David Goldstein, Mitti Liebersohn and Janet Woods

Savills has experienced a meeting of the minds since Mitti Liebersohn’s departure from Avison Young in July 2022, joining David Goldstein and Janet Woods as the age-old firm continues to grow.

While the pre-pandemic leasing market had its challenges, Goldstein and Liebersohn believe that the more complicated obstacles to success now actually play to the strengths of the brokerage.

“When you’ve got Goldie, who’s been here for over 30 years, and I’ve been in the business for over 40 years, there’s almost nothing that the two of us haven’t experienced at some point in our career, but it may be coming from different perspectives,” Liebersohn said, referring to Goldstein. “So, like, I’ve had some great experiences on the landlord agency side. But, predominantly, I’ve been a tenant broker for most of my career. But, by just having that perspective, it brings an interesting dynamic to the conversation.”

The word “challenge,” in fact, doesn’t really leave Goldstein’s lips during an interview as he says the team’s description of the market can simply be summed up as more “sophisticated” than it was before COVID supercharged a flight to quality and left leasing voids in office buildings across Manhattan.

Sophisticated, how?

Concessions are high in the market right now, where tenants are getting months of free rent or allowances to cover moving expenses, and owners are tasked with building out space. Landlords with newer and branded buildings have an advantage in that these concessions are less necessary, with owners of Class B and C buildings instead having to spend more, according to Goldstein.

“It used to be the four walls and that was it. But now it’s the whole experience from when you approach the front door, when you go through the revolving door into the lobby,” Goldstein said. “The journey of the employee in the elevator into the workspace, throughout their day, at different venues, to do their things — it’s an evolving delivery model, and it’s definitely becoming more expensive to create, which is why I think we’re seeing a lot more activity in that higher-end category of our occupier clients.” 

Some of the top deals for Savills in recent months included a 287,393-square-foot lease for Tiffany & Co. at 200 Park Avenue, 179,724 square feet for Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer at 3 World Trade Center, and 109,517 feet for Monday.com at 225 Park Avenue South.