CB Richard Ellis quietly closes Provo office

PROVO (Daily Herald)  -- CB Richard Ellis Group Inc., the world's largest commercial real estate brokerage, quietly closed its Provo office at 5255 Edgewood Drive, Suite 250, in a move to consolidate its operations statewide, an official said Thursday.

"We had space in our corporate office at Cottonwood Parkway and figured we can service our Utah County clients from that location. It's more of an operational efficiency change for us," said Mark Bouchard, senior managing director of CB Richard Ellis in Salt Lake City. "We have an abundance of support and brokerage staff there. Our brokers deliver better services when they're closer to the marketing and research staff."

According to its earnings report Wednesday, the company swung to a second-quarter loss as demand for commercial leases and building sales declined amid the economic downturn. Leasing, one main revenue source for brokerages, has been hit as beleaguered tenants go out of business or lay off workers, thus reducing their need for space. As a result, CB Richard Ellis has been slashing its operating costs.

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