NEW YORK CITY-In the wake of the latest high-profile moves by industry leaders like Arthur Mirante, Tom D’Arcy, Ethan Penner and Joseph Harbert, brokerage shops are running neck-and-neck for the best talent – and at the same time, companies are continuing to expand their reach beyond just leasing and sales. Sources tell GlobeSt.com that as firms consolidate their operations, commercial real estate brokerage companies are looking for personnel that can market a wide platform of services all under one roof—and the industry’s biggest names are being snatched up to lead the new generation of the business.

"The industry is demanding a higher level of talent, a higher degree of professionalism, a higher understanding of the real estate markets and the expertise,” Ron Uretta, managing member of High Road Advisors and the former president and chief operating officer of Insignia/ESG, tells GlobeSt.com. “At the same time, the firms also want to have a fully-integrated service platform, very much like Insignia was building years ago, and now it’s gone to a much higher level."

As evidenced by BGC Partners Inc.’s recent acquisition of Grubb & Ellis, as well as older deals like CBRE’s acquisition of Insignia/ESG and Trammell Crow and Jones Lang LaSalle’s acquisition of the Staubach Co., brokerage firms are combining their current operations into a more relationship-oriented business driven by client needs, Uretta explains. "It is what used to be in these silos in effect," he says. "These divisions are all being blended into a fully integrated platform with all the services. The mortgage origination capabilities, the investment sales capabilities, the corporate servicing ability – it is a full service platform. You are seeing a talent pool of people who are young veterans. Many of them are people who have gone through solid training at CBRE, JLL or C&W, but now they are saying there is an opportunity across the way and its time for them to make the move.”