By Al Barbarino 3/04 10:49am

The Lobby

AY_Logo

Adam Rappaport Joins Avison Young Amid Continued Hiring Spree

Office-leasing specialist Adam Rappaport has joined Avison Young as principal, leaving Cushman & Wakefield after 13 years to join a growing list of industry pros to be scooped by the Canadian firm.

A string of hires within the last few months highlights the firm’s mission to expand its footprint across New York City and the United States — and Mr. Rappaport cited that as a motivator for his move.

“I am excited to be part of an organization that is poised for such tremendous growth, and look forward to leveraging my relationships and expertise to establish new avenues for business development,” Mr. Rappaport said, in a statement announcing his hiring. Read More

By Al Barbarino 2/22 10:58am

The Lobby

AY_JohnRyan_2013

Avison Young Continues Hiring Spree With Addition of John Ryan III

Industry veteran John Ryan III is the latest hire in Canadian real estate firm Avison Young’s mission to expand its footprint across New York City and the United States.

As Principal of the firm’s New York City office, Mr. Ryan will harness his 23 years of experience in tenant and landlord representation, providing brokerage services for key clients.

“I am thrilled by the opportunity to join Avison Young,” Mr. Ryan said, in a prepared statement.  “The positive trajectory of Avison Young’s growth nationally, as well as in the New York City market, where the firm has established a high-quality reputation in a relatively short period of time, has been very exciting to watch.” Read More

By Al Barbarino 2/11 5:40pm

Lease Beat

825 Third Avenue

Focus Financial Partners Takes Nearly 12,000 SF at 825 Third Avenue

Focus Financial Partners has signed an 11,923-square-foot office lease at The Durst Organization’s 825 Third Avenue in Midtown East.

The partnership of wealth management firms relocates to the 40-story, 544,000-square-foot office tower from the 7,400-square-foot space it previously occupied at 909 Third Avenue.

“The building offered a well-priced alternative along Third Avenue with great light, city views and an efficient floor plate configuration,” said Greg Kraut, principal and managing director of Avison Young’s New York City office in a statement, who represented the tenant with Dana Trulis and Paul Massey.  “We are very pleased to have been able to identify a new office location for Focus that effectively addresses the firm’s business needs… this area of Third Avenue has become a destination for companies in search of value in a strategic Midtown locale with great access to transportation.” Read More

By Daniel Geiger 7/25/12 12:05pm

Lease Beat

623 Fifth Avenue

Avison Young Leases Its First Manhattan Headquarters

Avison Young is taking 15,000 square feet at 623 Fifth Avenue as space for its new Manhattan headquarters, The Commercial Observer has learned.

The Canada-based real estate services company opened in the city last year and has been operating out of temporary space offered by the office suite company Regus at 245 Park Avenue. Read More

By Daniel Geiger 6/13/12 1:50pm

Retail

Brad Mendelson

The CO Gets Tipsy At REBNY’s Awards

The Real Estate Board of New York handed out its annual retail deal of the year awards last night at Club 101 on Park Avenue. Fresh off its retail adventure at ICSC in Las Vegas a few weeks ago, The Commercial Observer was present to capture the cocktails, the awards ceremony and of course the Read More

By Daniel Geiger 5/15/12 10:00am

Power Broker

Greg Kraut.

The Head Hunter: Avison Young’s Greg Kraut on the Art of the Big Poach

At CBRE Greg Kraut always seemed to be cut from a different cloth.

The real estate services firm is the biggest in the world, and in Manhattan its brokers handle many of the city’s largest commercial leases—deals that are often hundreds of thousands of square feet in size. In his mid-30s at the time, Mr. Kraut wasn’t focused on becoming a master of the city’s dealmaking universe. He liked to work alone, and he dedicated his time to smaller and mid-size deals—anywhere from 5,000 square feet to 20,000 square feet or more—and churned out transactions with notable consistency.

His track record earned him a different kind of reputation. From the list of deals he amassed at CBRE, it was easy to tell he had an undeniable knack for connecting with start-up companies and smaller tenants who had blossoming space requirements.

At a firm widely considered the city’s epicenter of brokerage, Mr. Kraut had carved out a quiet niche for himself. By building a stable of clients and sticking with them over the long term as they expanded, Mr. Kraut seemed to have firmly embraced a patient approach to the business that, with a lot of luck and hard work, could have, one day, placed him near CBRE’s top executives.

As it turns out, however, Mr. Kraut isn’t patient at all. Read More

By Daniel Geiger 5/01/12 9:30am

The Lobby

Avison Young.

Grubb & Ellis’ Top Agent Goes to Avison

Michael Gottlieb, a top leasing executive formerly at Grubb & Ellis, is going to Avison Young, the Canadian real estate services firm making a push to bulk up substantially in Manhattan.

Mr. Gottlieb was one of most highly regarded dealmakers at Grubb & Ellis, which had lost brokerage talent as the firm faultered towards bankruptcy Read More

By Daniel Geiger 4/26/12 12:59pm

Career Moves

Arthur Mirante and wife (photo: Ryan McCune/PatrickMcMullan.com

Mirante Expects Avison Young To Grow Quickly

Arthur Mirante, Avison Young’s newly minted tri-state president, told The Commercial Observer in an exclusive interview yesterday evening that he is joining the company to build a brokerage firm from the ground up at what he described as an opportune moment in the industry.

“You have professionals who have reached a level where they don’t think they can continue to grow, maybe it’s crowded at their firm or their managers aren’t showing them the right kind of appreciation,” Mr. Mirante said. “I think that brokers see smaller companies as a greater opportunity to determine their own success whereas the larger companies might anoint relationships and kind of play favorites, holding some brokers back.” Read More

By Daniel Geiger 4/25/12 1:58pm

Career Moves

Bruce Mosler & Arthur Mirante at last year's Observer Power 100 Awards

Mirante Expected to Buoy Avison Young While Questions Linger for C&W

Arthur Mirante, a former CEO and high-profile broker at Cushman & Wakefield, is leaving the firm to become the tri-state president of Avison Young, the real estate services company announced this morning.

The move gives the firm, which has a sizable presence in Canada but is only a budding brand here, a big name in the Manhattan real estate services industry.

Mr. Mirante was C&W’s longest serving chief executive, guiding the firm from the mid 1980s until 2005 when he ceded the position to Bruce Mosler, who he later partnered with in 2010 to form a top level brokerage team. Read More