Why Our Town is Better Than Yours

Hometown pride is a force like no other. Wars have been fought over it. Stupid t-shirts have been worn defending it. Bisnow publishes in 23 cities, so we asked some of the nation's biggest companies why they chose to put their HQ where they did. We think you'll enjoy the results. And if you don't like it, you try to do a better issue after rocking 'til 3am and watching 12 hours of football.

NYC: Cushman & Wakefield

Cushman & Wakefield, founded by brothers-in-law Clyde Cushman and Bernie Wakefield (above), is the biggest private real estate company in the world, employing more than 16,000. C&W co-chairman John Cushman tells us the first in his family to try his hand at real estate was Don Alonzo Cushman, who bought up most of what is now Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood (no doubt foreseeing the galleries, clubs, and restaurants that would make real estate values there pop). Don launched D.A. Cushman Realty Corp in the 1850s and lost his holdings (from 18th to 23rd streets and Ninth Avenue to the river) during the Depression. John tells us he owns 100% of the stock on that company; there's nothing in it, but he's saved it for posterity.

Don was eight generations off the Mayflower, and three generations after him, in 1917, John's grandfather Clyde and great uncle Bernie (their wives were sisters) founded C&W in a tiny office at 30 E 42nd St (above) between Fifth and Madison avenues. Offices followed at 1281 Madison, 529 Fifth Ave, 1166 Ave of the Americas, and 51 W 52nd St, and now C&W's HQ takes up 156k SF in 1290 Ave of the Americas. Three of John's four sons are in real estate, too (at Property Group Partners, Tishman, and C&W's Silicon Valley office), making them the seventh consecutive generation in the biz.

John joined the company in '63, and in '67, when he was just 26, moved to LA to open the company's second California office. In '77, he went to Harvard Business School's Advanced Management Program to "get polished up," part of his grooming to become president. It didn't take. Instead he and twin brother Lou quit C&W on April 1, 1978, and started tenant rep firm Cushman Realty Corp in LA (that's John and Lou, above). They grew it to a 197-person national company by the late '90s. In June 2001, Arthur Mirante and Bruce Mosler lured them back, and CRC merged with C&W. Lou is a vice chairman in the Houston office and John is based in LA, though he also has an office in NYC and flies at least 6,000 miles a week, including a Christmas jaunt to Costa Rica.

CHICAGO: The Inland Group of Real Estate Companies

The Inland Real Estate Group of Cos was started in 1967 by four Chicago-area teachers (above): Bob Parks, Dan Goodwin, Joe Cosenza, and Bob Baum. Inland had an office in the city near Oak Park, and the 1979 move to Oak Brook was conceived at the closing table, Joe tells us. They were purchasing an apartment complex in Downers Grove, and the sellers mentioned they were building two small office buildings in Oak Brook, which the principals then combined into one office building.

He and the other principals jumped at the chance of a short commute, says Joe (snapped above in a "now" shot, second to left, with Bob P., Bob B., and Dan). Hundreds of thousands of square feet later, the company eventually sold everything and bought its current complex at Butterfield and Midwest Road, still in Oak Brook. Most of Inland's employees are located in the 'burbs, and free parking doesn't hurt. "We're all gonna die here," Joe jokes. "There's no reason to leave."

HOUSTON: Hines

Hines was founded in Houston in 1955, and it's been home ever since, says CEO Jeff Hines. Besides simply avoiding the burden of moving, he tells us the Space City checks a lot of boxes for the firm: Texas' minimal taxes, Houston's business-friendly environment, and low cost of living for employees. And Jeff says it's wonderful to be in a city where Hines has made such a significant mark. (It's built nearly 20 buildings in the Galleria submarket, where it's HQ'd, alone.) In an extra show of staying power, the company has HQ'd out of the same building since 1983... and just renewed.

BOSTON: Cresa

Cresa's ties to Boston go way back, CEO Jim Leslie tells us. Company founder Bill Goade, born and bred there, started the predecessor firm—tenant rep Avalon Partners—in his hometown, and in '93 formed Cresa. Two years ago, the company considered a relo but decided to stay. "It's our grounding," has a critical mass of support services, and with today's technology the firm doesn't need a central location, Jim says. Many Cresa clients around the country like Boston as an East Coast location because of the skilled labor produced by the city's unparalleled higher ed community, he says.

DC: Cassidy Turley

The relative newcomer to the brokerage block (it was formed in 2010 from eight different former Colliers affiliates) is based in DC since CEO Joe Stettinius works out of the firm's downtown office. But Joe tells us that with "technological advances and a relatively flat organization, the actual location is less and less important." Nevertheless, Joe says the firm loves DC since it's a gateway market offering great access to clients and a broad perspective. And it gives Joe a chance to see his own backyard continue to transform: "As a native of the Washington region, personally witnessing this transformation has inspired me."

