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Newmark Grubb Knight Frank (NGKF) recently promoted three of its New York City commercial real estate professionals, who have each been with the firm for nearly a decade. Now senior managing directors, the three-Ben Birnbaum, Robin Fisher and Brent Ozarowski-have executed numerous noteworthy transactions, receiving prestigious accolades along the way.
Mr. Birnbaum, with Newmark Grubb Knight Frank Retail, is currently part of a team marketing premier retail space in Times Square at the Brill Building (1619 Broadway), as well as luxury opportunities at 625 Madison Avenue. In addition, he is spearheading the expansion of urgent-care center CityMD throughout the tri-state area, securing 10 sites, including its first outer-borough locations.
Since joining NGKF in 2007, Mr. Birnbaum has executed more than 100 transactions with several well-known landlords and tenants. These include Tishman Speyer, SL Green Realty, Rudin Management Co., Equity Office, and others on the landlord side. Among the high-profile tenants he has placed are Pret A Manger with more than 20 locations, Potbelly Sandwich Shop in 18 sites, Citibank, and others. Last year’s highlights include the placement of Chop’t Salad, Potbelly, NY Golf and Valley National Bank at SL Green’s 100 Park Avenue, and the Los Angeles-based Umami Restaurant Group’s popular burger concept into its first New York location at 432 Sixth Avenue. Recognizing his accomplishments early on, NGKF named Mr. Birnbaum “Associate Broker of the Year” in 2008 and 2009.
Ms. Fisher, who specializes in office and retail tenant representation, joined NGKF in 2004, completing a record number of transactions in her first two years. 2013 highlights span from assisting in Fairway’s newest 50,000-square-foot location in TriBeCa to leasing the entire 55th floor at One Penn Plaza on behalf of Adelhardt Construction Corp. Her clients include Sesame Workshop, Hale and Hearty Soups, New York Sports Club, Bridgewater Advisors, Links of London, Wolford, American Bureau of Shipping, Dig Inn Seasonal Market, New Distribution Network and TheaterMania.com.
Last year, Ms. Fisher received the Association of Real Estate Women’s “Founder’s Award” and has been recognized as a Tishman Speyer “Dealmaker” in 2010, 2011 and 2012. She was the recipient of NGKF’s “Rising Star” award for 2010 and the Real Estate Board of New York’s “Most Promising Commercial Salesperson of the Year” award for 2008.
Mr. Ozarowski represents many of the nation’s leading employers and property owners, not only in New York City but in markets coast to coast. He has been involved in more than $2.5 billion of transactions for clients including New York University, North Shore Long Island Jewish Hospital, and Trian Fund Management. Additionally, as part of a senior NGKF team that recently assisted The Blackstone Group in its acquisition of 229 W. 43rd St., he helped Equity Office to reposition the 480,000-square-foot office portion of the building into a multi-tenant property following more than a century as a single-occupant headquarters for The New York Times. The team already has leased 350,000 square feet of the space, including a headlining deal with Yahoo! for 176,000 square feet.
In 2012, Mr. Ozarowski received “The Aaron Gural Award,” given annually to a person selected by colleagues for best representing NGKF with significant contributions in the areas of ethics, teamwork, collaboration and professionalism. He was recognized by CoStar Group as a Power Broker for New York City Office Leasing in 2012 and by Tishman Speyer as “Dealmaker” in 2010 and 2013. Mr. Ozarowski received NGKF’s “Associate Broker of the Year” award in 2007, which recognizes the firm’s top broker with less than five years of experience. He joined NGKF in 2005.
About Newmark Grubb Knight Frank
Newmark Grubb Knight Frank is one of the world’s leading commercial real estate advisory firms. Together with London-based partner Knight Frank and independently-owned offices, NGKF’s 12,000 professionals operate from more than 320 offices in established and emerging property markets on five continents.
With roots dating back to 1929, NGKF’s strong foundation makes it one of the most trusted names in commercial real estate. NGKF’s full-service platform comprises BGC’s real estate services segment, offering commercial real estate tenants, landlords, investors and developers a wide range of services including leasing; capital markets services, including investment sales, debt placement, appraisal, and valuation services; commercial mortgage brokerage services; as well as corporate advisory services, consulting, project and development management, and property and corporate facilities management services. For further information, visit www.ngkf.com.
NGKF is a part of BGC Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ: BGCP), a leading global brokerage company primarily servicing the wholesale financial and real estate markets. For further information, visit www.bgcpartners.com.