"The bank really sees this as a great opportunity where the two largest real estate providers in the country will now work together to provide complementary strengths and what we consider to be the best service for our company," says David Murphy, senior vice president of the nation's largest thrift. He tells GlobeSt.com that a best and final was under way with Los Angeles-based CBRE, Dallas' Trammell Crow Co. and Chicago-based Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. when the merger news hit the streets. As a result, WaMu delayed its decision to allow time for the companies to settle into the marriage.

CBRE's interest in TCC's global corporate services account wasn't an industry secret, but the mega-merger delivered a sure-fire win for what could be the largest corporate services account up for renewal this year. CBRE has held the WaMu contract since 1995 after a buyout of the previous titleholder, but it was up against stiff competition before the TCC merger was made public.

WaMu's new CRE team numbers 460 professionals, a mix of the old and new, in key regional markets in the Pacific Northwest, California, Texas, Florida and New York. The alliance director is John Gallagher, a long-time CBRE point man in Seattle for the WaMu account, who reports to George Williams, the executive accounts leader who hailed from TCC's legacy camp.