Brookfield Ousts Cushman & Wakefield as Listing Broker

Brookfield Asset Management is washing its hands of Cushman & Wakefield marketing its office and logistics space in the United States.

Brookfield fired Cushman from the responsibility, Bloomberg reported. It’s not immediately clear how many listings Cushman is being removed from, but Cushman was tasked with marketing some of Brookfield’s most prominent Manhattan office spaces, including 660 Fifth Avenue and Manhattan West.

The former site may have something to do with Cushman’s firing. The brokerage has been on the hunt for office space as its lease for 180,000 square feet at 1290 Sixth Avenue is set to expire in 2025. Cushman reportedly had a deal to move some of its offices to 660 Fifth Avenue, but that supposedly fell through.

Cushman finances have been under scrutiny. The commercial brokerage is in a cost-cutting mode as a result of the industry freeze in property transactions over the past year and a half. Cushman’s revenue fell 9 percent year-over-year in the third quarter.

Brookfield declined to comment on the matter. A Cushman spokesperson told Bloomberg that it was “completely surprised” by Brookfield’s decision.

Brookfield shares were up more than 5 percent on Thursday afternoon, while Cushman shares showed signs of volatility. Through Wednesday, the brokerage’s stock was down 40 percent this year.

Cushman also lost a team of sales brokers to Newmark on Thursday, seeing Dan O’Brien, Eric Roth and Maurice Suede walk out the door for a new sales team focused on smaller institutional deals.

That move comes months after the seven-year run of Doug Harmon and Adam Spies at Cushman came to an end, as they also jumped to Newmark. The pair brokered some of New York City’s biggest deals during their time at Cushman, including the sales of Chelsea Market, One Manhattan West, Starrett City and the American Copper Buildings.

— Holden Walter-Warner