to refute the reports. Despite the silence, however, the rumors of a deal continue to reverberate throughout the market, even leading several tracking the situation to insist that an agreement is already in place. "It's done," claimed one such source.

If the sale were to occur, it would likely be the end of the Codman name in Boston and dwindle local ownership to a handful of commercial real estate companies such as NAI Commercial Co. Observers maintain that NKF would benefit from both Codman's property management portfolio and its stable of brokerage talent, including such professionals as Christopher Curley, Drew Nelson and Thomas Powers. And while the autonomy of Codman would no longer be there, staffers would be able to take advantage of NKF's global platform similar to that found at local competitors such as CB Richard Ellis, Cushman & Wakefield and Jones Lang LaSalle. That international networking has been a big reason other firms have cited when being taken over by outside competitors.