The move allows Cushman & Wakefield to maintain its current level of service to clients in Southwest Florida, while enabling Commercial Property to pursue regional expansion. Greg Morris has been named Commercial Property's president, yet will remain executive vice president of Private Equity Group in Fort Myers.

"This partnership strengthens our firm's commitment to Southwest Florida by empowering our local brokerage partners to further expand the Cushman & Wakefield platform throughout the region," says Larry Richey, senior managing director at the firm's Tampa office. "We continue to see Southwest Florida as a dynamic, expanding and strategically important market to Cushman & Wakefield's Florida footprint."

Gary Tasman, executive director of Cushman & Wakefield's Fort Myers office and a 25-year commercial real estate veteran, will serve in the same capacity with the new firm. Tasman says the new alliance will enhance services to clients and professionals who did not previously have access to the larger firm's global platform.

Commercial Property's core services will include office, industrial and retail brokerage, tenant and buyer representation, investment services, land acquisition, and market research and reporting capabilities. The firm will also be able to help financial institutions address the impact of the current economic environment on distressed real estate assets.