Joseph Moran, 26
Senior associate at Avison Young
It’s been a busy 18 months for Joseph Moran.
Since joining Avison Young in February 2022, the investment sales broker has closed some 14 deals totaling more than $140 million around Brooklyn and Queens. That includes the $10 million sale of 182 Eagle Street in Greenpoint, Brooklyn — during which Moran had to work for the estate of the previous owner, along with dealing with an expiring tax abatement on the property — and the $23.7 million deal for 324 Grand Street in neighboring Williamsburg.
Even in a sluggish market, Moran has remained active mainly by proactively searching for sellers of properties that have redevelopment potential, which remains attractive to investors.
“It’s really spending time finding motivated sellers, rather than trying to sell any building,” Moran said. “We’re really trying to get in front of those owners now … to really get them comfortable about what’s going on today and why developers are still actively looking for these sites.”
Moran got his start in real estate a little unconventionally. He was studying American history at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and writing papers on early New York City development history when he fell in love with real estate. After a guidance counselor mentioned Moran would be a good fit for a sales position, he jumped right in and landed a job working for Bridge Property Advisors, founded by Massey Knakal vet Brian Leary.
Once COVID-19 hit, Moran switched over to property management at XL Property Management — hoping to gain some perspective from the landlord side of things before pivoting back to brokerage — and eventually landed an interview at Avison Young with another Massey Knakal alum, James Nelson.
Working at other brokerages gave him valuable experience, but Moran said he also gets a leg up on the competition because he spent most of his life in New York City.
“I just think that learning the neighborhoods comes a lot quicker to me,” the Brooklyn native and current Manhattan resident said. “It definitely does help when you were raised here because you understand the streets a little better.”
