Brand New Firm Picks Up Office Heavy-Hitter

In his 30-year career as a top-producing commercial real estate professional, he has been active in office leasing and investment transactions totaling over $1 billion and more than 5 million square feet.

MIAMI— Tower Commercial Real Estate is determined to make an impact on South Florida’s commercial real estate market. After three Cushman & Wakefield gurus launched the firm in April , Tower has quickly adding more talent to its roster. R. Michael Erickson just joined as Boca Raton-based senior managing director. He’s charged with driving the firm’s growth as the leading commercial real estate team in Palm Beach County and directing leasing of a class A office portfolio of more than 1 million square feet that includes many of Boca Raton’s most notable office properties. “Mike’s expertise, deep market insight, and track record in meeting complex needs of many of the nation’s top institutional owners make him a great match for Tower and a valued advisor for our clients,” says Jon Blunk , president of Miami-headquartered Tower Commercial Real Estate. Blunk started the firm with Cristina Glaria and Laurel Oswald . In his 30-year career as a top-producing commercial real estate professional, Erickson, has been active in office leasing and investment transactions totaling over $1 billion and more than 5 million square feet. He previously served at CBRE . “The Palm Beach County office market is undergoing some dynamic changes,” Erickson tells GlobeSt.com. “Even though general activity has been modest, vacancies are dropping primarily in response to job growth and organic expansion. Couple this with no significant new deliveries anticipated in the next 12 to 24 months, rental rates should continue to rise, concessions diminish and market statistics should continue to gain positive momentum.” Erickson joins Tower as the firm takes on the exclusive leasing of Crocker Partners’ 857,000-square-foot Boca Raton office portfolio, among others. Properties that come with that assignment include the Boca Raton West submarket include the 10-story One Town Center, Boca Center Towers I and II, the 11-story The Plaza, One Boca Place, and 1800 Boca Center. Before joining Tower, Erickson was senior vice president with CBRE Brokerage Services Division in Boca Raton. In his three decades with there, he provided strategic consulting and brokerage services for office property owners, as well as representing an array of local and global, publicly traded tenants. Erickson won multiple global awards as a top CBRE producer and leader. He was also honored as South Florida’s Leasing Professional of the Year by the South Florida Chapter of the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) and is a regularly featured trend speaker for NAIOP Commercial Real Estate Association and IREM at annual forecast conferences.