David Amsterdam

David Amsterdam won’t shy away from a tricky transaction.

Amsterdam, who joined Colliers six years ago after stints at Cushman & Wakefield and SL Green Realty, is responsible for deals across the country, which means he has to know the nuances of multiple municipalities.

“It’s never something as simple as a basic mathematical equation. There was always some type of hair on any deal and required some type of creative mechanism to execute transactions,” he said. “The most complex transactions were the most enjoyable.”

For instance, Amsterdam worked with an artist who wanted to sell their gallery and home on a seven-lot development site in Brooklyn. He was able to break up the lot and sell it in portions to two different buyers for $450 per square foot, which is not how he envisioned the deal at the beginning.

Then, last fall, his team represented Extell and Princeton Real Estate Partners, which wanted $22 million for 175 Spring Street, a 123-year-old building that once operated as the New York subway system’s first power station. But the facade was landmarked, so Colliers needed to get the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission to approve any allowable changes.

“You learn something every time,” Amsterdam said. “I do think our ability to be educated walking into each transaction and always be prepared to find a creative solution and pivot consistently is what really helps us on a national level.”

Amsterdam said he believes the commercial real estate market is on the upswing based on seeing major Midtown thoroughfares and Bryant Park packed with pedestrians. He’s also encouraged by the Riese Organization’s $38 million sale of 560 Fifth Avenue to a Japanese boutique coffee company, at the highest price per square foot for a Fifth Avenue retail building in the past five years (Colliers repped Riese).

“People want to come back to the office,” he said. “I hear commentary that people would rather work from home, but I do believe that many who have returned to work understand the benefit of being there in person.”