BY KARSTEN STRAUSS

Avison Young entered the U.S. market three years ago and, with the help of former CBRE broker Greg Kraut, has managed to establish an impressive beachhead in the New York tristate market. Kraut, now principal and managing director at Avison Young, has built a team of stars that includes former brokers from Grubb & Ellis, Cushman & Wakefield and Jones Lang LaSalle. Mr. Kraut took time last week to discuss with The Commercial Observer Avison Young’s recent successes and hires, as well as its 2013 growth strategy.

The Commercial Observer: You arrived at Avison from CBRE last year with the task of building a presence in New York. What was the mission, as described to you by Avison?
Mr. Kraut: They told us that they want to build a team of high-level hires as well as acquisitions of companies in the tristate area. We were to position ourselves strongly for future growth and we wanted to make sure all of our tristate market professionals are the best in their respective disciplines, whether that’s capital markets, debt equity, loan sales, tenant rep, landlord rep, investment sales, as well as project management.

They also wanted to make sure that people we were hiring were at the top of their fields and that they were culturally compatible with our company. And they made it clear that New York was a top priority and they were committed to building it the right way. We are principal-led, which makes a huge difference.

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BY KARSTEN STRAUSS

This past February, 10Gen, developer of the computer system database MongoDB, was in search of new office space, specifically in tech- and media-rich Midtown South.

The company needed a large open layout for its workers, with an option for more space to allow the firm to grow—plus an option to terminate. Unfortunately, the ultra-tight market did not offer what the company sought, and it was forced to look elsewhere.

“Before looking Downtown, they were going to look farther north, but not much farther north,” said Studley Executive Managing Director Greg Taubin.

The company settled on 229 West 43rd Street—the old New York Times building—taking 30,000 square feet with the option to eventually take 34,000 more. The building still has vacancies, but, according to Mr. Taubin, if it was located 20 blocks farther south, it would likely be full.

He’s probably right.

In what has increasingly become conventional wisdom for brokers and tenants alike, 2012 became the year in which tech and media companies truly invaded Midtown South.

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BY KARSTEN STRAUSS

New York real estate is some of the most desirable and expensive in the world, but the ever-fluctuating price of a square foot of space in a given neighborhood is unquestionably dwarfed by the value of human life. This year, the commercial real estate world lost several notable figures and The Commercial Observer would like to take a moment to remember each of them.

Samuel “Sandy” Lindenbaum, 1935-2012

Samuel Lindenbaum, a counselor at the firm Kramer Levin who was considered one of the city’s leading land use attorneys, succumbed to esophageal cancer this August following a yearlong bout of treatment. Known for his knowledge of the city’s zoning laws and regulations, he was the counsel of choice for major developers—including Donald Trump, Harry Macklowe and the real estate investment trust Vornado—in seeking city approvals for big-time projects.

“Sandy was, by acclamation, an institution in New York real estate,” said Michael T. Sillerman, co-chair of the land use group at Kramer Levin and Mr. Lindenbaum’s colleague for more than 30 years.

Mr. Lindenbaum began his career in real estate in the early 1960s after graduating from Harvard Law School. The ins and outs of zoning were not unknown to him, as his father was chairman of the City Planning Commission for a period and was also an attorney.

Some of Mr. Lindenbaum’s more notable deals include securing the rights to raise the Trump World Tower on the East Side in the 1990s, placing the Apple Store under the General Motors Building, and securing Planning Commission and City Council approval for Vornado’s 15 Penn Plaza across from Penn Station. Mr. Lindenbaum represented three generations of the famed Zeckendorf family—the familial dynasty behind such projects as the United Nations in 1947, the Roosevelt Field shopping center on Long Island, the Century City complex in Los Angeles, 515 Park Avenue and 15 Central Park West. “He could literally remember what he did for the grandfather, the father and the son,” said Mr. Sillerman.

“Clients came to him because of his brilliance, his creativity, his economy of advice, his reliability, his long experience,” Mr. Sillerman remembered. “And also—and this is sometimes underestimated—his wit and his humor and his ability to find a successful way out of the darkest or most challenging problem.”

Mr. Lindenbaum is survived by his wife, Linda, and their family.

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