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Newmark Grubb Knight Frank (NGKF) recently hosted its sixth annual National Industrial Strength Connections Summit. The three-day event was held September 21st- September 23rd at the JW Marriott Chicago hotel and brought together nearly 350 NGKF brokers, consultants, advisors, affiliates and executives, plus dozens of speakers and industry sponsors from across the globe. The timing of the event comes during a robust market for the Industrial sector nationally, which gave rise to the conference theme of “What’s Next”.
The event covered an array of practical and forward-looking topics, including the future of industrial real estate, a 2017 economic forecast, an e-commerce case study, capital markets, commercial real estate technology trends, as well as industrial services best-practices, team building and platform-wide cross-selling opportunities. Keynote speakers included NGKF’s CEO Barry Gosin, U.S. Head of Capital Markets, Robert Griffin, Prologis’ COO of the Americas, Larry Harmsen and MIT Center for Real Estate’s Head of Industry and Alumni Relations, Steve Weikal.
“Each year the Summit continues to offer a dynamic and content-rich agenda from beginning to end,” said Geoffrey Kasselman, SIOR, LEED AP, executive managing director and head of NGKF’s national industrial group, who has run the event for the past three years. “This year we were pleased to have over 60 expert speakers, a record number of sponsors, 28 different relevant sessions, along with robust networking and deal-making opportunities.”
“When you merge industry leaders, networking, professional development and collaboration into one event, it empowers brokers to work together as a team and make connections,” said Michael Sheinkop, president of brokerage services. “NGKF once again delivered a conference format that captivated our industrial experts with dynamic features to promote intelligent collaboration around an ever-changing marketplace.”
“It’s an exciting time for industrial real estate, which is the hot asset class across the country,” Kasselman added. “The high demand for industrial space continues in full force and I expect it to stay that way for the next few years with e-commerce still in its early stages.”
About Newmark Grubb Knight Frank
Newmark Grubb Knight Frank is one of the world’s leading commercial real estate advisory firms. Together with London-based partner Knight Frank and independently-owned offices, NGKF’s 14,100 professionals operate from more than 400 offices in established and emerging property markets on six continents.
With roots dating back to 1929, NGKF’s strong foundation makes it one of the most trusted names in commercial real estate. NGKF’s full-service platform comprises BGC’s real estate services segment, offering commercial real estate tenants, landlords, investors and developers a wide range of services including leasing; capital markets services, including investment sales, debt placement, appraisal, and valuation services; commercial mortgage brokerage services; as well as corporate advisory services, consulting, project and development management, and property and corporate facilities management services. For further information, visit www.ngkf.com.
NGKF is a part of BGC Partners, Inc., a leading global brokerage company servicing the financial and real estate markets. BGC’s common stock trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol (NASDAQ: BGCP). BGC also has an outstanding bond issuance of Senior Notes due June 15, 2042, which trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol (NYSE: BGCA). BGC Partners is led by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Howard W. Lutnick. For more information, please visit http://www.bgcpartners.com/.