Tishman Speyer’s Greg Conen Joins Newmark to Help Revamp Its Agency Business

Greg Conen, the former managing director of office leasing for Tishman Speyer, has joined Newmark (NMRK) as vice chairman and part of the firm’s new construction office leasing department, Commercial Observer has learned. 

Conen will be working alongside Newmark’s Executive Vice Chairmen Howard Hersch and Steve Rotter, as well as vice chairman Scott Klau, to primarily focus on scaling Newmark’s new construction leasing assignments in Manhattan, according to Newmark. And Conen will also help Newmark in repositioning the way it approaches its agency practice, a source with knowledge of the revamp said.  

“Tishman Speyer was my lone job out of school for 25-plus years. I was working solely on the ownership side on some interesting and unique projects,” Conen said. “I felt like there was a real opportunity in the agency business to take my institutional mindset and switch, as brokers like to say, to the dark side.”

He said he will leverage his more than two decades of experience and expertise at Newmark to bring the “landlord mindset” and apply it to the way the firm is restructuring its agency business, but Conen and Newmark declined to give any specifics on the revamp. 

“At the end of the day, we’re leasing space in office buildings, but we’re trying to think about it a little differently,” he said. “I can’t give away all the secret sauce, but it is the incorporation of unique marketing ideas [and] different ways to engage with the end users, which, at the end of the day, that’s what it’s about, getting people into the space.”

At Tishman Speyer, Conen oversaw the development and leasing efforts of The Spiral, a 2.8 million-square-foot, 66-story office tower at 66 Hudson Boulevard, which opened in 2023. He’d been involved with leasing the building from its early days, having worked on the 800,000-square-foot Pfizer deal in 2018, which was the building’s anchor lease. 

“We extend our best wishes to Greg as he embarks on his new role,” a Tishman Speyer spokesperson told CO via email. “We are grateful for his many contributions to our New York City leasing team over the years.”

Conen said he’s been with Newmark for one full week and is excited to work with his new team, having already been in front of some owners making pitches that he said will hopefully spark success. 

“Greg brings expertise and hands-on experience advising corporations and institutional investors on new office construction projects that few in the New York City market can offer,” Hersch said in a statement. “His extensive knowledge, empowered by Newmark’s deep industry relationships, allows our company to differentiate its office leasing offering to what’s available in the marketplace today.”

Amanda Schiavo can be reached at aschiavo@commercialobserver.com.