Cushman & Wakefield lures top Fortna executive to run Americas’ logistics unit

Real estate services concern Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE: CWK) has hired Tray Anderson, a top executive at supply chain management consultancy Fortna, to run its logistics and industrial services operation for the Americas. Anderson replaces John Morris, who has left the company.

Before joining Cushman & Wakefield (C&W), Anderson ran global supply chain strategy at Fortna. He also spent eight years as executive managing director, corporate real estate integration at real estate services firm Newmark Knight Frank, where he was responsible for growing the industrial and logistics consulting business. Early in his career, Anderson worked at retailing giant The Home Depot, Inc.(NYSE:HD) and contract logistics provider Menlo Logistics, which is now a part of XPO Logistics, Inc. (NYSE:XPO).

Anderson will oversee Cushman & Wakefield’s logistics & industrial services platform, which includes more than 840 brokers in the Americas. According to C&W, it has leased more U.S. industrial square footage than any real estate services firm over the last three years.

Anderson joins C&W during an unprcedented 10-year bull market in industrial property demand and pricing, fueled in large part by the growing need for warehouse and distribution center capacity to support e-commerce activity and omnichannel fulfillment. In an e-mail, Anderson said that the increasing need for deliveries to be made within an ever-shrinking time window has “created a demand for industrial space in all regions and among all product types,” meaning that current growth trends could just be the start of things, he added. North American vacancy rates will remain at historic lows, in the low to mid-single digits, through the end of next year, he said.