James Nelson (left), Scott Singer (top right) and Brandon Polakoff.
James Nelson, Brandon Polakoff and Scott Singer
Principal and head of U.S. investment sales; principal and co-lead of the tri-state debt and equity finance team; principal and head of NYC investment sales at Avison Young
Last year's rank: 65
The trio running Avison Young’s New York City team — James Nelson, Scott Singer and Brandon Polakoff — had a very busy year in 2024.
The brokerage, which has 52 offices across the U.S., saw a total dollar volume of $460 million across 48 investment sales last year in New York City alone. A lot of the deals the firm facilitated were in retail, including the sale of the vacant 803 Madison Avenue for $14.5 million and the former Ikea store at 993-999 Third Avenue for $11.7 million, as well as the refinancing of the fully leased 30 East 85th Street for $24 million.
The secret to their success? For Polakoff, Singer and Nelson (the latter two are literally next-door neighbors in the office), it’s been one thing: collaboration.
“We’re working hard to find ways to leverage the really good people we have in all our offices,” Nelson said. “I think the other offices benefit from the gravitas of the New York team that’s done some of the largest transactions in the country, and the New York team is really benefiting from all the on-the-ground expertise that exists in each of our markets.”
As for multifamily deals last year, Avison Young helped sell a four-building, 165-unit residential portfolio spread across the West Village, Chelsea and SoHo for a combined $60.3 million on behalf of Page Management. And the firm is excited about more multifamily opportunities as potential office-to-residential conversions open up under the City of Yes rezoning and the 485x state tax incentive.
“There’s a huge appetite right now to do projects, whether that be in SoHo, the Upper East Side, Midtown or Midtown South,” Polakoff said. “A lot opened up with 485x and these rezonings. So it’s been fun to watch the ride.”
There’s also been some leadership changes for the team this year. Polakoff was promoted to head of New York City investment sales, while Nelson was promoted to head of U.S. investment sales as part of the firm’s new sales platform called USIS.
“We love the fact that we can walk into meetings together with clients and bring both the sales and finance perspective and really listen to the clients and what they need,” Singer said.
