NEW YORK CITY—Newmark Grubb Knight Frank haslanded what is believed to be one of the largest corporate-servicesassignments on record, the 65-million-square-foot AscensionHealth system. Formed 15 years ago under the aegis of theCatholic Church, it's the largest not-for-profithealthcare system in the US, comprising 131hospitals across 23 states and the District of Columbia.

“Ascension is moving its real estate holdings to a more unifiednational organization structure, and chose NGKF in order to achieveefficiency, savings and improved quality of care, as well as toadjust to changes in the healthcare market,” says NKGF CEOBarry M. Gosin. The agreement covers tenantadvisory, landlord advisory and disposition, lease administration,portfolio optimization and real estate cost reduction strategiesand implementation.

Leading the NGKF team on the Ascension portfolio assignment areAtlanta-based Todd Perman and Newport Beach,CA-based Garth Hogan, both executive managingdirectors with NGKF's Global Healthcare Servicesplatform. The announcement was made as part of the second-quarterreport from BGC Partners, NGKF's parentcompany.