Cushman & Wakefield's Vision: One-Stop Shopping

Broker Lament: Will I Make Less Money? ... My July 17 Dispatch, Partnering for the Common Good, which described Octane's efforts to bring efficiencies to the real estate industry, triggered this e-mail from an old broker friend:  "If major providers adopt a common platform and become more efficient, our services will become more commoditized, which will ERODE margins and decrease profitability as competitors bid for business..."

Well, don't tell this to Tom Falus, president of Cushman & Wakefield's Strategic Ventures Group (SVG).  When I met with Falus ("faloosh") recently in his elegant New York office, here's how he outlined his vision: "Cushman & Wakefield sees a strategic advantage in partnering with best-of-breed companies, which will provide it with an end-to-end, technically enhanced platform that encompasses the real estate lifecycle.  Our clients are seeking a comprehensive solution with flexible technology options geared to their business."

SVG's current investments include BIG-e Real Estate (Internet-based portfolio management), ePropertyTax (Web-enabled property tax system), FacilityPro (e-procurement), and Zeborg (procurement solutions).  C&W has reacquired its database from RealtyIQ and has almost finished repopulating it for use by its brokerage professionals.  Previously, C&W had supported Zethus, the innovative transaction management platform, which was backed financially by Goldman Sachs.  However, Zethus never got off the ground.  What role Cushman & Wakefield plays in industry-wide platform initiatives (like Octane) is still an open question.  But Falus, who is committed to helping C&W's clients find the right business solutions, believes equally that more efficient brokerage services will profit C&W professionals.

--Peter Pike / ppike@pikenet.com