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The Sit-Down

By Gus Delaporte 3/12 5:00am

The Sit-Down

Sandy Zuckerbrot

Sandy Zuckerbrot, The Lion of Long Island City, On Its Past and Future

With a wealth of experience across industrial, retail and investment real estate, Sandy Zuckerbrot of Sholom & Zuckerbrot LLC has seen Long Island City and the rest of New York transform along with his own business. Boasting a portfolio of 1.5 million square feet occupied by tenants including Walmart, CVS, the United States government and Home Depot, the 76-year-old real estate veteran spoke with The Commercial Observer last week about the history of his 50-year-old, family-owned company, the transformation of Long Island City and a proposal to change its name to LIC.

The Commercial Observer: Give us some background on Sholom & Zuckerbrot?

Mr. Zuckerbrot: I am a co-founder of the company, which started 7/11/62, which is our good luck number. The company was initially started by two people, [myself] and Ronald Sholom, and we were partners for 33 years. We built up a company of six offices. We had offices in Long Island City, Garden City, N.Y., Manhattan at the Flatiron Building, in Hasbrouck Heights, N.J., Edison, N.J., and Parsippany, N.J. For many, many years we ran this very, very successfully, and we built up a staff of 150 sales reps and support staff.

What areas did you focus on early on?

The area of specialty, when we first started our business, was industrial real estate, and the first office we opened was in Long Island City—and in those days Long Island City was a very heavy-duty, smokestack-type industry city. So you had every conceivable type of operation.

In the early days, many, many companies in lower Manhattan were being pushed out because of the inadequate operations, terrible elevator facilities, and the difficulty moving inventory in and out. Because of the limited access they had, we were looking for more attractive facilities, and Long Island City offered the one-story building, high ceiling, easy loading. It was very costly for companies to operate in multistory buildings in Manhattan. Manhattan was a feeder to Long Island City.

As time went on, Long Island City was getting reasonably inundated with these operations, and soon we started to see New Jersey as being a feeder and started to bring companies from Manhattan to New Jersey and Long Island City.

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By Gus Delaporte 3/05 12:00pm

The Sit-Down

langford photo

The Smartest ‘Guy’ in the Room: Deloitte’s Guy Langford

Guy Langford, accounting principal at Deloitte & Touche LLP, is a member of the firm’s Mergers & Acquisitions Transaction Services team and is both Deloitte’s national M&A real estate leader and head of its Northeast real estate practice. Based in New York, Mr. Langford works with financial sponsors, corporate buyers and other clients on complex real estate transactions. Mr. Langford spoke to The Commercial Observer last week about his role at Deloitte and the current state of the market. Read More

By Gus Delaporte 3/05 11:00am

The Sit-Down

Urbanski, Stephanie_7875 BW

The Auditor You Call: Stephanie Urbanski of Ernst & Young

Stephanie Urbanski is the global real estate sector resident and assurance senior manager at Ernst & Young. Boasting a decade of experience at the Big Four firm, Ms. Urbanski is a lead member of the real estate accounting team. She spoke with The Commercial Observer last week about financial accounting issues impacting the commercial real estate industry, potential future changes to financial reporting practices and the risks of another bubble in the market.

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By Billy Gray 2/26 8:00am

The Sit-Down

Headshot_Robert Hammond_RH favorite 2012

Friends of High Line Co-Founder Robert Hammond Talks About Stepping Down

Robert Hammond announced this month that he will step down as executive director of Friends of the High Line at the end of the year. The self-described entrepreneur will leave the organization that he co-founded in 1999 with Joshua David in enviable shape. The High Line—the elevated park that in 2009 opened to the public on a long-abandoned former West Side freight railway trestle—drew 4.4 million visitors last year.

Friends of the High Line is in the midst of a $125 million capital campaign that will help fund stage three of the project and bring its northern terminus to West 34th Street. Once it officially runs from Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District through Chelsea and to the Hudson Yards site, the High Line will serve as a pedestrian artery between three of the city’s most dynamic—and fastest changing—neighborhoods.

Mr. Hammond spoke to The Commercial Observer about the genesis of the project, the surrounding real estate gold rush it has amplified, if not prompted, and the backlash of a vocal minority.
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By Billy Gray 2/20 8:00am

The Sit-Down

Matt Van Buren

CBRE Tristate President Matt Van Buren on the Megadeal’s Comeback and the Post-Sandy Summer

It will be two years ago this summer that Matt Van Buren succeeded Mitch Rudin as CBRE’s tristate president. The Commercial Observer spoke with Mr. Van Buren about the state of the region—and of the Yankees—as the area prepares to emerge from its long, cold winter of discontent.

