Ofer Cohen and Dan Marks

Ofer Cohen and Dan Marks both made Brooklyn their home, and then made it their area of expertise.

The two run Brooklyn-focused brokerage TerraCRG; are on a number of boards in the borough; and Cohen hosts a podcast called “Hey BK,” where he interviews important players in Brooklyn’s real estate market. During COVID, many things changed for Brooklyn and for TerraCRG, but more stayed the same.

“Going through COVID didn’t really change the DNA of what we’ve been doing and what we’ve been focused on,” Cohen said. “It created an opportunity for us to shine in what we’re doing.”

While it was undeniably a slow year for both leasing and investment sales, TerraCRG still managed to close a number of commercial transactions, including the $30 million sale of an office building in Bensonhurst and an 11,000-square-foot lease for data startup Datacubed Health.

Now, the brokerage is focused on the Gowanus market, where it is currently the exclusive broker on two large development sites, both expected to sell for more than $100 million. It’s also focused on industrial space, demand for which has exploded amid the pandemic-spurred boom in e-commerce. Finally, they’re expecting a rush of transactions in the second half of the year, as developers try to get the shovel in the ground before the expected expiration of New York state’s 421a tax abatement program in 2022.

In the immediate term, they’re paying close attention to the local election primary coming up in June, and how they will affect the Gowanus rezoning in particular and the real estate landscape more generally, Cohen said. “We’re in a pivotal moment, coming out of COVID, heading into local elections, new mayor, new borough president — there was never a time in New York City real estate where politics played [such an important] role.”

TerraCRG employs a team of 30 people, and the majority have been back in the office since June. “Dan and I are just representatives of the company,” Cohen said. “We have a big team behind us.”—C.G.