BY ROBERT KNAKAL

As The Commercial Observer presents its “30 Under 30” list this week, I thought this would be a good opportunity to review some characteristics and work habits that benefit younger brokers who are just starting out in their careers.

A few weeks ago, my column titled “The Brokers’ Ten Commandments” received positive feedback and provided insight into this topic for the broader brokerage community. There is some overlap between that column’s advice and tips for younger brokers, but today I’d like to look specifically at things that people newer to the industry can do to help get themselves into transaction flow more quickly.

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BY ADELAIDE POLSINELLI

Well, do you?

Real estate has become a very popular career choice. And why not? It’s a business that affords you the unlimited earning potential that few other careers can boast. The financial independence offered by this career allows you the flexibility to make lifestyle choices. Every day is an adventure. There is nothing more invigorating than being in the midst of the elite group of movers and shakers who create the ever-changing skyline of the city.

I polled several veteran brokers who are at the top of their game and have earned the respect of their peers. In addition to being highly organized, tenacious and disciplined, here is what they said is important for a promising future superstar.

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BY KARSTEN STRAUSS

Japan-based chocolate maker, Royce, has leased 620 square feet of space at 253 Bleecker Street. The asking price was $290 per square foot.

“Bleecker Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues is probably the best food block in the City,” said Steve Rappaport, senior managing director with Sinvin Real Estate, which represented both the tenant and the building. “Home to Amy's Bread, Murray's Cheese, Grom, David's Teas, Faiccio's, Ottomanelli's, Keste, Pizza Roma, and John’s Pizza, it is literally a gourmet heaven.”

Royce looked at properties “all over the village” over the course of several months, Mr. Rappaport said. “None had the intensity of traffic combined with such incredible co-tenants.”

“They had not closed on Madison (other location) yet so they were looking for a downtown location with high foot traffic,” said Kristin McCann, the Sinvin senior director responsible for showing Royce the space. The tenant was interested in a smaller space – not more than 1,000 square feet – with plenty of exposure, she added. The current tenant will vacate by the end of the year, Ms. McCann said.

Royce was founded in Sapporo, Japan, in 1983. Its factory is located in Tobetsu-cho, Hokkaido, about 19 miles north of Sapporo.

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BY AL BARBARINO

Milan developer and urban planner Alessandro Cajrati Crivelli plans to bring a touch of Venice to Red Hook, Brooklyn with the help of architecture firm Adjmi & Andreoli.

The man behind the development company Estate 4 has purchased a 130,000-square-foot factory space at 202 Coffey Street for $11.8 million, The Commercial Observer has learned, and he is tapping the New York-based architects to strip the building down to its original 19th-century brilliance, ultimately creating a photography school and a series of artist studios.

“As architects we are excited to touch such a beautiful building,” said Aldo Andreoli, one half of the architecture team charged with restoring the 1889 building.

“We fell in love with the structure inside, which is reminiscent of the Palazzo Grassi in Venice,” he added, referring to the 18th-century, classical style building (pictured, above) that was turned into an art gallery in the 1980’s.

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BY BILLY GRAY

Things might be coming full circle in the kitchen at 206 Spring Street, the former home of the Italian restaurant Fiamma. Blue chip restaurateur Stephen Hanson, whose BR Guest Hospitality empire includes Atlantic Grill, Blue Water Grill, Dos Caminos, Ruby Foo's and Strip House, sold the five-story Soho building last week for an undisclosed price to Corigin Real Estate Group.

Now, the rumor mill is working overtime with buzz that Corigin leased the building's three restaurant floors to Altamarea, whose co-owner, Michael White, was the original chef at Fiamma in 2002 before falling out with Mr. Hanson.

When The New York Observer covered the opening of Mr. White's Marea, restaurateur Scott Conant would only say that, “[Mr. White] had a situation with [Mr. Hanson], and could no longer work with him.”

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