Since taking over as CBRE’s tristate president, what has been your biggest accomplishment and biggest setback?

I took over for a tristate region office that was in really good condition following Mitch Rudin’s presidency. The biggest accomplishment has been keeping that momentum going forward. When you’re number one, the goal is to stay number one. And we’ve been able to do that. Staying number one is one of the great unsung stories of the world. That’s why I respect the 2000 Yankees so much. [Laughs]

You run CBRE’s offices in Midtown, Downtown, Long Island, Westchester, New Jersey and Connecticut. Do the fortunes of the different metro area hubs often diverge or does a rising tide lift all boats?

To a certain degree it does. Although the highs are higher and the lows are lower in Manhattan. If you look at rents and availability statistics, Connecticut, Westchester, New Jersey and Long Island vary in a fairly narrow range even from boom to bust.

Frankly, New York will always have lower availability. But the prices will fluctuate high and low if you took a percentage off of a norm. Read More

By Billy Gray 2/19 11:00am

The Sit-Down

cohen

The Moviegoer: Cohen Brothers Realty’s Charles Cohen Talks Real Estate, Predicts Oscar Winners

Charles Cohen is in the business of creating. As the president and chief executive officer of Cohen Brothers Realty Corporation, Mr. Cohen oversees a portfolio of properties and design centers in New York, Florida, Texas and California. He also executive produced the Academy Award-winning Frozen River and runs Cohen Media Group, a distributor and producer of foreign and independent films. Mr. Cohen’s father, Sherman Cohen, the developer who built CBRC into a powerhouse with his two brothers, died late last month at 91. And while Mr. Cohen politely declined to answer direct questions about his father, he did speak to The Commercial Observer about his legacy when discussing recent developments at the firm and in New York real estate. Mr. Cohen also spoke enthusiastically about the film industry and this year’s crop of new movies, which will be in the national spotlight when the Academy Awards airs this Sunday.

 

The Commercial Observer: In 2011, you told The Commercial Observer that you and the rest of the real estate industry were moving at 25 miles per hour. What was the speed in 2012?

Mr. Cohen: In New York, we’re going twice as fast as last year, but not fast enough. Read More

By Gus Delaporte 2/12 9:30am

The Sit-Down

Author headshot_Gregg Lorberbaum_High Resolution

The Leasing Laureate: Centric Real Estate Advisors’ Gregg Lorberbaum on His New Book, Leasing NYC

In March, 30-year industry veteran Gregg Lorberbaum will release his new book Leasing NYC, a primer for the complicated leasing process in New York City. The book, initially targeted at end users, will also benefit the brokerage community, and at least four major firms in the New York metropolitan area have already snapped up copies. Mr. Lorberbaum, a principal at Centric Real Estate Advisors, spoke with The Commercial Observer about the book, its audience and the current gap of information in the market. Read More

By Karsten Strauss 2/06 9:30am

The Sit-Down

Winoker Realty Principal, Corey Abdo.

Surviving Tragedy: Corey Abdo on Life After David Winoker

In June, Winoker Realty—a second-generation real estate investment and services firm, strong in the Garment District and beyond—lost its president and principal, David Winoker, in a skydiving accident that rattled the real estate industry. In the wake of his death, Corey Abdo, the firm’s executive vice president and principal, took the reins at the firm. Now, a little more than six months after assuming the top position, Mr. Abdo spoke with The Commercial Observer about riding the tech wave in Midtown South, plans soon to unfold at Winoker and the June 15 day he lost his colleague of 11 years. Read More

By Al Barbarino 1/30 9:00am

The Sit-Down

peter von der ahe - credit will ohare

Piano Man: Peter Von Der Ahe of Marcus & Millichap

Peter Von Der Ahe is Marcus & Millichap’s top-producing multifamily agent in Manhattan, earning a steady slot in the ever-changing list of New York City’s top brokers. He has brokered more than $730 million in sales during his career, and $360 million of that changed hands in the past three years alone. Since joining the Read More

By Karsten Strauss 1/23 7:00am

The Sit-Down

tucker reed for web

Build and They Will Come: Tucker Reed and the Reinvention of Downtown Brooklyn

Tucker Reed knows Brooklyn. As president of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, he’s in charge of directing the revitalization of one of the most rapidly evolving areas in New York’s most populous borough. Among other priorities, Mr. Reed has set his sights on bolstering the Brooklyn Tech Triangle, a combination of three Brooklyn neighborhoods—Downtown Brooklyn, Dumbo and the Navy Yard—that will employ 18,000 people and support more than 40,000 other jobs by 2015, with an overall economic impact of approximately $6 billion. Mr. Reed spoke with The Commercial Observer last week about Brooklyn’s Downtown renaissance, the retail impact of new industry and why the city’s commercial real estate brokers should continue to watch Downtown Brooklyn closely.

