Jacob Rosenthal, 28

Jacob Rosenthal has deep roots in commercial real estate, having grown up in a Long Island home where the topic was frequently discussed. So it’s no surprise that he’s made it through the highs and lows of the last several years.

With a father who represented landlords and developers, Rosenthal’s path was obvious, but not easy.

It started with an internship at CBRE in 2016, where he explored all aspects of its commercial real estate practice before deciding to become a broker himself. He then cut his teeth at Savills for a few years until CBRE called him back to the mothership.

“Starting in 2017, it was actually a really hot market, but COVID was a really interesting time,” Rosenthal said. “I had just moved over to CBRE for three weeks before everyone went home for the pandemic,” Rosenthal said. “I used that to my advantage, really homing in on networking, both internally and externally, understanding the different market dynamics from pre-COVID and during COVID and how the market has really changed.”

Some deals that Rosenthal has worked on since the pandemic include investment group Engine No. 1’s 11,500-square-foot deal at Aurora Capital Associates’ 405 West 13th Street in 2021; cryptocurrency trading platform Bakkt, which signed for 10,435 square feet at Rockpoint Group’s 412 West 15th Street in 2022; and Shinhan Bank’s 15,279-square-foot deal at FosterLane Management’s 750 Seventh Avenue that same year.

“I actually have a pretty positive spin on office leasing right now,” the University of Miami finance and marketing graduate said. 

“The right neighborhoods in the right parts are extremely active, there’s finally some competition on space again, and now even some of the secondary buildings [near Class A in certain markets] are starting to get some of that trickle-down activity.”