C&W Occupier Advisors Move to CBRE

LOS ANGELES—Two former Cushman & Wakefield occupier advisory professionals have joined CBRE. Lynn Williams joins the firm as vice chairman and Jeffrey Welch joins the firm as EVP, both in the firm's occupier advisory and transaction services group. Both Williams and Welch will be based in the firm's Downtown Los Angeles office.

“CBRE's exciting and dynamic environment, infused with its commitment to excellence and industry leadership, is a perfect fit for me. More importantly, the opportunity to provide our clients with a greatly enhanced service platform, which will enable us to achieve the very best results for them, made CBRE the compelling choice,” Williams tells GlobeSt.com, while Welch echoes the sentiment, saying, “CBRE is investing tremendous resources into growing this segment of the business, which will help us to better serve our multi-market clients both in the U.S. and around the globe.” The occupier and transaction services group is a recently integrated platform to help meet the needs of both small and large clients. The group is lead by Darcy Mackay, who was been tapped to co-lead the group as COO, along with Whitley Collins, who serves as president of the Americas.

Williams and Welch have a combined 40 years of commercial real estate experience, and had worked together at Cushman & Wakefield. Williams formerly worked as a real estate attorney, and was a founding member of the National Law Firm Practice Advisory Group at Cushman. In her 30-year career, she has completed or advised on 30-million square feet of real estate transactions for large and small clients, including major law firms, corporations and financial institutions. “I love this industry and the work that we do,” says Williams. “For me, there is no greater feeling than traveling with clients, learning new markets and executing complex transactions around the world. The energy in CBRE's Downtown Los Angeles office is contagious, and I am excited to work side by side with my new colleagues who are truly exceptional and inspiring professionals.”

Welch has been Williams' partner for more than a decade, and, in his own right, has completed 14 million square feet in real estate transactions. He has been named a top broker by several outlets, including GlobeSt.com's sister publication Real Estate Forum. He holds a degree in business administration from USC. “Nothing excites us more than working on large complex real estate strategies and solutions for our clients,” says Welch. “I am confident this move will allow us to do what we do best: execute on behalf of our clients.”