C&W snags Galbreath brokers.

In a move that had been agonized over for weeks, Bruce E. Mosler and a group of promotional brokers that reported to him, left the Galbreath Company for digs at the tony offices of Cushman & Wakefield.

"There is no question that it was tough for me, but it was time," said Mosler, who until last week held the title of Galbreath's Eastern Region President. "The path [Lizanne Galbreath] is going along will be a tremendous benefit for 99 percent of the employees. But for us, this seemed like another opportunity."

Mosler will join C&W as an Executive Director and member of its Board of Directors and Executive Committee.

Lizanne Galbreath, chairman and chief executive officer of the Galbreath Company, wished Mosler well in a statement, saying he had made a "meaningful contribution" to Galbreath during his time with the company.

"Galbreath's strategic plans going forward call for it to emphasize more strongly its full-service, disciplinary approach to the real estate business," the statement continued, "one in which development, property management, investment sales and corporate services, as well as brokerage, are equally important in the mix."

Sources report that Galbreath is in talks with companies that include LaSalle Partners and Trammell Crow. The firm recently engaged E&Y Kenneth Leventhal "to help develop an enhanced strategic and operational framework to broaden its resources and capabilities."

The brokers moving to C&W include the well-respected group of Mitchel L. Konsker, A. Mitti Liebersohn and Paul N. Glickman, all of whom joined Galbreath with Mosler after they agreed to merge their aggressive tenant rep firm, Riverbank Realty, with Galbreath in September of 1992.

Three other Galbreath Company brokers also will move to new quarters with Mosler at C&W. Matthew R. Astrachan joined Galbreath in 1990 and was voted Rookie of the Year by Galbreath's National Management Committee in 1994.

David B. Glassman decided to leave with the others a few days later. He has an accounting and finance background and along with tenant rep work, worked on the leasing of several buildings in Manhattan. His wife, broker Elizabeth R. Houley, left Galbreath for LaSalle Partners on March 14th and is now representing 335 Madison Avenue on behalf of the Milsteins.

Also joining Cushman & Wakefield is Gary E. Greenspan, who only recently moved from Koll to Galbreath. He wanted to continue working with his client, Instinet, when its parent, Reuters America Holdings, Inc., appointed a team from Galbreath and Tishman to head up its office consolidation efforts.

Another Galbreath broker, Joseph Cabrera, who handled Westchester Fairfield matters and had been assigned to the Reuters team, joined Insignia/ESG the week before and is expected to work with that company's new suburban purchase, Rostenberg-Doern.

All comments on the repercussions of the move on the Reuters assignment were directed back by the parties to a spokesperson for Reuters. Robert Cooke, vice president of media relations, said "We are determining what the impact of that move on our project will be and we are evaluating how we go forward from here."

Mosler says the move to Cushman and Wakefield, the largest commercial firm in the city, and one of the largest worldwide with partners, was the best choice for the group's clients because of the broad range of services that C&W has to offer.

He also sloughed off thoughts about a culture clash with Cushman & Wakefield, a white-shoe firm that is 20 percent owned by its operators and soon to be 80 percent owned by Mitsubishi Estates when it completes its purchase from the Rockefeller Family Trust.

"Everybody has been so very warm and generous to us since coming," he said last week from his new office.

Clients represented by the group have included G.E. Capital Advisors, Citibank, Digital Equipment, Sony Pictures, Readers Digest, Bankers Trust, Knight Ridder Financial, Philips Electronics North America, New York Life, Mays Department Stores, First Albany Corporation and others

Konsker is an adjunct professor with New York University's Real Estate Institute.

Liebersohn was Chairman of the Board of the Young Men's/Women's Real Estate Association in 1995. He was a member of the team that sold 10 East 53rd Street to a foreign pension fund, and was a finalist in the Most Ingenious Deal of Year for 1991.