Jeff LaFavre launches Integrust Advisory Group, based in Minneapolis/Saint Paul, MN, to provide site selection, strategic real estate planning, development, and traditional brokerage services.

Crain’s Chicago Business provided a good report yesterday on the emancipation (as it should be described) of exclusive tenant representation firm Howard Ecker + Company.  Mr. Ecker has been around the block, as they say.  He first established his own brokerage firm in 1975, after punching his ticket at Studley, Cushman & Wakefield, and Rubloff (residential brokerage).  In 1995 he merged with Jupiter Realty Corp, and led their tenant rep division until a year ago.  But these days Ecker has been busy reconstituting his own firm, hiring 20 employees, and planting …

Continuing the theme of negative absorption, CRE-Insights noticed that Sunday’s New York Times featured an article on 1095 Avenue of the Americas in New York City, located on Bryant Park just across the street from the new Bank of America Tower.  It seems that while most of the building is officially “under lease”, the committed tenants are drastically reducing their space needs and therefore seeking to unload the excess via sublease or landlord buy-outs.  With committed “face rents” reported up to $130-150/RSF, and current market rates below $100, a few corporate …

In its Autumn 2008 Survey of CRE managers, London-based GVA Grimley reports significant pessimism and plans for portfolio contraction across the board, particularly in leisure (hotels & restaurants), retail, and financial services sectors. 
Among the findings, personnel cuts have left 50% of the corporate real estate users with surplus property, and 40% sitting on completely vacant sites.  Rather than hold the space for better times (e.g. subleasing), a strong C-level emphasis on cost control

In the wake of the Staubach – Jones Lang LaSalle merger, CresaPartners emerging as the leading firm focused exclusively on tenant representation brokerage.