Winick Realty Group Rebrands to RTL, Away From Jeff Winick’s Name

Winick Realty Group is getting a fresh start — and this time without the Winick name.

Legendary retail broker Jeff Winick stepped down from a leadership position at the company in 2021, and now the firm has rebranded to RTL with a new leadership team in tow, Commercial Observer has learned.

The new name, an abbreviated version of the word “retail,” reflects the brokerage’s focus on retail and its 40-plus-year history in New York City’s retail market, as well as its goal to become a “more sophisticated and powerful firm” and to “bring a new perspective to the industry,” according to RTL CEO Steven Baker.

Baker — who joined Winick in 2000 — will helm the company along with Lee Block as president and Louis Eisinger as chief operating officer, according to the firm. Daniyel Cohen, Thomas Galo, Kenneth Hochhauser, Hal Shapiro and Michael Shkreli will also take on new leadership roles as part of the rebranding.

“We want to be a progressive, entrepreneurial company that’s nimble and best in class in the boutique category,” Baker told CO. “We’re trying to change the paradigm from the older, established, somewhat slower-moving companies to a fast-moving, entrepreneurial, agile, nimble company where people can make a great living.”

While the name on the door might be new, the new leaders aren’t. Baker, Block and Eisinger have all been at the brokerage for about two decades and took over the firm in 2021 after Jeff Winick was forced to unload his 63 percent stake in the brokerage as part of his personal bankruptcy case, as CO previously reported.

Winick filed for personal bankruptcy in 2020 after landing on the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance’s list of individual tax debtors in the state with a personal balance of $1.2 million in unpaid taxes, CO reported.

The three RTL brokers, who already had a 10 percent stake in the firm, were selected as stalking horse bidders in an auction of the company and effectively took over Winick’s majority stake, The Real Deal reported at the time.

While Winick, who founded the firm in 1982, will remain at the company under its new name as an associate broker, he won’t be the star of the show anymore.

“He is, bar none, one of the most prolific retail brokers in our business,” Baker said. “We are very happy that he is still at our company.”

As for RTL’s emphasis going forward, Block said the firm will be “opportunistic” and focus on its wide range of clients, which include food and beverage tenants, furniture and home design stores, clothing companies and more.

“At the end of the day, we want to go where the trends are,” Baker said. “We want to be there before they’re established, and that’s really where we’re going right now.”

One of the trends the firm is chasing is in the luxury market, Baker said.

The firm already represents major tenants such as AT&T and Chipotle, as well as “institutional clients” such as the Ohio State Teachers Retirement System, but RTL will focus on “playing in the luxury brand market a little more than it has in the past,” Baker said.

“It’s about opportunity and it’s about unlocking the most value for whoever our client is, whether it’s the landlord or the retailer,” Block said. “We have the background, the expertise, the knowledge, the market intel, to represent.”

And when it comes to the firm’s goals under its new name, Baker said he intends to focus on three things: hiring the “best and brightest talent,” expanding asset classes, and being entrepreneurial.

“I don’t think there’s any boutique firm out there that handles multiple asset classes really well, so that’s going to be our goal,” Baker said.

Isabelle Durso can be reached at idurso@commercialobserver.com.