Newmark is the latest real estate firm that's ramping up its head count as it bolsters services for artificial intelligence companies and other tech-related clients.
The company has hired a pair of brokers with strong tech credentials to work in its San Francisco office. The two experts, Jenny Haeg and Nathan Zoucha, both hold the title of executive vice chairman.
As some corporations, such as Amazon, look to replace human labor with robotics and artificial intelligence technology, Newmark's hires show how some firms are in fact beefing up their headcounts to meet demand.
Haeg and Zoucha join the real estate services firm from CBRE, where they landed following that firm's acquisition of Custom Spaces, a tech-focused boutique brokerage Haeg started back in 2011 to advise startups on their real estate strategy. Zoucha joined Haeg at Custom Spaces in 2015.
In 2017, in the midst of San Francisco's last tech boom, commercial real estate giant CBRE acquired the company and folded in its team to serve the tech sector nationwide.
Now San Francisco — like the tech industry — is at another turning point, as AI startups converge on the city and big players vie to achieve so-called artificial general intelligence. That ambition is driving a real estate recovery in the Bay Area following a slump induced by COVID-19.
“Artificial intelligence is reshaping the global economy, and the companies at the forefront of that transformation require a partner who understands how to navigate rapid scale, global expansion and cultural continuity,” said Newmark Chief Executive Barry Gosin in a statement.
Newmark brings global reach
Haeg's boutique firm, Custom Spaces, came on the scene as San Francisco's tech economy was on the rise in the early 2010s. It specialized in office deals for startups and other high-growth tech firms as real estate players were starting to glean that such companies followed a different set of rules than traditional corporate clients.
It advised star players from that era as they were first starting, such as Uber Technologies, Twitter, Airbnb, Square, Instacart and Spotify, and worked with tech companies in the Bay Area as well as New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo and London.
Newmark said Haeg has built a reputation for advising tech firms on "complex, high-impact real estate decisions."
"The pace of AI innovation demands bold, coordinated decision-making and Newmark is uniquely positioned to help clients navigate that growth," Haeg said in a statement.
Newmark said likewise it had tapped Zoucha for his combined San Francisco market expertise and global perspective. Over some 25 years in the business, he has executed transactions across nearly 100 cities in more than 20 countries, negotiating over 12 million square feet with technology companies at every stage of growth.
Zoucha cited Newmark's growing technology advisory service as underlying his decision to join the firm.
"The company's collaborative culture, entrepreneurial approach and global reach allow us to deliver more strategic, connected solutions for technology companies navigating rapid change and expansion," he said in a statement.
Tracking tenant demand
New York-based Newmark posted rising profits late last year, as office leasing and property sales surged for the real estate services firm, partly due to growing investor enthusiasm around artificial intelligence and data centers.
In recent months, the company has stepped up its hiring of brokers to handle San Francisco's recovery in the AI boom. Last spring, Newmark hired a pair of leasing specialists, Sean McCallum and Tyler Paratte, to handle a surge of activity among AI firms in particular.
San Francisco’s office market is enjoying a resurgence as a result after several years of floundering as the hardest hit in the nation following the onset of the pandemic.
While the city is still grappling with a vacancy rate of more than 22%, according to CoStar data, AI companies have been a critical source of demand.
Newmark, the fifth-largest firm of its kind, aims to keep expanding its national bench of AI and technology specialists led by New York-based broker Steven Rotter with San Francisco-based Haeg and Christina Clark, a veteran tech broker who joined Newmark in 2023. It aims to foster a bicoastal team "delivering seamless execution for AI and technology occupiers across every major market."
According to Newmark Research, the firm is tracking around 145 million square feet of tenant demand nationwide, up 45% year over year, with technology occupiers leading expansion activity and increasingly seeking large-format, growth-oriented space.