REPORT: Newmark is playing for commercial’s No. 1 spot

A special report from The Real Deal — Brokerage spends on talent, hoping for payoff when business comes back Jun 05, 2024 [View in Browser]( [Share](   [Image]( [image]( Brokerage spends on talent, hoping for payoff when business comes back The country’s top two real estate brokers had barely settled into their new offices when they got the call to help prevent a national banking crisis. In February 2023, Newmark Group announced it had lured Doug Harmon and Adam Spies from rival [Cushman & Wakefield]( as co-heads of its capital markets team, reporting to the CEO. The company expected Harmon and Spies “to amplify Newmark’s strength, upwards trajectory and momentum” in the capital markets business, whose role at the firm was already “outsized.” Six weeks later, when Signature Bank [failed]( and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation needed to sell $60 billion worth of its loans, the agency called Newmark. And so the dealmakers were in the room as the government made decisions that could bring calm to a skittish economy — or lead to a panic and cause contagion. The [assignment]( was a rush for brokers who feed off of high-stakes moments. For executives at Newmark, it was vindication. CEO Barry Gosin and Howard Lutnick, Newmark’s chair, had wanted to overtake industry leaders like CBRE and JLL by piecing together real estate’s No. 1 capital markets team, and hiring Harmon and Spies had been a key element in the plan. Newmark’s leaders had another piece of foresight: The company had earlier applied for a contract with the FDIC putting it on the short list of brokerages that would aid the government during a banking crisis. “So they come in … the greatest talent, with the greatest license, and we win the business because we were set up to do everything from the beginning,” Lutnick, who’s also the head of Cantor Fitzgerald, [said at The Real Deal’s forum]( last month. For Newmark, the Signature [deal]( suggested what the payoff for 12 years of building would look like. [Read Full Story]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [LinkedIn]( [YouTube]( [Share]( | [Manage Newsletters]( | [Unsubscribe](list=Valid Nats) | [Privacy Policy]( | [Subscribe]( | [Advertise]( The Real Deal 450 West 31st Street, New York, NY 10001 ©2024 TheRealDeal. All rights reserved. [View Online](