Betesh relishes bringing business to TriBeCa.

Ten years ago, retailers did not consider the sleepy, fringe bedroom community of TriBeCa to be a viable market, says Roxanne Betesh, vice president of Sinvin Realty Corp., the downtown commercial and retail real estate brokerage company. At the time, they looked to SoHo for growth, and neglected the needs of TriBeCa's booming residential population.

"In the 1960s, the Washington Market Urban Renewal Project transformed the area from commercial to residential," says Betesh. "Industrial buildings were converted into apartment houses and schools, but the retail and service industries didn't keep up with the residential growth."

Today, it is hard to think of the residents of TriBeCa as underserved. The neighborhood ranked 13th this year on Forbes magazine's list of the most expensive ZIP codes in the country. With a median home sale price of $1,635,000, it is the most expensive neighborhood in New York City, which is in turn is the most expensive city in the country.

"When I began my career in real estate 10 years ago, TriBeCa's storefronts were mostly empty, even though the neighborhood was experiencing a population boom," comments Betesh. "Between 1970 and 1980 alone, TriBeCa's population jumped by a whopping 2,000 percent."

Recognizing the needs of its residents and the ample opportunities for commercial businesses, as a new broker Betesh decided to concentrate on TriBeCa. At the time, most brokers snubbed the unproven neighborhood. Betesh was singular in her vision of commercial growth for TriBeCa.

Betesh came to the real estate business after many years as a restaurateur. A brush with breast cancer caused her to re-evaluate her lifestyle, and the long hours of work at nights and on weekends that the restaurant business required.

She owned three restaurants in all, Restaurant Leslie, Capito and Roxanne's. The last was a popular destination for A-list celebrities such as Diane Keaton, Kathleen Turner, Peter Allen, Ann Margaret, Claudette Colbert and Steven Sondheim.

"I had a nose for real estate," Betesh says today. "At my restaurants I had always negotiated my own leases and I had always enjoyed it."

These days, Betesh helps other restaurateurs find space for their projects. Tom Colicchio, owner of the increasingly popular restaurants Craft, Craftbar, and 'wichcraft, is a recent client. Betesh helped Colicchio find space in Chelsea's Terminal Warehouse. Betesh is the exclusive marketing agent on the retail space in the property, which occupies a full city block on 11th Avenue and formerly housed the Tunnel nightclub.

In 1999, Betesh got the opportunity to dramatically change the face of Duane Street, between Hudson and Greenwich Streets. Steven and Madelyn Wils asked her to lease the retail space in three buildings on the block.

The Wils' were the third generation owners of Harry Wils & Co., the last butter and eggs business in TriBeCa. Their family business's trucks had been a familiar sight along Duane Street for decades, but the changes in TriBeCa made it seem wise to move their business to Secaucus, New Jersey.

In just a few short months, Betesh negotiated separate leases for home furnishings stores Duane, Burden & Izett, Room. On the same block, she brought in J H Antiques & Les Migrateurs. The deals coincided with the beautification of the surrounding neighborhood and Duane Park. And, Duane Street became one of the city's most important destinations for high-end home furnishings

Despite its tremendous growth, Betesh has also seen TriBeCa through some difficult times for the real estate industry. Retail was peaking in the neighborhood before September 11, but was dealt a painful blow on that day. Afterward, many retailers opted to move to SoHo, which offered more pedestrian traffic and was also experiencing a post-9/11 drop in rents.

After three years of sluggishness, retail activity in TriBeCa has finally returned to its earlier robustness. The resurgence in street-level retail has been paralleled by new activity on. higher floors of TriBeCa's buildings, as well. In particular, there is a heavy increase in the commercial condominium sector.

"Real estate conditions in TriBeCa are healthy and interest rates remain low. Business owners find the prospect of buying a commercial condominium in this environment very appealing," says Betesh. "They want to make an investment that doesn't depend on the fluctuations of the stock market."

At 145 Hudson Street, Betesh has sold more than 40,000 square feet of commercial condominium space, on behalf of landlord Stanley Scott. In many of these deals, Betesh also represented the buyers, including Richard Mishaan Design, Gerrard + Tan Architects, photographer Tom Schierlitz and finance guru David Bach.

Betesh's expertise isn't limited to the "Triangle Below Canal" Street. She is active in all downtown neighborhoods, including Soho, the Meatpacking District, the West Village, Noho and Chelsea.