Thomas Swartz, 29

As a member of one of the most active leasing teams at JLL, Thomas Swartz spends his days focused on both landlord and tenant representation across New York City and other major markets, with a portfolio that ranges from institutional landlords to boutique family office clients across millions of square feet.

“Real estate can be a bit of a grind, but there is a good social aspect to it,” Swartz said. “I like the social aspect of it — we’re out showing space and meeting people. You’re not stuck behind a desk all day. The fact that every day is a little different is great.”

Swartz tends to lean more toward the agency side of things, while also working on “a handful of tenant rep assignments,” as part of a team that oversees some 60 million square feet, of which he is personally supporting over 15 million square feet.

“I started with the team six years ago, and you are kind of just thrown right into the fire,” he said. “You’re handling a lot of tours, and then you grow up and you start to work on more proposals, and then you start to run deals, and now I’m at the point where I get to run point on certain things.” 

Swartz was a member of the JLL team that worked on the repositioning of Piedmont Realty Trust’s 60 Broad Street, a 1.1 million-square-foot office tower in Lower Manhattan. He was also part of the team that represented Brookfield Properties on the 462,000-square-foot lease to Moody’s at 200 Liberty Street, also in Lower Manhattan. The credit-rating giant signed the lease in December 2025, and is moving from 7 World Trade Center. 

“JLL has been the leasing agent for Brookfield Place for over a decade,” Swartz said. “The Moody’s transaction was, you know, pretty unique in that they occupied about 800,000 square feet over at 7 World Trade Center, where they were headquartered for the last 10 or 15 years. They were looking to consolidate their operations and the deal did take some time, but, ultimately, they were looking to elevate their entire workplace experience.”