CBRE, the world's largest commercial real estate services company, is getting out of the U.S. interior design business with a deal to transfer its executive team and other employees to Ware Malcomb, an Irvine, California-based firm that specializes in the sector.
The transition, effective July 2, involves 75 CBRE employees heading to Ware Malcomb, including five executives. The team has ties to clients such as Delta Air Lines, Intercontinental Exchange, iHeartMedia and Turner Properties as CBRE no longer includes design as part of its core U.S. services.
CBRE’s U.S. Design Collective ranked as the 16th-largest design firm globally in 2025, according to Interior Design magazine, with $117 million in annual interior design billings, more than double Ware Malcomb’s $55 million. The CBRE team ranked second in the world for office space design, behind only Gensler.
Specifics of the deal, including financial terms, were not disclosed. The two firms called the deal a transfer of services and employees, not an acquisition.
Ware Malcomb highlighted five executives who will join the firm from CBRE, and the brokerage confirmed it will continue to refer design work to Ware Malcomb where appropriate.
The departure comes as brokerages have made investments in different fields outside of traditional advisory services for real estate transactions to generate new revenue streams and offset economic dips, like the slowdown that occurred in the wake of the pandemic. Colliers, for example, has grown its engineering business into one of the top 50 global design firms, according to a ranking from Engineering News Record.
The deal gives Ware Malcomb a firmer foothold in some of the top U.S. design markets, the company said.
“The Design Collective’s infusion of talent aligned seamlessly with several of our key markets, creating meaningful value at a national level,” said Jay Todisco, president of Ware Malcomb, in an email to CoStar News.
CBRE shift
The change reflects a strategic recalibration at CBRE. Over the past decade, CBRE has steadily diversified its business model beyond traditional real estate transactions, expanding into adjacent services such as workplace design, engineering, project management and occupier consulting.
CBRE's global design collective includes approximately 550 employees across 43 studios in 20 countries.
Billings for architecture and design firms have continued a prolonged slide, according to the latest AIA/Deltek Architecture Billings Index. The April reading fell to 43.2 from 44.1 in March, marking an accelerated decline in billing activity and the 28th drop in the past 31 months.
The slowdown reflects persistent economic uncertainty and a retreat from the post-pandemic construction boom. New project inquiries have declined for three straight months, the report said, and most firms have seen shrinking design contract values for over a year.
CBRE Design Collective's global clients include AstraZeneca, Playstation, Asics, Heineken and Bayer.
Design expansion
Ware Malcomb is frequently ranked among the top 15 architecture and engineering firms and top interior firms in industry listings. Recent projects include the design of the 380,000-square-foot Gillespie Field iPark, near San Diego.
The firm has offices across the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Brazil.
Among those joining Ware Malcomb are Karen McCallum and Michael Rometo, both based in Atlanta, where they previously served as CBRE managing directors overseeing the Southeast.
Ware Malcomb is reopening its San Francisco office as part of the transition with the hiring of San Francisco Regional Director David Pugh. It also hired former CBRE Chicago Director of Business Operations Tina Lamkey and New York City Director of Design David Sheehan.
"We’re bringing in highly respected professionals with proven track records and deep client relationships," Todisco said. "Their expertise complements our existing in-house team and adds even more depth to our multidisciplinary approach."
The timing reflects a broader trend toward integrated services in commercial design. Clients dealing with post-pandemic office redesigns and cost pressures are increasingly consolidating design and engineering needs, Todisco said.
“We are definitely seeing more inquiries for integrated services,” Todisco said. “Whenever you can simplify the process for the client, it benefits the time and cost.”