It Is So On! Cushman, CBRE To Battle for Reporters' Stomachs

It’s a balls-out move, but this Wednesday CB Richard Ellis will take on its archrival Cushman & Wakefield by hosting a first-quarter analysis luncheon for media folks the day after Cushman & Wakefield hosts its own first-quarter breakfast for the same media folks.

Call it a schmooze-fight.

On Tuesday, media darling Cushman & Wakefield will host its annual First Quarter NYC Commercial Real Estate Market Analysis and Outlook breakfast at midtown media power eatery Michael’s. Twenty-four hours later, CB Richard Ellis will try to show off its analytical side, while plumping reporters with food and facts, at its first-ever Market Research Media Luncheon at the MetLife building at 200 Park Avenue (its city headquarters).

Not coincidentally, Philip Russo, the communications whiz who founded Cushman & Wakefield’s successful series of breakfasts about six years ago, was recently poached by CBRE.

“I think they saw that Cushman and Wakefield got maybe an inordinate share of quotes in stories,” said Dan Geiger, a reporter from Real Estate Weekly. “When you go to those events, they’re pretty well turned out — you see people from the Times, from the Post. I think they’re trying to replicate that.”