Unicorn Park in Woburn is among the new leasing assignments that Cushman & Wakefield will have now that it has unveiled its new North Team, which will handle Boston’s northern suburbs.

Bolstered by the arrival of two veteran brokers from competitor Meredith & Grew, Cushman & Wakefield is unveiling a new team to tackle the Massachusetts commercial real estate market north of Boston.

Led by Executive Director James Thomson, the aptly named North Group consists of existing Cushman brokers Richard Ruggiero, Torin Taylor, Doug Jacoby and Dan Collins partnered with new additions David J. Pergola and Matthew S. Adams, who were characterized when they left Meredith & Grew late last month as being “strong performers” by company President Thomas J. Hynes Jr. A senior vice president and shareholder at the time of his departure, Pergola had been with the privately owned real estate services firm since 1991. Adams arrived at Meredith & Grew in 2002 and reached the level of vice president.

At this point, the switch of talent to its rival appears to be having an impact on Meredith & Grew’s leasing roster of commercial real estate properties in many of the suburban communities covered by Pergola and Adams. According to industry sources, several landlords have indicated plans to retain the pair as listing brokers for their commercial assets, giving Cushman & Wakefield such fresh assignments as Unicorn Park in Woburn, Kiln Brook Office Park in Lexington and a block of Boxboro buildings, among them 85 Swanson Road and 60 and 70 Codman Hill Road.

“It’s a big book of business,” claimed one source familiar with the pending defections. Landlords who will be employing Cushman & Wakefield for buildings once listed with Meredith & Grew reportedly include the RREEF Funds, BPG Ltd., Farley White Interests and Winstanley Enterprises.

By one account, the total inventory that could be shifted over to Cushman from the changes covers several million square feet of office, industrial and flex space. Although precise figures were not available, Highwood Office Park encompasses 275,000 square feet, Kiln Brook has 355,000 square feet and four properties on Research Drive owned by Wakefield Investments total another 600,000 square feet. Other buildings said to be on the verge of a transfer include BPG’s 181 and 187 Ballardvale St. in Wilmington and 16-18 and 29 Esquire Road in Billerica.

Pergola declined to discuss any such transfers of accounts from his former company, referring inquiries instead to individual landlords, while Meredith & Grew did not respond to questions by Banker & Tradesman’s press deadline. Calls to several landlords were not returned, although Farley White Interests principal John F. Power did acknowledge on Friday that Pergola has been retained for the five-building Kiln Brook Office Park, which is located along Route 128 adjacent to the Hanscom Field air base.

While stressing that Meredith & Grew is “a very good shop,” Power said his firm has been impressed with Pergola’s performance heretofore at the park, which Farley White acquired late last year for $17 million. “David has done a great job for us, and we just thought it was the right thing to do,” said Power of making the switch. During the brief ownership by his Boston-based firm, occupancy at Kiln Brook has risen into the 90 percent range, added Power. The prime tenant of the park is IBM Corp.

‘Excellent Resources’
While he opted against discussing specific properties on its list, Pergola said he is encouraged by the approach being taken by Cushman & Wakefield, which he said is providing the personnel and resources to take on such a diverse region, a submarket finally beginning to climb out of the difficult economy seen in Massachusetts for several years. “We want to dominate the market,” Pergola said of the North Group, which will take the baton from central Route 128 Cushman & Wakefield brokers Mark Roth and Mark Winters and carry it up into the Route 3 and Interstate 93 corridors. The Interstate 495 North market also will be part of the coverage area, he said.

“I’m excited,” Pergola said. “There are a lot of really good people here, and so far, the integration has been very smooth.” Ruggiero and Taylor are both experienced brokers, exemplified by their selection last year for the suburban office deal of the year for 2005 in partnership with Roth.

Another “arrow in the quiver,” Pergola said, is Cushman & Wakefield’s global real estate platform, with the firm among the largest such companies in the world. “There are some excellent resources we can call on,” said Pergola, including having the benefit in-house of one of the country’s top investment sales team in the Capital Markets Group headed by Robert E. Griffin Jr.

“That’s definitely a bonus,” said Pergola, who handled various investment sales deals while at Meredith & Grew in between his duties on the leasing front. The latter field will capture the bulk of his attention going forward as part of the North Group, and Pergola said he believes the time is ripe to launch the operation in the improving economy. “There’s a long list of companies in the north out looking for space right now,” he said. “It’s good to finally start seeing some growth out there, and hopefully that will carry through for the rest of the year.”