Newmark Grubb Knight Frank Capital Group Expands with the Addition of Helios Capital Advisors

Newmark Grubb Knight Frank (NGKF) announced that the leadership of Helios Capital Advisors, a boutique capital markets advisory firm headed by industry veteran Steven Schultz, has merged with NGKF’s rapidly expanding capital markets advisory platform. Helios’ successful track record in assisting clients with loan sales, REO transactions and commercial real estate investment complements NGKF’s growing platform and follows recent appointments that bring together some of the most accomplished capital and investment markets advisors in the nation.

Mr. Schultz, Helios’ founding member and chief executive officer, will lead the expansion of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank Capital Group in New Jersey, working with David Simson, vice chairman/COO of the New Jersey operations. He brings with him a team of professionals specializing in the disposition of commercial mortgage loans, banks’ real estate owned and privately owned investment properties throughout the Northeast.

“The Helios team is a valuable addition to the financial services advisory business we are forging at Newmark Grubb Knight Frank,” stated NGKF President James D. Kuhn. “Already a clear leader in the Northeast within its significant niche market and having closed more than $1 billion in non-performing loans since since 2009, this particular team is highly skilled and known as pioneers when it comes to REO and non-performing loan sales. They are very excited to integrate their non-performing loan sale platform with our national effort.”

During a career that spans more than two decades, Mr. Schultz has completed negotiations and transactions involving more than eight million square feet of real estate, with an aggregate trade value of $8 billion. He joins NGKF as Executive Managing Director, and will continue to lead the six-person team he assembled at Helios.

In addition to Mr. Schultz, former Helios professionals making the transition to NGKF include Josh Malka, director; Tony Georgiev, director; and Joseph Villani, associate. The team will operate from the NGKF offices in Rutherford, N.J., and New York City.

Prior to forming Helios Capital, Mr. Schultz cofounded The Schultz Organization, LLC, in 1990. He also helped to form and cultivate the rapid success of another firm, Pyramid Property Partners, a development company.

“Helios Capital Advisors prided itself on providing clients with end-to-end solutions, whether for advisory services, commercial mortgage loan sales, structured finance advisory, REO sales or other capital markets needs,” Mr. Schultz said. “By merging with Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, we not only have expanded the reach of our team, but also have aligned with one of the industry’s strongest players in the capital markets arena.”

Mr. Kuhn said the addition of the Helios team is the latest in a series of new hires and game-changing developments that is furthering NGKF’s position as an industry leader providing first-class capital markets expertise across geographies and practice areas.

Key leadership appointments in recent months include: in Los Angeles, Conrad Andersen as senior managing director and head of the financial services advisory division and Craig Sherman as senior note sale advisor; In New York, Andrew Phillips as managing director, growing his previous role as eastern regional leader of Grubb & Ellis’ financial services advisory management team.

Together, Mssrs. Phillips, Andersen and Sherman orchestrated the underwriting and disposition of approximately $600 million in non-performing loans over the past 18 months.

“At the moment we have several large transactions in play,” Mr. Kuhn said. “It has been remarkable to see how quickly and seamlessly these regional leaders have leveraged NGKF’s capital markets platform to land highly valuable assignments and close transactions.”

Mr. Andersen brings more than 25 years of special assets and investment banking experience. He has held senior positions at several major U.S. money-center and saving banks, including Bank of America, Security Pacific Bank and Coast Savings Bank, and specializes in the sale of non-performing assets for U.S. banks and special servicers.

Mr. Sherman has worked in real estate finance for two decades, and was Grubb & Ellis’ senior advisor on note sales.

Mr. Phillips has regional responsibility for developing client-specific programs and is the account manager for several major foreign and money-center bank clients, overseeing disposition of both performing and non-performing note sales.

Mr. Andersen explained the appeal of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank: “The new organization is unique to the commercial real estate sector as it provides ‘a high capital markets IQ’ along with an extensive real estate service platform. These strengths, backed by a commitment to build an unmatched capital services offering, will greatly benefit our professionals and clients.”

About Newmark Grubb Knight Frank
A part of BGC Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:BGCP), Newmark Grubb Knight Frank is one of the largest commercial real estate service firms in the U.S. It brings together the strategic consultative approach to creating value for clients and leading position in the New York market that are hallmarks of Newmark; the complementary strengths of Grubb & Ellis in leasing and management, investment sales, valuation and capital markets services; and BGC’s financial strength, proprietary technology, expertise in global capital markets and deep relationships with many of the world’s leading financial institutions.

Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, together with its affiliates and London-based partner Knight Frank, employs in excess of 11,000 professionals, operating from more than 300 offices in established and emerging property markets on five continents. This major force in real estate is meeting the local and global needs of tenants, owners, investors and developers worldwide.