Cushman & Wakefield

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-owner and co-founder of Symbiont Group. We’re a B2B sales and marketing agency.

What challenge were you trying to address with Cushman & Wakefield?

They’re a pretty big organization and have a number of smaller groups within their organization. The team we’ve used with Jordan (Senior Director) — I worked with them for years before Symbiont (I was at a different company) to get new space when our lease was up or when I was in a situation where we were growing significantly and need to move to a larger space. During the latter process, they helped us sublease the space we were leaving.

What was the scope of their involvement?

At my previous company, I reached out to Jordan to ask about the subleasing process would work and he set up a series of showings in spaces that would meet our needs. We sat down before that so he could learn about our needs for space: geography, floorplan, etc. Then, we visited places walking the floorplans. We went through 12–15 properties at that time. Jordan and his team put together an RFP for evaluating the property we liked best. They also acted as our back and forth between our legal group and our leasing group.

For the subleasing, they helped in getting possible tenants, walked them through the space – managed the whole process.

When we started Symbiont, we only had three people and didn’t want to get a big space right away; we didn’t know how fast we would grow. We worked with Jordan to do smaller sub-leases — two, I think, within 18 months. Then, we got a 3-year lease on our own space. Right before the Coronavirus lockdown, we’d moved into another space on another three-year lease.

How did you come to work with Cushman & Wakefield?

If you have a company or in an operations role you’re constantly bombarded by commercial real estate brokers looking for your business; it’s a very relationship-driven industry. We weren’t considering too many other people because our experience with the team at Cushman & Wakefield didn’t necessitate us to make a change.

How much have you invested with them?

With my old company, we had a seven-year contract for a lease in the $4–$5 million range, and they would have cleared around $50,000–$60,000 in fees. For Symbiont, our leases have been around $350,000–$400,000, so their feeds would have been in the $3,500–$5,000 range.

What is the status of this engagement?

I’ve been working with them since June 2013.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We’ve gotten space at good prices. Real estate is a different game than product delivery. The return has been that we’ve had great success getting the property we want at a price that worked for our budget. The process of getting into the building and through the buildout process, as well as building those relationships, have all been straightforward. We never had to be out of an office for too long to get things built and ready for our organization. Office access was usually only interrupted a few days when we moved spaces. They make sure the paperwork is pushed through correctly. Everything is always up and running from a furniture standpoint as well.

How did Cushman & Wakefield perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve done well I would say; they’re good at what they do. There’s a mix of in-person and phone communication. The planning process has been in-person, discussing what the new space will; phone calls are used for going through paperwork and deciding what spaces we’ll look at.

I’m in touch with them every couple of months to make sure things are going okay. As we get into the times we need their full assistance, we’re probably talking a couple of times every day. Communication is consistent and always helpful, but not overly so; we don’t just talk to talk. We talk about what we need to accomplish at every step.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re responsive and they know the market. They listen to what you’re looking for in a space and tailor the sites they show you to those needs. For us, they’ve known us since Symbiont started in 2014 and know what’s going to work for us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not that at this time.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Take their advice. Particularly if you haven’t been through the process of picking property or the terms and conditions of a lease. You should also leverage the contacts in their ecosystem, from the general contractors and electrical folks to the craftsmen and tradesmen.