Churches are key to one of Cushman & Wakefield's newest service lines: the religious facilities group, led by new hires Eric Knowles (above) and Rob Fletcher. Faith-based orgs presentunique real estate challenges, says C&Wvice chair and San Diego County market leader Steve Rosetta--thinkzoning, entitlement issues, and reuse. Why the focus? He cites large numbers of religious facilities throughout the US that are at various stages of growth or contraction, as well as infill sites that may have been churches in the past and are ripe for redevelopment.Eric, a senior director, will develop the practice nationally. He joined C&W from CBRE. (TheBible says nothing against coveting your neighbor's RE practice group.)

Meanwhile, the firm's San Diego offices, including 4747 Executive Dr in La Jolla, entered 2013 with a good velocity of deals in process, including sizable transactions that are close to getting finalized. Steve is also seeing more job growth, which should lead to more absorption, but there's still a long way to go before we're back to peak occupancy levels. His 2013 prognostication? Slightly higher volume, especially on the capital markets side. While apartments have been "the flavor of the month for many months," he anticipates office, industrial, and retail will also pick up.