NEW YORK CITY—The war for brokerage deals is an ongoing fight but Cushman & Wakefield has scored a major victory in the facilities management battle. Citigroup has hired C&W to manage 27 million square feet of office, retail and data center space in the US and Canada, according to the latest earnings report from the commercial real estate services firm.
In the Greater New York area, Citi owns or leases dozens of retail branches and millions of square feet of office space, notes the Wall Street Journal. Among its holdings are triple net-leases at 388-390 Greenwich St., in Tribeca, totaling more than two billion square feet of space.
C&W's John Santora, CEO of corporate occupier and investor services, declined to discuss any specific details of the Citigroup assignment. However, he did tell GlobeSt.com of several shifts made at Cushman over the last few years that likely helped the firm land Citi.
“We've won some large global portfolios over the last few years based on putting together customized solutions that address each client's needs and culture,” he says. “We bring a number of technology tools to the table.”
He continues, “We can offer a company metrics on its business intelligence, where it stands on a real estate transaction, the whole property portfolio and more. We also have some programs that will track a client's sustainability performance against set goals. Today's a world of metrics, so being able to provide clients with a dashboard of products to show them where they stand has allowed us to grow.”
He explains, “We can build the tools around how a client's real estate team works, measure the cost of space per employee, how quickly they're turning around transaction and how well they're using space. We've developed these tools over the last few years and they take giant leaps forward every year. We continue to make major investment in technology.”
Cushman had, in the past, managed Citigroup but the banking corporation's real estate needs most recently were overseen by JLL. It was unclear why Citi broke with Cushman and then circled back. JLL did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
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Rayna Katz
Rayna Katz is a seasoned business journalist whose extensive experience includes coverage of the lodging sector, travel and the culinary space. She was most recently content director for a business-to-business publisher, overseeing four publications. While at Meeting News, a travel trade publication, she received a Best Reporting award for a story on meeting cancellations in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
