"Expansion and diversity of services are key, so buying a premier services company like Trammell Crow is the way to go," said Stan Ross, chairman of the Lusk Center for Real Estate at USC.
USC's Ross likened the consolidation trend in commercial real estate to the mergers of the big accounting firms that began in the late 1980s. By 2002, the largest accounting concerns went from being known as the Big Eight to the Big Four.
The same thing is happening in commercial real estate. The reason: Major corporate clients "demand that you can service them on a global scale," Ross said.