Kevin Shannon, Jay Luchs and Jonathan Firestone

In a commercial real estate market that sprawls as much as Los Angeles, it usually seems close to impossible to determine the “top power brokers,” but Newmark’s case has been growing more convincing of late. 

Kevin Shannon’s team has kept some of L.A.’s largest offices trading despite the well-reported market headwinds for traditional workspace and for L.A.’s business core. Over the past year and a half, it closed several marquee deals: Shannon’s team arranged the sale of the Skims-anchored office building in Hollywood for $105 million, and handled Brookfield’s tower at 601 South Figueroa for $210 million. Shannon also led Newmark’s sale of a creative campus in Playa Vista for $150.7 million. 

Shannon has noted that “capital is showing renewed conviction in high-quality, 2025-vintage office investments,” with “contrarian investors … capitalizing on the opportunity to acquire premier office product below replacement cost.” He also said big investors are tentatively re‑engaging in trophy office deals. 

Indeed, Shannon’s group has consistently marketed top buildings as value buys, pushing through sales when the market felt like it was stuck in pause. 

Jay Luchs is without question L.A.’s de facto luxury retail king on the broker side as he continues to set records on Beverly Hills’ Rodeo Drive, seemingly on an annual basis and with the top retailers in the world. Earlier this summer, Luchs brokered a blockbuster Beverly Hills sale — a double-wide Rodeo Drive storefront housing Tom Ford, Moncler and Balenciaga — for roughly $400 million. At a startling $14,228 per square foot, the transaction broke Rodeo Drive’s price-per-foot record. 

Meanwhile, as Newmark’s co‐head of global debt and structured finance, Jonathan Firestone has become a go-to dealmaker for many of these trophy transactions. He worked with Shannon’s team in arranging the debt for the Skims HQ sale, and has structured financing for many of the firm’s flagship trades. Nationally, Firestone has driven Newmark’s growth in the debt markets. Under his and partner Jordan Roeschlaub’s leadership, Newmark financed over $40 billion of new loans in the past year.