Despite increasingly sour times in the market, 18 representatives from some of the nation's largest commercial real estate companies took part in the event. "You give evidence to this being the right time for this initiative by looking at who was here," Richard D. Purtell, chair and CEO at BOMA tells GlobeSt.com. Purtell, also portfolio manager at Grubb & Ellis, stresses that "this is the time to do this: right now and not wait."

Adds Diane Vrkic, COO of global energy sustainability services at Jones Lang LaSalle, "There could be a lot of growth around these alliances. It seemed as through all the different individuals here, who came to exchange ideas, seemed to benefit from these exchanges."