Metropolitan club names Arthur Mirante to board.

Cushman & Wakefield's president of Global Client Development, Arthur J. Mirante II has been named to the Board of Governors of the Metropolitan Club, the world renowned club on 60th Street and Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan.

Mirante has enjoyed a long and highly successful career at Cushman & Wakefield, having served as president and CEO of the firm for 20 years before taking over responsibility for global business development.

The Metropolitan Club is an historic franchise that was founded by a group of civic and business leaders in 1891. Its first president was J. Pierpont Morgan. Working swiftly, only a month later the membership had been secured and the financing of a great clubhouse was in place. The land where the clubhouse stands, at what is today One East 60th Street, was acquired from the Duchess of Marlborough who signed the purchase agreement in the U.S. Consulate in London. Cornelius Vanderbilt, who represented the Metropolitan's Governors, signed for the Board.

Over the years, the Metropolitan Club has had as honorary guests a host of many famous figures in the worlds of politics, the military and the business world, including Presidents Herbert Hoover and Dwight D. Eisenhower, Sir Winston Churchill and Gen. Douglas MacArthur.

The building itself is one of the most perfect examples of Italian Renaissance architecture in America, and is reminiscent of an Italian palazzo of the style in Rome during the 16th Century.

Mirante assumed the position of president, Global Client Development in January 2005. In his role he will focus exclusively on working with the firm's clients, expanding existing relationships and providing unparalleled and distinctive service.

Throughout his distinguished career, Mirante has actively participated in some of the firm's largest and most complex transactions, like the sale of the World Trade Center, the headquarters relocations of MasterCard International and The Guardian Life Insurance Company, and a major asset disposition of more than $1 billion in 2002, and the record $1.72 billion sale of 200 Park Avenue for Metropolitan Life.

He has also helped manage some of the firm's most prolific and prestigious global accounts. Mirante was named CEO in 1984 and guided the transformation of the firm.