Cushman & Wakefield Complete Deal with Cousins Properties

October 1,2012

Commercial real estate brokerage Cushman & Wakefield has completed its purchase of Atlanta-based Cousins Properties Inc.'s third-party office leasing and management business — a deal that could be in the range of $15 million.

The real estate companies had announced an agreement in August.

The transaction is part of an ongoing shift for Cousins Properties back to its core strategy: owning trophy buildings in key Sun Belt markets and developing urban mixed-use projects.

For Cushman & Wakefield, the deal has the potential to be especially significant, especially in Dallas, where it's trying to take a greater share of the market. Cushman & Wakefield is acquiring a Cousins leasing and management portfolio that stands at roughly 11 million square feet in Atlanta and Dallas, instantly raising its profile in that business segment. That portfolio includes trophy towers in both cities.

In Atlanta, Cushman & Wakefield’s leasing portfolio already included well-known buildings such as Midtown’s Bank of America Plaza, Dunwoody’s Terraces and Ponce City Market in the Old Fourth Ward, the city’s largest reurbanization project.

The transaction will allow Cushman & Wakefield to enhance its service mix in two priority markets in the United States, President and CEO Glenn Rufrano said in a press release.

Adding the Cousins portfolio moves Cushman & Wakefield closer to its goal of having a leadership position across each major service line, John O’Neill, who leads the company’s Atlanta operations, told Atlanta Business Chronicle in August.

-Courtesy, Atlanta Business Chronicle