News
CBRE: Hubs and Kisses
April 26, 2012
| Two heads are better than one, as we found out last week when we visited CBRE senior managing directors Kurt Strasmann and Jeff Moore in the firm’s recently expanded and remodeled office in Newport Beach. Together, they run CBRE’s Orange County region. (By this logic, doubles tennis is the sport to watch at the London Olympics.) |
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| They oversee profitability for all business lines: brokerage as well as the rest of the platform including asset services, valuation, project management, property management, corporate services, and debt and equity finance. Both were top brokerage producers who worked their way up the system (though Kurt did it at Grubb & Ellis, for more than 25 years). On the brokerage side, Jeff runs the capital markets and retail groups while Kurt’s responsible for office and industrial. (How do they decide who gets the check at dinner?) The Newport Beach operation occupies 87k SF—up from 35k SF pre-expansion. Two affiliated companies, Trammell Crow and CBRE Global Investors, also are housed there. |
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| Where it all happens: CBRE’s building at 3501 Jamboree. It’s one of the largest CBRE offices, as one of three hub offices (the others being New York and Dallas), providing every resource the real estate services giant offers. Executive leadership (including Americas COO Steve Swerdlow), marketing, graphics, research, and PR are all here, along with the Western division finance and HR groups, and corporate training. |
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| Don’t be fooled by the “maximum occupancy 70” sign in CBRE’s largest conference room. With the side doors opened, the company has hosted as many as 200 for presentations. It’s also available to clients who want to hold functions. (On casual Fridays, the massive conference table could be a Slip 'n Slide.) |
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| The RISE Café, a cafeteria/meeting room with its pool table and balcony, where CBRE personnel hold get-togethers. Trammell Crow’s Robert Chute makes like Minnesota Fats as Ricky Flandez and Damon Austin watch. Btw, RISE stands for the company’s corporate values of Respect, Integrity, Service, Excellence—a Trammell Crow legacy. |
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| A feature specifically put into the offices were lockers and showers. That said, workplace strategies are important at CBRE: providing the best environment for the firm’s professionals to share and collaborate. CBRE’s building is right on the Back Bay where employees can bike or run. The group does “a lot of fun stuff” involving team-bonding—for example, annual softball and basketball challenges for the SoCal offices. According to Jeff, a former collegiate baseball player, and Kurt, a collegiate track star, there are so many current and past athletes within CB that “it’s easy to field those teams.” In two weeks they’ll be doing a paintball event. In addition, every year Jeff organizes a 100-mile horse and mule drive from Bishop to June Lake. |
