Cresa
Cresa is an international commercial real estate advisory firm focused exclusively on representing occupiers of real estate.
Last updated August 31, 2026
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Overview
Cresa is an international commercial real estate services firm headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Its defining business characteristic is an occupier-only representation model: rather than representing both landlords and tenants across a brokerage platform, the firm positions itself around advising companies and other real estate users on their workplace and property requirements. This focus is intended to reduce conflicts associated with assignments for property owners and to align the firm's advisory work with the interests of occupiers. The firm's work is situated within the broader commercial real estate advisory sector. Occupier representation can include support for organizations evaluating office requirements, planning workplaces, selecting locations, negotiating leases, managing renewals, and addressing broader portfolio or workplace-strategy questions. The available reference material establishes Cresa's specialization and international scope, but does not provide a sufficiently detailed public account of its founding year, original founder, ownership structure, revenue, office count, or exact geographic footprint. Those fields are therefore left unspecified rather than inferred. Cresa has received recognition for service quality, workplace practices, innovation, and sustainability. Awards and rankings mentioned in reference material include Site Selection's Service Provider of the Year, inclusion in American Business Journals' Best Places to Work recognition, appearances on the Inc. 5000 list, and recognition by Realcomm among the ten most innovative brokerage firms. Individual Cresa offices have also received recurring workplace awards. In 2010, the firm completed the Sustainable Business Leader Program operated by the Sustainable Business Network and was certified as a Sustainable Business Leader. That same year, United Space Alliance named Cresa its Small Business of the Year for work connected with the client's workplace-of-the-future office standards. Leadership has included senior executives with extensive experience in global commercial real estate. Tod Lickerman joined Cresa's board in 2019 and became chief executive officer in 2021. Before Cresa, he held senior positions at Cushman & Wakefield, DTZ, and JLL, including roles involving global operations, corporate solutions, healthcare, energy, and European facilities management. Reference material states that Ray Anderson became Cresa's chief executive officer in February 2026, succeeding Lickerman. Because the supplied material does not specify Anderson's prior career or the precise scope of his mandate, no additional biographical claims are made here. Cresa's positioning is consequently less about a consumer-facing product brand and more about a professional-services promise: specialized commercial real estate advice delivered from the perspective of the occupier. Its principal differentiator is the occupier-only model, while its public profile is reinforced by industry awards, sustainability recognition, workplace accolades, and leadership drawn from large global real estate companies.
History
Cresa is an international commercial real estate firm based in Chicago, Illinois. Public reference material describes the company primarily through its occupier-only business model, distinguishing it from diversified brokerage firms that may represent landlords and tenants. Cresa's service orientation is therefore directed toward the organizations that use commercial property and need advice on workplace, location, leasing, and portfolio decisions. The available account does not identify Cresa's founding year, founder, initial capitalization, or early corporate development. It also does not provide a complete chronology of office openings, acquisitions, mergers, or changes in ownership. Accordingly, the firm's early history cannot be reconstructed reliably from the supplied sources. The most clearly documented historical information concerns its service positioning, recognition, sustainability work, client-related workplace projects, and executive leadership. By 2010, Cresa was participating in sustainability and workplace initiatives. It completed the Sustainable Business Leader Program, a program of the Sustainable Business Network intended to help small and medium-sized businesses improve environmental practices. The firm was certified as a Sustainable Business Leader after completing that program. In the same year, United Space Alliance selected Cresa as its Small Business of the Year, citing the firm's work in developing office standards associated with a workplace-of-the-future program. These references indicate that Cresa's advisory role extended beyond conventional property transactions into workplace planning and standards development. Cresa subsequently received recognition from several business and real estate organizations. The cited honors include Site Selection's Service Provider of the Year, American Business Journals' Best Places to Work recognition, inclusion on the Inc. 5000 list, and Realcomm's identification of Cresa among the ten most innovative brokerage firms. Several Cresa offices were also repeatedly recognized as good places to work. The available material does not give the years or ranking positions for every award, so they are recorded as undated recognition rather than assigned unsupported dates. Leadership became more specifically documented in the late 2010s and 2020s. Tod Lickerman joined Cresa's board in 2019 and was appointed chief executive officer in 2021. His previous career included more than three decades in commercial real estate and senior positions at Cushman & Wakefield, DTZ, and JLL. The reference account credits him with experience in global and Americas leadership, corporate solutions, healthcare, energy, and European facilities management. It also describes his involvement in acquisitions and integrations during his earlier executive career, but those activities belonged to his prior employers rather than being presented as Cresa transactions. In February 2026, Ray Anderson was appointed Cresa's chief executive officer, succeeding Lickerman. The supplied reference does not explain whether the leadership transition involved a broader strategic change, nor does it provide Anderson's prior positions. It is therefore best understood as a documented executive succession rather than evidence of an unreported change in ownership or business model. Cresa's documented history thus centers on the development and communication of a specialist professional-services identity. Its occupier-only representation model, workplace advisory work, sustainability participation, external awards, and leadership by experienced commercial real estate executives form the main publicly supported elements of the brand's profile. More granular corporate history, financial performance, market-by-market operations, and ownership details remain unconfirmed in the supplied material.
