Brooklyn Buzz: From Spike Lee to Etsy, C&W’s Glenn Markman Has BK Down

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Mr. Markman doesn’t profess to be an artist, but he clearly has an affinity for the creative. His wife is a full-time painter. In his office, he has eye-catching abstract paintings that he commissioned from an artist he is friendly with. The vicarious thrill he gets from lending his services to help businesses like MakerBot animates him far more than more routine deals that are larger in size and thus more lucrative.

“The kind of tenants that I work with has always been the most important thing for me,” Mr. Markman said. “Getting to work with interesting, creative companies and helping them to get where they want to go and the transformational part of real estate for them is what I’ve focused on. Changing their environment is ultimately going to change how they go about doing their business.”

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A few years ago, he was introduced to Spike Lee, who wanted space for his advertising company. Mr. Markman, who says he is fixated on being punctual, noticed that Mr. Lee showed up to meetings even earlier than he did.

“He’s 15 minutes early, and he’s balancing five things at the same time,” said Mr. Markman. “He doesn’t have a handler or an assistant. The opportunity to work with someone like him is what the business is about for me.”

Mr. Lee’s preference was to buy a building, preferably a firehouse, in Fort Greene or an area nearby and then set up shop. Mr. Markman knew that such a strategy would be a long shot; real estate investors would clamor for such an asset, and the likelihood of finding an available property of that type was remote.

“Spike is a one-in-a-million type of guy, so who’s to say he can’t make a one-in-a-million real estate deal?” Mr. Markman said. “I leveled with him. If you want a firehouse, I’m not your guy. But I can get you a place that will give you a vibe and the right environment.”

Mr. Lee reconsidered, and Mr. Markman brought the firm to a space at 55 Washington Street in Dumbo, an area that has increasingly become a rival to popular submarkets of Midtown South, such as Chelsea and the Meatpacking District, as a home for tech and creative companies. A year later, in 2009, Mr. Markman moved Etsy.com, the online retailer of handcrafted, small-batch products such as jewelry and art, to the same building.

“It’s interesting how it all flows,” Mr. Markman said. “I’m always trying to put myself in my tenant’s shoes.”

Mr. Markman’s start in Brooklyn leasing wasn’t driven by a premonition of the potential that is so evident there today. It was the early 1990s, and his brother, Greg, who had recently graduated college, was not enthused at the prospect of having to put on a suit. Greg decided instead that he would open a restaurant on Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights. Glenn, who was then with the firm Grubb & Ellis, went to work finding him a space.

Mr. Markman had grown up in Bensonhurst and left it behind for an apartment in Manhattan as soon as he graduated from college. While getting acquainted with the nightlife and dining scene of Brooklyn Heights and Downtown Brooklyn in the search on behalf of his brother, he could feel the area’s up-and-coming vibe. As he would be at other important junctures in his career, Mr. Markman was struck by a sense of opportunity.

Like any young broker, he was struggling to do lucrative deals with major tenants in Manhattan. Mr. Markman, however, knew that large companies took space at places like the MetroTech Center, especially for back-office functions. At the time, these were little-noticed deals, and few leasing brokers of any importance were making Brooklyn a priority. The area was
wide open for an ambitious young upstart.