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By Billy Gray 1/08 7:15am

The Sit-Down

winick for web - credit Marielle Solan (2)

Jersey Boys: Daniel Spector and Tyler Bennett On Winick’s NJ Office

Manhattan-based retail real estate specialist Winick Realty Group is going west. Winick opened its first New Jersey office in early November of last year, with senior vice presidents and founding co-partners Daniel Spector, a 25-year real estate veteran, and Tyler Bennett, with a decade of industry experience, at the helm.

With nine tenants and several exclusive arrangements with prominent landlords already secured, Messrs. Spector and Bennett are optimistic about Winick Realty Group NJ’s prospects in 2013. The Commercial Observer spoke with the partners in Winick’s Midtown office about their incipient developments, the aftereffects of Sandy and Garden State idiosyncrasies.

You both focused on New Jersey real estate before the Winick office opened. What drew you to the market?

Tyler Bennett: I’m a lifelong New Jersey resident, so knowing the market and having done most of my transactions there, it made sense.

Daniel Spector: I’m originally a New Yorker. I was working in a firm that represented retailers in Long Island, including Blockbuster Video. I was helping them expand in New York City and New Jersey. I started doing a lot of work in New Jersey, and after a couple years of commuting over two bridges, I decided that maybe I should move there, as hard as it was for a New Yorker.

TB: [Laughs] Are you moving back?

DS: It’s not too bad, actually.

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By Billy Gray 12/18/12 7:30am

The Sit-Down

WEB_howardlud_Michaelbyers

BGC Partners Chief Executive Officer Howard Lutnick on the Making of NGKF

In one of the biggest real estate stories to break this year, the commercial real estate company Grubb & Ellis filed for bankruptcy in February, listing $150 million in assets and $167 million in debts. The company agreed to sell nearly all of those debts to BGC Partners, the financial brokerage firm headed by Howard Lutnick that entered the real estate fray in 2011 with its acquisition of Newmark Knight Frank.

The melding of Grubb & Ellis’s broad array of corporate clients and financial services with Newmark’s strength in the New York market would create a formidable national powerhouse. But the merger was held up for longer than expected in U.S. Bankruptcy Court as Grubb & Ellis brokers fought against terms that they alleged used commissions owed as incentives to remain with the unified company.

BGC cleared these hurdles and closed on the acquisition in April, leading to the creation of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank. The Commercial Observer spoke to Mr. Lutnick—the chief executive of Cantor Fitzgerald before BGC broke away from it—about NGKF’s big first year, his love for and tussles with brokers, and his company’s future designs on commercial real estate. Read More

By Jotham Sederstrom 11/09/12 8:00am

The Sit-Down

Matt Van Buren.

Four More Years? CBRE’s Matt Van Buren on First 16 Months as Pres.

In August 2011, Matt Van Buren took the reins as CBRE’s tristate president, a position held until then by Mr. Van Buren’s friend and mentor Mitch Rudin. Since then, the brokerage veteran’s responsibilities have expanded to include operations across Long Island, Connecticut, Upstate New York, Northern New Jersey and, of course, the five boroughs of New York City. The Commercial Observer caught up with Mr. Van Buren four months after his one-year anniversary to discuss the goals he has accomplished, what lies ahead for CBRE and his predictions on Manhattan’s most formidable market, Midtown. Read More

By Jotham Sederstrom 10/24/12 7:15am

The Sit-Down

Mitch Rudin.

Betting on Brookfield: Mitch Rudin Looks Back at First 15 Months

It’s been 15 months since former CBRE New York Tristate Region President Mitch Rudin accepted the position of president and chief executive officer of U.S. Commercial Operations at Brookfield Properties, and, since then, nobody can say it’s been a picnic.

Besides the Occupy Wall Street movement, which famously descended on Zuccotti Park shortly after he took office, Brookfield Properties has waged an aggressive campaign to market space at the World Financial Center in anticipation of new interest in lower Manhattan as a wave of ambitious development projects come to fruition over the next three years.

Mr. Rudin spoke to The Commercial Observer from the 41st floor of a building in Denver last week about his first year in office, his ambitious plans for retail at the World Financial Center, the decision to rename that famous building, and the behind-the-scenes negotiations with the city after the protesters made camp at Zuccotti Park last year. Read More