Cole Gendels, 27

Cole Gendels played varsity lacrosse at Union College. The experience serves him well in his chosen path.

“While brokerage may be thought of as an individual sort of endeavor, I actually find it to be quite rewarding putting your head together with other team members to come up with a solution,” said Gendels, whose father works on the management side of real estate. “I find that very rewarding.” 

The rewards have come in the form of some of the assignments that the Westport, Conn., native has been a part of while at Newmark. 

Take the largest deal Gendels has been in on since joining the brokerage six years ago. His team, under the direction of Vice Chairman Scott Klau, represented owner SL Green Realty in the condo leasehold sale of approximately 415,000 square feet in the Lipstick Building at 885 Third Avenue to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. The late 2022 office deal was valued at around $300 million. 

Gendels has also worked with Klau and team on turning over space in the Empire State Building. That assignment started more than two years ago with a pitch to owner Empire State Realty Trust, and includes numerous space previews for groups of tenant brokers. The team has been able to lease up hundreds of thousands of square feet in the tower since. 

And, speaking more of teams, Gendels is helping start an in-house practice aimed at aiding venture capital firms’ portfolio companies in their office leasing. (It’s nascent. Stay tuned.) Also, while he works with Klau and company a lot on the agency side, he does look for opportunities in tenancy, too, particular tech companies searching for space. 

Finally, Gendels’s team ethos extends to his position as chief of fundraising for Taasa Health, a nonprofit behind community health clinics in Uganda. It was started by a friend from Union.