Rainmakers Harmon, Spies Leaving Cushman & Wakefield For Rival Firm
One of the top-performing investment sales teams in the country is leaving Cushman & Wakefield to join Newmark Group, a coup for the Manhattan-based brokerage.
Doug Harmon and Adam Spies have been named co-heads of Newmark’s U.S capital markets business, the publicly traded company announced Wednesday afternoon.
Newmark also hired Harmon and Spies' team of brokers but didn't say how many people it was adding in the move. Bisnow previously reported 15 brokers made up the Harmon/Spies team at Cushman & Wakefield.
"These hires are expected to amplify Newmark's strength, upwards trajectory and momentum to become the most trusted and sought-after capital markets firm in the world for both producers and clients," Newmark CEO Barry Gosin said in a statement announcing the appointment. "Historically, our investment sales and debt businesses have had a multiplier effect, which drives outsized growth across the company."
Harmon and Spies, who joined Cushman from Eastdil Secured in 2016, have brokered some of the biggest deals in U.S. real estate history. Billion-dollar sales the pair brokered include Google's $2.4B purchase of Chelsea Market, Blackstone's $5.4B purchase of Stuytown and Peter Cooper Village, and Brookfield's sale of a $1.4B stake in One Manhattan West.
Last year, the team closed some $5.7B in transactions, Newmark said, including the sale of 19 Dutch St. for $495.5M and the American Copper Buildings, which traded for $850M. Harmon has brokered more than $250B worth of transactions since 1997, while Spies joined him at Eastdil in 1999.
"In this market, as the industry moves towards planning for the short-term, Newmark remains well-positioned to press forward on its long-term vision as the industry leader,” Harmon said. “We are excited to start this new chapter and are committed to stamping an indelible mark on the industry."
Spies said that the “deepest bench of commercial real estate talent” right now is at Newmark. The company, which is chaired by Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick, went public in 2017. Harmon and Spies will work alongside Newmark’s current co-heads of U.S. capital markets, Kevin Shannon and Robert Griffin, and report to Gosin.
Newmark was the fifth-most-active investment sales brokerage in the U.S. last year with $42.5B in deals, while Cushman & Wakefield was fourth with $43.3B, according to Real Estate Alert data reported by The Wall Street Journal.
