Employees as Employers

A Path to Ownership for High Producers

By Loni Nannini

At Cushman & Wakefield | PICOR, employees can sometimes be the employers. 

C&W | PICOR’s rare platform for employee ownership − and the company emphasis on collaboration to optimize success − provides unique opportunities for those in commercial real estate to thrive personally and professionally.

“We offer a path to ownership for consistently high producers who represent our values,” said Barbi Reuter, CEO of C&W | PICOR, which was named a Tucson Top Workplace in 2023 and 2024 by Tucson Media Partners and AZ Central. “They know they can earn a seat at the table, and that is not possible everywhere. We also take care of tenured employees who participate in profit-sharing. They know that when we win, everyone wins.”

Of the 24 brokers and 11 property managers at the company, 14 have advanced along the path to equity and become principals after meeting productivity thresholds for three years. Employees and staff who have been with C&W | PICOR for at least 10 years are also eligible for profit-sharing.

“This structure gives brokers added incentive to perform and, from PICOR’s standpoint, it is good incentive to attract new talent and to keep brokers within the company,” said Jesse Blum, an industrial and logistics broker who started in the industry in 2009. “It allows the brokers stakeholder status so they have a say in the direction of the company and is a great way to get connected within the community.”

Blum joined C&W | PICOR four years ago, attracted by the potential for growth in the industrial sector, which encompasses distribution warehousing, manufacturing, e-commerce, data centers, research and development and land development.

“I wanted to be at a place where I could align myself with a wider array of industry experts to leverage my experience,” Blum said. “I also wanted a place that has a great community presence where I could continue to learn. It has been a wonderful place to work in a collaborative and very sharing environment, and that is not always the case in predominantly sales-based businesses.”

Collaborative Commercial Real Estate

Camaraderie is a huge benefit to young professionals working to create successful brands for themselves, said Joey Martinez, a principal in C&W | PICOR’s multi-family brokerage team. Since joining the company in 2019, he and Allan Mendelsberg have closed over $350 million in sales transactions.

“We all have the same goal. We want to be successful, and we want to do it together,” Martinez said. “There is a cohesiveness that exists within the company. It is not, ‘How much of the pie you can get,’ but ‘How big can we make the pie at our company?’ ”

Martinez said the wealth of local experience and knowledge among C&W | PICOR’s principals and staff brings added advantages for employees and clients.

“PICOR has lots of benefits that firms with brokers who are independent contractors don’t offer,” he said. “We have a long history with top-producing brokers, and we all reap the benefits.”

Specialists in four divisions − office/medical, retail, industrial and multi-family − provide collaborative guidance to company veterans and to young professionals developing their skills.

“We stay in our lanes,” said Rick Kleiner, a principal who specializes in the sale, leasing and investment of office and medical properties. “It is best to know a lot about your area and provide as much quality service as you can and then refer to other specialists within the company. Our focus has always been on meeting clients’ requirements.”

Broker Development

Kleiner, who has been recognized as C&W | PICOR’s top office division producer for 15 consecutive years, is now paying his experience forward. He is one of multiple shareholders mentoring C&W | PICOR’s next generation of successful entrepreneurs and community leaders. He has teamed with Alexis Corona, who joined C&W | PICOR in 2022, to support her goal of becoming a broker, which she achieved earlier this year.

They recently executed a $38 million transaction between El Rio Health and Meridian, a national developer of healthcare properties, to open a new El Rio Health Center by renovating the former Tucson Heart Hospital at 4888 N. Stone Ave.

“This is a wonderful example of how we can help facilitate commercial real estate transactions that have a lot of terrific benefits for the community,” Kleiner said. “In the short term, the renovation will provide employment for architects, contractors and many others. In the long term, El Rio will expand essential outpatient medical services to a Northwest location.”

Ultimately, Kleiner said that C&W | PICOR is dedicated to developing capable, creative brokers to deliver excellent service for clients and investors.

“The element of knowledgeable brokers who can craft transactions and talk with people − and really understand problems and opportunities and figure out how to solve them to everyone’s benefit − is a significant part of what we do every day.”

PHOTO COURTESY Cushman & Wakefield | PICOR

READ THE FULL SPECIAL REPORT HERE.