11/23/08

• Home

• The Magazine

• Archives

• Webcasts

• Advertising

• Job Board

• New York

• Subscribe

Young guns: The changing face of commercial real estate

Adam Greenberg managing director, BayBridge Real Estate Group

Adam Greenberg started out as an intern at the Miami-based BayBridge Real Estate Group at the age of 23. Now 30 years old, he is the company's managing director. To what did he owe his promotion? "It is all about the money," he said. "You bring in enough money for an organization, they typically reward you."

And Greenberg brought in a lot of money. Prior to becoming managing director, Greenberg closed on high-profile deals, including 118 units in Axis at Brickell Village and the Element development site in Edgewater. More recently, though, Greenberg has been racking up the commercial deals including a $9 million sale of a Publix site in South Dade, a $25 million sale of agricultural land in Homestead, and $14 million in bridge financing of an 80,000-square-foot office building in Boca Raton.

In addition, Greenberg manages the operations of BayBridge Real Estate Group, BayBridge Home Lending, and BayBridge Capital Advisors.

Jacqueline Blake vice president, Staubach Retail Services

Jacqueline Blake grew up in the industry. Her father, Bob Bank, worked as a broker for the Properties Group. Blake started her career with Cushman & Wakefield in December 1999 and amassed a Class A office portfolio totaling 2.6 million square feet.

Today, Blake, age 33, is vice president of Staubach Retail Services in Fort Lauderdale and is the account executive for AutoNation, the largest automotive retailer in the United States, with 245 dealerships in 16 states.

How did she land the account? Basically the AutoNation folks liked her work. She got AutoNation its office digs in Fort Lauderdale and handles its local research and office real estate. Now, she gets AutoNation both land and locations across the country. Ever modest, Blake sees this as a learning experience. "It is a great opportunity to learn national research," she said.

She stresses complete dedication to the client, to the point where "they end up like family." Blake is also very active in the South Florida chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties and the Broward and Palm Beach County chapters of Commercial Real Estate Women, serving on the board of directors of both groups.

Tony Cho president, Metro 1 Properties Miami

This native Floridian attended Northwestern University in Chicago, where he studied international relations and political science. He was even a founding member of the Next Generation at the Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions.

For the past eight years, Cho has built a career in commercial real estate, but he never wavered from his belief in making the world, or at least the city he lives in, a better place. Phrases like "sustainable growth," "ambassadors to the community," and "urbanism" are not just sound bites to Cho; they are mantras for him to live by.

At 29, Cho is president of Metro 1 Properties in Miami, a company that has 20 sales associates — most of whom are under the age of 35, educated, personable and savvy in the world of Internet marketing. "We have a certain image and a certain energy," Cho said. "Not necessarily younger. The type of profile I want in a sales associate is aggressive, tech savvy and committed to education."

The formula appears to be working. So far this year, Metro 1 Properties is claiming over $100 million in sales and leasing. His company counts Genius Jones, Segafredo's, Sign-O-Rama, Technomarine, and Deme Tech as clients.

Cho is on the board of directors for the Non-Violence Project and is an active supporter of the River Fund and the Feed Everyone Program.

Viktoria Telek director of commercial properties, ComReal

Her mother was a residential real estate agent and her father was a contractor, so becoming a commercial real estate broker was only natural for Viktoria Telek.

At 18, she embarked on a career in residential real estate, switched to commercial brokering at 21 and hasn't looked back.

"Every day is completely different," she said. "Since I do work with the industrial market, I learn about different businesses ... I see it from the ground up." Telek, 26, is ComReal's director of commercial real estate properties around Miami International Airport, specializing in landlord-tenant representations, acquisitions and dispositions, with a focus on industrial investments, warehouses and investment properties.

Recently, she represented machine manufacturer Costex in acquiring 17 acres for a 200,000-square-foot facility adjacent to Costex's headquarters. A look at her record reveals that Telek has closed many deals in excess of $1.5 million.

But for Telek, success is not about the numbers. "It is good customer service and following up, not about the deal or the transaction," she said. "It is about paying special attention to a client's needs." Telek is on the board of directors for the Industrial Association of Dade County and the Realtors Commercial Alliance of Greater Miami and the Beaches. She is also affiliated with the National Association of Realtors, the Florida Association of Realtors and Commercial Real Estate Women.

Still Hunter III first vice president, Marcus & Millichap

Admit it. Still Hunter III is a cool name. When pressed, Hunter admitted that his name is an asset in commercial real estate. "I think it helps in general," he said. "It's unique and different and people remember my name. It is hard to forget."

He joined Marcus & Millichap, the commercial real estate firm, in late 1999. Hunter is still there, still hunting for deals as first vice president and senior director of the company's national multi-housing group. Since 2003, Hunter has closed on more than 25,000 units worth $2 billion in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties and in Jacksonville.

"If you ask anyone in the business, the volume we do is considered exceptional," said the 30-year-old Hunter. "It's certainly more than most people."

What attracted Hunter to commercial real estate was the belief that if a broker works hard enough, he will be compensated for his efforts. "If you really work hard, you make more money ... in a good market," he said. And in a not-so-good market? Well, a broker can be secure in the knowledge that commercial real estate is not boring, Hunter said. It also allows you to meet people — which also isn't boring. "I now discovered that nice relationships that develop with clients is the best part of business," he said. "You develop some great relationships with some really impressive people."

