CHICAGO— Cushman & Wakefield has just strengthened its Chicago suburban office practice by hiring two top industry professionals. Executive vice president Kevin Clifton has moved over from CBRE , and executive director Chris Cummins from Colliers. Previously, the duo worked as a team at Colliers. “This is a major step forward as we continue to build and grow our suburban office practice,” says Shawn P. Mobley , C&'s East Region president and Chicago market lead. “Kevin and Chris – coming back together as a team – is a major win for our clients. It adds to our overall strong momentum in agency leasing in Chicago, which has really accelerated since Jack McKinney and his team joined us in 2015.” Clifton and Cummins are the third and fourth significant recruits to join C&W's suburban office team this year. Previously joining were tenant representation specialists Jonathan Metzl in early January, and Sean Kropke last week. Despite the suburban to urban migration trend, the Chicago suburban market is continuing to build momentum and attract major corporations. C&W research shows that the suburbs aren't dead. In fact, the vacancy rate for Chicago's suburban office market recently dropped to 17.4%, roughly 70 bps lower than one year ago. And C&W's new brokerage teams says they will capitalize on the tightening market conditions. “Parts of the north suburbs will be very active this year, such as the Lake Cook corridor, Evanston market and along the toll way,” Cummins tells GlobeSt.com. “We expect to see some prime opportunities for tenants to move into true class A office buildings – especially in the north suburban market. The activity in the north market seems to endure because of the continued interest from pharmaceutical companies. We expect to see activity in the O'Hare market remain steady in 2016, as well.” “It is amazing to partner again with Chris and bring our respective strengths to work for our clients,” says Clifton. “Our goal – and Cushman & Wakefield's goal – is to solve our clients' problems with creative client service. And we expect to start doing that right out of the gate.” Clifton focuses on the leasing and sale of significant office properties, and aims to maximize the value of office properties that have substantial vacancy or major leases expiring. During his 30-year career, Clifton has completed office transactions totaling in excess of 20 million square feet. He has received numerous industry awards including the NAIOP Office Transaction of the Year, SIOR Office Transaction of the Year, and Chicago Office Broker of the Year. Cummins works with both tenants and landlords in Chicago's North suburban office market, and during an 18-year career, he has been involved in over 10 million square feet of leases and has earned several top industry awards and recognitions. He was the recipient of the 2007 and 2015 NAIOP Suburban Office Transaction of the Year and was recognized as the Top Producer in the Suburban Office Group at Colliers in 2015.

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C&W Strengthens its Suburban Office Practice

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