11:00 AM
Newmark Grubb Knight Frank (NGKF) will expand its presence in Colorado with the opening of a new office in Colorado Springs, announced Executive Vice President and Regional Managing Director Kevin McCabe. The firm has hired El Paso County market leaders Kent Mau, Brian Wagner and Mark O’Donnell, Jr. to open the new office.
“The Denver commercial real estate market is firing on all cylinders, and with the Colorado Springs market continuing to rebound, this is an opportune time to extend our focus to that marketplace,” said Mr. McCabe. “Increasing our commitment and presence are large priorities, and as experienced professionals in the southern Colorado market, Kent, Brian and Mark are ideally suited to lead this expansion.”
“NGKF’s resources, international platform and entrepreneurial concentration will enable our team to optimally serve our clients as the office market continues to improve,” said Mr. Mau. “Last year saw increased absorption-double that of 2012-with fewer users vacating or downsizing, and increased investment activity. We expect that momentum to continue in 2014. We welcome the opportunity to accommodate our clients’ growing and changing requirements, including a wider range of available services and national exposure opportunities.”
The Colorado Springs office market totals approximately 27.8 million square feet, including eight million square feet of Class A space. Current overall vacancy of 14.6% is down by more than two percentage points year-over-year, and the market’s growing job stabilization is expected to return the office market to pre-2008 numbers in 2014.
“Colorado Springs is positioned for a break-out year, much as Denver was at the beginning of 2013,” said Mr. Mau, a more than 30-year industry veteran of office brokerage, who joins NGKF as executive managing director.
The team, which has an extensive track record working with institutional property owners and entrepreneurial business owners in office and medical properties, joins NGKF from Sierra Commercial Real Estate. Brian Wagner and Mark O’Donnell are appointed managing director and director, respectively. Representative clients include Kinder Morgan, Children’s Hospital Colorado, USA Triathlon, Norwood Development, Brookwood Financial Partners and DPC Development Company.
“We have had a year of impressive growth,” says Mr. McCabe. “Locally, while the increase in transactions and revenue, nearly 30 percent per broker, is reflective of the strengthening market, the principal drivers are the maturation of our expanded broker talent and the depth and strength of our national platform. We couldn’t be more pleased with the evolution of this firm, regionally and nationally.”
This January, NGKF parent BGC Partners, Inc., announced an agreement to acquire Cornish & Carey Commercial, Northern California’s premier commercial real estate firm.
About Newmark Grubb Knight Frank
Newmark Grubb Knight Frank is one of the world’s leading commercial real estate advisory firms. Together with London-based partner Knight Frank and independently-owned offices, NGKF’s 12,000 professionals operate from more than 320 offices in established and emerging property markets on five continents.
With roots dating back to 1929, NGKF’s strong foundation makes it one of the most trusted names in commercial real estate. NGKF’s full-service platform comprises BGC’s real estate services segment, offering commercial real estate tenants, landlords, investors and developers a wide range of services including leasing; capital markets services, including investment sales, debt placement, appraisal, and valuation services; commercial mortgage brokerage services; as well as corporate advisory services, consulting, project and development management, and property and corporate facilities management services. For further information, visit www.ngkf.com.
NGKF is a part of BGC Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ: BGCP), a leading global brokerage company primarily servicing the wholesale financial and real estate markets. For further information, visit www.bgcpartners.com.