Jonathan Mechanic
Chairman of the real estate department at Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson
Last year's rank: 97
For a commercial real estate insider as powerful as attorney Jonathan Mechanic, it takes a ton of activity, and even more success, for him to declare 2024 “the best year we’ve ever had,” as he did during an interview in March.
Mechanic speaks not only from the heart, but also with ample evidence in mind. His team worked on some of the largest commercial real estate transactions in New York City last year.
These included counseling Ken Griffin’s Citadel through a joint venture with Vornado Realty Trust and fellow owner Rudin to build a supertall, 1.7 million-square-foot tower at 40 East 52nd Street; negotiating trading firm Jane Street’s nearly 1 million-square-feet lease at Brookfield Place, aka 250 Vesey Street; and counseling an office-to-residential conversion at 25 Water Street, where J.P. Morgan agreed to end its lease early at the 1 million-square-foot building so Nathan Berman’s Metro Loft could begin the renovation.
“The coup de grace was J.P. Morgan was the tenant of 90 percent of the building, with three and a half years to go on their lease, but they were underutilizing the space, so we acted as intermediary to prepay their lease at a 25 percent discount, and use the money to further reduce the basis for the owner of the property,” explained Mechanic. “It’s one of my favorite projects.”
Mechanic also represented Blackstone in its January 2025 agreement to buy out J.P. Morgan’s interest at 1345 Avenue of America, where the private equity giant’s commitment to office space in Midtown’s famous Sixth Avenue business district gave law firm Paul, Weiss the incentive to also lease space at the same building.
“It’s a statement about where the world is. … Rents are astronomical, and it tells me that the world, particularly in New York City, is back,” said Mechanic.
As for his secret sauce for being among the most successful commercial real estate attorneys in the country, Mechanic credits his two ears, rather than just his single mouth. “You have to be able to listen to what the other side has to say and what their issues are, and try to find a solution for them,” he said.
