Cornish & Carey (known for many years as C&C) opened in 1935 in downtown Palo Alto during the depths of the depression. Two young Stanford graduates, George E. (Pat) Carey and Herbert J. Cornish, pioneers in their own rights, were taking steps toward creating what was to become Northern California's largest locally owned real estate firm serving both commercial and residential properties.  Soon after the Palo Alto office was opened, David Packard and Bill Hewlett founded Hewlett Packard, while Russell and Sigmund Varian founded Varian Associates. Silicon Valley, the high technology center of the world, had begun. As the region exploded with growth in the 1950s and 1960s, C&C was there to assist innovative firms find homes for their employees as well as shop and office space for designing and manufacturing their products. Later, as the region became a manufacturing and production hub, C&C’s service offerings accompanied the new demand for commercial space by providing leasing and sales expertise in R&D, warehouse and distribution facilities.

By 2010 and after 75 years of serving clients independently throughout the region and nationally/internationally by a network alliance, Cornish & Carey Commercial established a partnership with New York-based Newmark Knight Frank in order to mirror the true global nature of business with access to international capital markets.  

In 2011, we:

• Leased over 29,938,956 square feet
• Sold over 11,323,097 square feet
• Completed $5,682,362,834 in transactions
• Closed over 3,456 transactions