Clark and Cummings bring a new specialty to the Upstate
April 22, 2016
GREENVILLE, SC – CBRE announced Ryan Clark, Senior Associate, and Joe Cummings, Associate within CBRE’s Advisory and Transaction Services team, are transitioning their specialties to Advisory & Transaction Services | Occupier. Clark and Cummings previously represented both landlords and occupiers. With this move, they will have an exclusive focus on the unique and challenging commercial real estate requirements of occupiers.
Their team is the first of its kind in the Greenville-Spartanburg market and will exclusively advise occupiers on real estate needs whether the assignment is a relocation, expansion, consolidation, sublease, acquisition or disposition.
“For many tenants and organizations, the operating costs associated with fixed assets are often second only to labor cost,” said Clark. “Similar to investors, it’s important for tenants to have a partner and advocate when navigating the challenging issues associated with occupancy requirements and negotiations.”
“Real estate decisions will always impact an organization’s bottom line,” said Cummings. “Many organizations only evaluate their immediate needs when it comes time to make real estate decisions in a single transaction. While our team will assist in creating opportunities that meet the client’s needs of today, we will also drive long-term exceptional outcomes for the future.”
Tenants new to the market leased over 250,000 sq. ft. of space last year and the Upstate is poised for greater opportunity in the future. With vacancy at a record low, it has never been more challenging to secure space for tenants. While this can present an economic challenge for the region, Clark and Cummings plan to leverage their market intelligence to ensure that tenants, both active in the market and those new-to-market, are able to find the space they need.
“Primary markets like Charlotte and Atlanta already have commercial real estate teams that are solely focused on tenant representation,” said Clark. “We are excited to bring this specialty to the Upstate to explore strategies to create first-class workplace environments that attract and retain talent, improve employee productivity and satisfaction, and increase operational efficiencies,” said Clark.
Corporate clients are focusing on real estate strategy and are harnessing the advantages in partnering on delivery according to CBRE’s Americas Occupier Survey 2015/16. Of interest, nearly 49% of organizations surveyed are managing their CRE function with a team of fewer than 10 in-house management-level professionals, and 37% are operating with fewer than 10 in house operations personnel. These reported results reflect an increasing strength of partnership with external real estate providers entrusted to address all levels of specialized, regulate, and scalable scopes of work.
Clark and Cummings leverage a decade of experience as strategic real estate advisers to local, regional and national tenants. In 2015, CBRE represented tenants in over half a million of square feet in South Carolina of which 250,949 square feet was in the Greenville-Spartanburg. Clark is a graduate of Furman University and Cummings is a graduate of the University of Maryland.
About CBRE Group, Inc.
CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBG), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Los Angeles, is the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (in terms of 2015 revenue). The Company has more than 70,000 employees (excluding affiliates), and serves real estate owners, investors and occupiers through more than 400 offices (excluding affiliates) worldwide. CBRE offers strategic advice and execution for property sales and leasing; corporate services; property, facilities and project management; mortgage banking; appraisal and valuation; development services; investment management; and research and consulting. Please visit our website at www.cbre.com.
