Colliers Hires Newmark Executive to Grow Bay Area Business

Colliers has hired Christian Prelle for the newly created role of Head of Office Agency for the San Francisco Bay Area.

Prelle formerly held the title of executive managing director at Newmark.

At Colliers, he will be based out of the Redwood City office and the new role was created because it “strategically fits within a series of other recent growth investments to increase market share and enhance client service,” according to a Colliers spokesperson. Colliers also hired its Silicon Valley Executive Managing Director Bryan Courson away from Newmark this past spring.

Courson spent 13 years at Newmark, while Prelle was there for 14 years, the vast majority of his 15-year career. Prelle led the Palo Alto office for the last six of those years, overseeing more than 55 brokers and staff, according to a Colliers press release on the hire.

In the new role, Prelle is charged with expanding Colliers’ office agency practice and lto boost the firm’s market position in the Bay Area.

David Josker, president of U.S. West Region Brokerage at Colliers, said in the release that Prelle has a “servant leader approach that aligns perfectly with Colliers’ culture.”

Prelle agreed that he shares Colliers vision for company culture and said in the release that this “significant step in my career allows me to continue growing and enhancing relationships while leveraging the Colliers platform, support and innovative solutions.”

Newmark has spent big on talent with hopes of becoming the top commercial brokerage in the country, but that hasn’t stopped it from seeing a few key Bay Area defections. In addition to the two Colliers hires, a big Bay Area life science team switched to CBRE earlier this month.