Connectivity Drives a New Strategic Alliance
Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) has signed a unique strategic alliance with American Fiber Systems (AFS), Rochester, N.Y., a leading provider of dark-fiber-optic communications networks — fiber-optic cable without electronics equipment attached. The alliance calls for Cushman & Wakefield to negotiate arrangements that allow for the interconnection of AFS’s dark fiber with the equipment of other telecom companies as well as agreements for telecom hotels, switching center leases and building access to high-speed, broadband data transmission. Non-voice communications traffic, including data, video, Internet, e-mail and graphics, require buildings to have ever-increasing bandwidth capacity.
The agreement will help AFS implement its dark-fiber networks in mid-sized American cities. C&W is leveraging its alliance with the Business Integration Group (BIG) by allowing AFS managers to communicate via the Web using BIG’s big-e-real estate transaction-tracking software (see Real Estate Technology, p. 442, in the July 2001 issue of Site Selection) in applications involving work done by C&W.
Johnson Controls Inks a Key FM Contract
Aon, a global provider of insurance brokerage, consulting and underwriting services, has outsourced its facility management function to Johnson Controls, Inc. (JCI). The parties signed a five-year, US$100 million agreement in May, which includes the transfer of more than 100 Aon employees to the JCI payroll. The contract calls for Johnson Controls’ Integrated Facility Management unit, based in Atlanta, to supply fully integrated facility management services to more than 100 sites in the UK, most of which are offices. The contract is structured as a partnership with flexibility built in such that Aon can change the scope of services rendered to adapt to changing business needs.
Service Providers on the Move….
CB Richard Ellis has promoted Calvin Frese to the position of chief operating officer/Americas. As such, he will oversee the financial planning and strategic planning of all business units in the Americas other than independently operated L.J. Melody and CBRE Investors. He will oversee such areas as shared-services functions, information technology, field operations and Web services. Most recently, Frese was executive managing director of CB Richard Ellis’s Central Region.
Dennis R. Irvin has joined Cushman & Wakefield as an executive director, where he is working on major advisory and transaction assignments on a team headed by Vice Chairman August DiRenzo. Irvin left J.P. Morgan/Chase Securities, where he was a senior member of the bank’s real estate investment banking group in New York.
The Staubach Co. ‘s Ka Cotter and Elysia Holt Ragusa have been promoted to vice chairman of the board of directors and president of the newly formed Real Estate Services division, respectively. The new unit will consolidate several of the firm’s operational functions. Cotter, who sits on the executive committee and the board of directors, will continue to serve as president of the firm’s global services division. Holt Ragusa has served since 1994 as president of the firm’s southwest corporate services region, during which time she helped grow revenues by 500 percent. In Chicago, Steve Stratton joins the firm’s executive committee, and Bruce Hopple has been named senior vice president of the Chicago corporate services office.
Attorney Bruce Saber has joined Heller Ehrmann White and McAuliffe LLP, where he will lead the firm’s real estate practice in New York. Saber previously was founding principal and senior managing director at WestWind Capital Partners, an international real estate advisory firm. He has also held the post of general counsel and senior managing director at Tishman Speyer Properties, a leading real estate developer.
Inspection & Valuation International (IVI), Miami, an architectural and engineering consultancy specializing in project management, has promoted Linda A. Bryson to the level of principal. She has held the position of vice president since 1996. Bryson specializes in due diligence services on behalf of institutional lenders and debt rating agencies.
Robert S. Burgen has joined CLW Real Estate Services Group, Tampa, as Tenant Representation Consultant. Burgen previously was senior vice president of corporate services at CB Richard Ellis.
Jeff Gunther, executive vice president of Los Angeles-based Charles Dunn Real Estate Management Services, Inc. — the property management division of Charles Dunn Co. — has been promoted to the position of president. He will directly oversee the firm’s entire 25 million-sq.-ft. (2.3-million-sq.-m.) portfolio in the western United States.
Daniel Larkin has joined the London office of international law firm Squire, Sanders & Dempsey LLP, where he heads up the firm’s real estate/hospitality/leisure practice throughout the UK and Europe. At previous assignments with PriceWaterhouse Coopers and Hyatt International Corp., Larkin specialized in financial transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, portfolio transactions, and joint ventures.