Sky Groden managing director, Cushman & Wakefield

Why is Sky Groden so good at selling commercial real estate? Probably because he has worked in the industry since he was 19 years old.

Groden began as a part-time researcher for Cushman & Wakefield in January 1995, while still in college. "It was a great learning experience," he said. By 1998, Groden was allowed to put that learning into practice when he joined a commercial brokerage team headed by Richard Etner Jr. and Christopher Metzger, which racked up $245 million in leases and sales volume in Broward and Palm Beach counties. In 2000, Cushman & Wakefield named him its Rookie of the Year.

Today, Groden, 32, continues to amass the sales with the Etner-Metzger team and fellow wunderkind Christopher Thomson, age 31. Between 2006 and 2007 the two have pushed through $151.2 million in sales and $94.8 million in leases. That earned them the NAIOP South Florida Industrial Brokerage Team of the Year awards in 2006 and 2007.

Jeb Bush Jr. sales and leasing associate, Fairchild Partnership

Jeb Bush has a name. It happens to be the same name as the former governor of Florida and the brother of the current president, George W. Many would see that as an advantage. Bush doesn't. His father used to say that you make half your father's friends and all of his enemies.

There are similarities between father and son. Like his father, Bush has an interest in politics. He has a degree in government relations from the University of Texas and was the president of "Florida Young Professionals for Rudy Giuliani" back when the former mayor of New York was pinning his presidential hopes on winning the state's primary.

And like his father, Bush developed an interest in commercial real estate. In the summer of 2004 Bush was a broker's assistant for the Codina Group, a company that develops commercial and residential projects throughout Miami-Dade County. Now 24 years old, Bush is a commercial sales and leasing agent for Fairchild Partnership in Miami-Dade County. Along with Tony Puente, Fairchild's vice president, Bush is leasing and marketing space at the Bank of America Tower at International Place, a 600,000-square-foot office tower in Downtown Miami. He's also leasing office space at Highland Park Center in Miami's hospital district.

With Giuliani out of the presidential race, Bush is focused on his profession. "I'm trying to make a career at it," he said.

Scott Goldstein senior associate, the Staubach Company

Scott Goldstein was a 22-year-old sports marketing agent for the Arena Football League's Florida Bobcats when he interviewed with CB Richard Ellis. His can-do attitude won him the job and he's been scoring touchdowns with deals as varied as a landfill, Yahoo! and state government agencies.

Landing a 1 million-square-foot office building for Florida's Department of Business and Professional Regulations attracted the attention of the Staubach Company, which made him an offer to join its team. "It took them some time," he said. "They had to twist my arm a little bit."

Since then, 32-year-old Goldstein, as senior associate for Staubach, has completed 300 transactions valued at $75 million. He helped Spherion Corp. get rid of 450 locations, saving the company $10 million, and completed 50 transactions for the state of Florida valued at $10 million. He also counts other major corporations such as Deloitte & Touche, Cisco Systems, Time Warner and Apple among his clients.

"It's fun helping clients save money for their real estate," he said. "After salaries, real estate is their biggest expense."

Andrew Trench sales and leasing associate, Holly Real Estate

Born and raised in Miami, Andrew Trench was lured to the University of Maryland by the college's communications curriculum.

Back then, he wanted to get into television production. As it turned out, "their communications program had nothing to do with mass communications," Trench said. It was all about communication between people, different ways of talking, of asserting non-verbal messages. Trench stuck with it and the skills have proven valuable.

While in college, he did mortgage and title work for residential developer the Tenacity Group in Washington, D.C. Two years ago, he joined Holly Real Estate, where he made his mark leasing the office and retail space in the Espiritu Santo building on Brickell Avenue. "My boss had that account. I took it on and did a good chunk of the leasing," Trench said. By chunk he means 75 to 80 percent of the space. Other recent deals include leasing pre-construction space at the Lake View Offices at Doral, a future 300,000-square-foot office park. Trench is leasing retail space for CABI Developers' Everglades and Capital on Brickell projects in Miami.

Trench is also active in the Doral Business Council's Economic Development Committee and the International Council of Shopping Centers.

Hector Cantana vice president, West Vest Associates

Hector Cantana knew he wanted to get into real estate when he washed Michael Adler's Porsche. Back then, Cantana had a mobile car wash business. Adler was, and still is, CEO of the Adler Group, a company that built 14 million square feet of residential and commercial space in the 40 years of its existence. "I always wanted to drive a car like that," he said.

So Cantana decided to go into real estate. The day he got his real estate license, one of his customers introduced him to her husband, Anthony "Tony" DeRose, president of West Vest Associates. They hit it off.

Nine and a half years later, Cantana is vice president of West Vest Associates. In that time, Cantana has sold over 5 million square feet of commercial real estate worth $250 million. In 2006 alone, he sold $50 million worth of real estate.

He doesn't just sell real estate, he also invests in it. "I'm not just a broker," said Cantana, who will be 35 years old in July. "I like to put my money in one or two properties a year. I love it."

Much of his business takes place in the Doral area, where he is a trustee of the Doral Business Council. Cantana is also affiliated with the Realtors Commercial Alliance of Greater Miami.

"It is a pleasure for me to get out and do business with businessmen," he said. "I respect their time and they respect my time."

Young guns: Honorable mention