Newmark Grubb Knight Frank Strengthens Its Commitment to Las Vegas and International Gaming Industry With Hires of John J. Knott II and Michael R. Parks

LAS VEGAS and NEW YORK, July 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Newmark Grubb Knight Frank has further strengthened its leading position in the global gaming market with the addition of two of the top executives in the business: John J. Knott II and Michael R. Parks.

"As the gaming industry continues to evolve into a truly global business, we are attracting the very best and most committed professionals to join our team, those who understand the nuances of this industry and the needs of our clients," said Michael Lehrman, head of Global Real Estate at BGC Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:BGCP). "John and Michael are both natural choices who will be instrumental in expanding our capabilities worldwide."

Knott and Parks were the founders of the Global Gaming Group, based in CBRE's Las Vegas office.  Knott, an executive vice president, and Parks have completed more than $3 billion in gaming property and land sales. Notable sales include:  Las Vegas Hilton, Sahara, Caesars Tahoe, Flamingo Laughlin, Trump Marina in Atlantic City, Fitzgeralds and, most recently, Boomtown in Reno.  In addition, the team set the land price for the Singapore government for the country's two integrated resorts. 

"Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, one of the fastest growing commercial real estate firms in the industry, is unique in its ability and commitment to serve all aspects of the industry including casino investment sales and finance," Mr. Lehrman said. "While the national and local economies are still in recovery, we are unwavering in our confidence in the fundamental strength and value of the gaming, hospitality, lodging and leisure sectors, and are committed to serving the marketplace with an incomparable team offering unrivaled expertise and resources."

Newmark Grubb Knight Frank is one of the largest and most complete practices serving the gaming market. In concert with its affiliates, Newmark Grubb Knight Frank has over 100 professionals in Las Vegas serving the casino, hospitality, retail and other industries, and boasts market leading real estate professionals in hospitality, lodging, retail, office, multi-family, industrial, land, and other sectors of the commercial real estate market, and manages nearly four million square feet of commercial property for clients.

Knott and Parks, who will be affiliated with the Las Vegas office of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, join a strong, multi-faceted group of real estate experts, including David Scherer, Nelson Tressler and Douglas Schuster. Mr. Knott said: "We are very excited about joining the Newmark Grubb Knight Frank team, as well as working with the gaming teams with which we have affiliate relationships. The added disciplines and expertise that exist will provide clients with the most comprehensive array of services available from a single source.

As part of BGC, Newmark Grubb Knight Frank marshals an unparalleled spectrum of resources through its affiliate relationship with Cantor Fitzgerald, including Cantor Commercial Real Estate, which originates and securitizes commercial real estate loans, and Cantor Gaming, which operates race and sports books at leading Las Vegas casino/resort properties, including; The Venetian Las Vegas, The Palazzo, Lagasse Stadium at The Palazzo, Palms Casino Resort, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Hard Rock Hotel & Casino-Las Vegas, Tropicana Las Vegas, and the M Resort Spa Casino. Cantor Gaming has also entered into an agreement to open a new race and sports book at the Silverton Casino Hotel in Las Vegas, as well as an agreement to offer mobile casino gaming with the Colusa Casino Resort, Colusa, California.

"As we continue building our investment sales franchise with prominent practice groups in the gaming, hospitality and leisure sectors, our clients continue to benefit from our industry relationships, tremendous access to the debt and equity capital markets and our expert capabilities in maximizing their investment decisions," Mr. Lehrman said. "The broad sector expertise of our team is especially important in the Las Vegas market where fully-integrated casinos boast large-scale restaurant, beverage and nightclub operations that demand considerable sales, financing and brokerage expertise across the casino, hospitality and retail sectors, which our growing team is expertly positioned to accommodate." 

Mr. Lehrman was a key architect of the transformation of property-level financing of casino assets in the U.S. at Credit Suisse prior to joining BGC. He has been involved in more than $30 billion of casino-related transactions, including the recent debt restructuring and sale of assets of the Planet Hollywood casino in Las Vegas to Caesars Entertainment. Mr. Lehrman commented: "Our team's vast set of relationships, combined with the depth of our capital markets capabilities in the casino and real estate sectors, represents a transformational event in the market. Our clients can rely on our ability to provide a complete and integrated portfolio of services including investment sales, financing, leasing, appraisal and valuation, and project, property and facilities management to meet their complex and expanding needs."

The combination earlier this year of Newmark Knight Frank and Grubb & Ellis created a powerful commercial real estate services firm of more than 100 offices and 250 million square feet under management in North America, with the proprietary technology, capital markets expertise and financial strength of BGC Partners. Newmark Grubb Knight Frank and its leadership team are the featured cover stories in the current issues of two major real estate publications—"Going for the Gold" in Commercial Property Executive and "Building a Goliath"' in National Real Estate Investor—while Cantor Gaming is the cover story in the current Bloomberg Markets and Global Gaming Business magazines.

About Newmark Grubb Knight Frank
A part of BGC Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:BGCP), Newmark Grubb Knight Frank is one of the largest commercial real estate service firms in the U.S. It brings together the strategic consultative approach to creating value for clients and leading position in the New York market that are hallmarks of Newmark Knight Frank; the complementary strengths of Grubb & Ellis in leasing and management, investment sales, valuation and capital markets services; and BGC's financial strength, proprietary technology, expertise in global capital markets and deep relationships with many of the world's leading financial institutions.

Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, together with its affiliates and London-based partner Knight Frank, employs more than 11,000 professionals, operating from more than 300 offices in established and emerging property markets on five continents. This major force in real estate is meeting the local and global needs of tenants, owners, investors and developers worldwide.

Press Contact:
Mira Matic
Performance Public Relations LLC
973-461-9005
[email protected]

SOURCE Newmark Grubb Knight Frank