TORONTO: Avison Young

For Avison Young CEO Mark Rose, Toronto remains the primary driver of activity. AY's roots there date back to 1989 when the company was born (further back, actually, since the founding partners worked together at Knowlton Realty). "Toronto is a stable, global city and culturally our home," Mark tells us. But AY has offices across North American and Europe. "Whereas our competition is headquartered in the US and behaves in a US-centric way, we believe in 'walk the talk' by operating from a truly global city." Mark points to the $9B in Canadian investment in the US real estate market in 2013 as another factor in basing its global HQ in Toronto.

NYC & DALLAS: RKF and The Retail Connection

Robert Futterman, whom we snapped in October, has expanded his retail brokerage from NYC to Chicago, Vegas, LA, Miami, New Jersey, San Fran, and Toronto since 2001, but its home base of NYC (where Robert started the company in '98) is the gateway to US retail, a launching pad for the rest of the US, he says. That's convenient for Robert, who was born in Brooklyn and raised nearby on Long Island and has never worked at any other job than retail brokerage. Had he been born elsewhere? Well, he would have made his way to New York anyway, Robert tells us.

Big D was the natural cornerstone for The Retail Connection. CEO Steve Lieberman says it remains a great choice for the 10-year-old firm, because DFW has one of the country's fastest-growing, top-producing GDPs, a super healthy business environment, and residents with disposable incomes (keeping retailers expanding here, too). TRC--repping more than 250 retail chains and 25M SF--activated more than 700k SF of developments, 500k SF of redevelopments, and had more than 3M SF of projects in the pipeline during 2013. Steve (a Dallas native) also loves the city's attitude and energy.

PHILDELPHIA: Campus Apartments

As a boy, David Adelman worked summers for family friend (and Campus Apartments co-founder) Alan Horwitz and invested in his first property before entering high school. From there, a rise to the top was inevitable. As CEO of Campus Apartments, David oversees development and management of 34,000 beds across 75 college campuses in 25 states, but he says it's still "very much a pro-Philly company" invested in the city's growth. Its HQ is in the student enclave of West Philly, where as a University City District board member, David partnered with UPenn and Drexel leadership to improve neighborhood quality of life. He also served on the City Planning Commission in the early aughts and is an investor in the proposed MARKET8 casino.

SAN FRANCISCO: CAC Group

CAC Group excels at locking down tech leases (Supercell, LinkedIn, Yelp, to name a few), so why escape the innovation capital of the world? That talent caused the brokerage to lure many suitors over the years, but they liked CBRE the most partly because its roots are also in S.F., dating back to 1906. Now the combined company is the No. 1 leasing agent in S.F. CAC's Bill Cumbelich (snapped last month at 555 Cal, one of its listings) founded the company in 1990 with fellow real estate nuts John Cecconi and Gary Arabian, growing to 130 employees and becoming the agent for 18M SF while managing 11M SF of office properties in downtown San Francisco, the Bay Area, and Seattle, including Bellevue.

SOUTH FLORIDA: Stiles

Stiles, which has developed more than 37M SF of commercial and residential in South Florida, has long called Fort Lauderdale home. Howard Stiles, father of current CEO Terry Stiles (right, with son Ken, who's also in the biz), moved to SoFla from Ohio after WWII on the advice of his doctor, becoming part of the local post-war boom. (Our doctor tells us to eat better and exercise. We want Howard's guy.) Howard started the company in the early 1950s as a contractor. Terry worked there part time starting at age 15, and in 1968 he joined his father's biz. While the firm's expanded across Florida, North Carolina, and Tennessee, South Florida has always been its core and a natural choice for its HQ, thanks to rising real estate prices in other areas around the country, consistent temperatures, and influx of foreign investment, he says.

ATLANTA: Richard Bowers & Co.

Dick Bowers' shop is as storied as he is in Atlanta, producing some of the city's most productive brokers. Why he stuck with Atlanta when he opened in 1980: "Atlanta was where I was, and I like Atlanta. It's a lower-cost city than others." Even though he leads some 100 employees, he still hustles as much as he did as an up-and-comer, walking through office buildings and cold calling tenants, and at times simultaneously making cold calls on two cell phones (he actually has three now). In the days of IMs, emails, and video walk-throughs, why the old-school ways? "I believe that a personal interactive relationship with conversation and meetings is far more meaningful than some of these email approaches," he says.

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