- 2026
Ray Anderson succeeds Tod Lickerman
[1]Ray Anderson was appointed chief executive officer in February 2026.
- 2021
Tod Lickerman becomes chief executive officer
[1]Cresa appointed Tod Lickerman as chief executive officer.
- 2019
Tod Lickerman joins Cresa board
[1]Tod Lickerman joined Cresa's board before later becoming chief executive officer.
- 2010
Sustainable Business Leader certification
[1]Cresa completed the Sustainable Business Leader Program of the Sustainable Business Network and was certified as a Sustainable Business Leader.
- 2010
United Space Alliance Small Business of the Year
[1]United Space Alliance recognized Cresa for work developing office standards connected with its workplace-of-the-future initiative.
Products and positioning
An occupier-focused commercial real estate advisory firm that represents users of property rather than landlords, emphasizing specialized corporate real estate and workplace guidance.
Professional real estate services
Occupier-only commercial real estate representation
Cresa's core offering is representation for occupiers of commercial real estate. The model is designed around advising companies and other users of property rather than acting for landlords, giving the brand a specialist and conflict-conscious position within commercial brokerage and corporate real estate advisory.
Workplace advisory
Workplace and office strategy
Cresa has been associated with workplace planning and office standards, including work for United Space Alliance on a workplace-of-the-future program. The available sources do not define a standardized packaged product, but support describing this as advisory work that connects workplace requirements with commercial property decisions.
Corporate real estate services
Corporate real estate advisory
Cresa provides professional advice to organizations making commercial real estate decisions. The supplied references support a broad corporate real estate scope, but do not enumerate a complete service catalog or give detailed descriptions of individual transaction, lease, portfolio, or location-planning products.
Brand decisions
2026
Chief executive successionStrategyBackground
Cresa changed chief executives in February 2026, with Ray Anderson succeeding Tod Lickerman.
Action taken
Ray Anderson was appointed chief executive officer.
Aftermath
No broader strategic consequences or business results are identified in the supplied reference material.
2021
Appointment of an experienced global real estate executiveStrategyBackground
Cresa appointed Tod Lickerman chief executive officer after he joined its board in 2019. The supplied account emphasizes his extensive experience at major commercial real estate companies.
Action taken
Lickerman assumed the chief executive role and brought prior experience from Cushman & Wakefield, DTZ, and JLL.
Aftermath
The available sources do not document a specific operational or financial outcome from the appointment.
Recent events
Cresa St. Louis acquires Landmark’s project management division[2]
Cresa St. Louis acquired the project management division of Landmark Contract Management. Landmark’s project managers joined Cresa immediately.
Cresa appoints Tod Lickerman to its board[3]
Cresa appointed Tod Lickerman to its board of directors. The article says he will help the company’s executive leadership with its growth strategy.
Sources3 sources
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