According to C&W executive vice president John B. Coppedge III, who has headed up the firm's international operations for the past two years, the newly launched International Services Group will serve as a bridge between the commercial real estate firm's US brokers and their overseas and Latin American clients. The basic premise is simple: put real estate professionals with country- or region-specific experience in real-time contact with C&W brokers and new clients in order to bring all parties' expectations in line throughout the life of a deal. The group is also charged with generating referrals for global business from the US.

"It's another way to help sell our services and to be sure that the client understands the execution of a transaction," Coppedge tells GlobeSt.com. "Before, it was our broker selling our service and he might never have been to the country. Our people here in the US are experts on how real estate transactions are conducted outside the US, in terms of presentation as well as execution."

According to Coppedge, while the group has garnered attention as its members were brought onboard, it has been in beta mode until now. "We formed the International Services Group with the intention of bringing up to strength the five-member team by the third quarter of 2001," he tells GlobeSt.com. "We hand-selected members who were previously part of Cushman & Wakefield's International Operations team, and we recruited professionals with specific market knowledge in major business regions of the world. We've been through early pilot stages, and are now fully operational and ready for business."