Jake Horowitz.
Jake Horowitz, 28
Director at Colliers
Behind most retailers in New York University-owned space, there lies one man: Jake Horowitz.
The Colliers broker has a long-term relationship with the university, representing NYU in retail deals as small as 1,000 square feet to as large as 30,000 square feet.
“Being the center of the Village, it’s important to lease space to tenants that would fit the university and fit the neighborhood,” Horowitz said. “We’ve turned down a lot of tenants because either they’re not the right fit for the university or just not the right fit for the neighborhood. They really want the right tenants in the neighborhood to help make their students happy.”
While representing NYU, Horowitz helped lease 2,254 square feet at 31 West Fourth Street to Sanuki Udon over the summer, and last year he found a new space for the beloved Chinese restaurant Uncle Ted’s at 36 East Eighth Street after a fire decimated its longtime home on Bleecker Street. But his biggest deal in 2022 was for the MRI company Prenuvo, which inked a deal for 6,500 square feet at the apartment building The Olivia at 312 West 34th Street, Horowitz said.
That deal was a particular challenge, because Prenuvo’s MRI technology couldn’t be too close to moving metal, including underground subway cars, and it needed load-bearing floors. Horowitz, however, is no stranger to new challenges, having brokered his first-ever office deal for the brand strategy firm Otto Brand Lab at 25 West 26th Street in October.
While he said he’d probably stick to retail, Horowitz was happy to help out a client and said he’d work with office space again if the right opportunity came up.
When not helping NYU lease out its space, the Long Island resident likes to hit the links and golf with his friends, Horowitz said. —C.Y.
