Fast-track growth experienced as firm comes of age.

"There is always a place for a small, well-rounded commercial real estate firm to do full-service brokerage and consultant work," says Alan M. Simon.

Having expanded his staff and moved into new and larger offices within a year of starting up Goodstein Realty Commercial, LLC, the commercial real estate division of The Goodstein Organization, he has proven himself right. But then one would expect nothing less from this seasoned real estate executive, who has had his finger on the pulse of the New York Metropolitan Area market for more than 30 years.

Simon serves as president of Goodstein Realty Commercial, LLC. The division handles and offers property acquisitions and dispositions investment opportunities, retail and office leasing, asset management and full-service consulting services to property owners, tenants and operators. Additionally, the division markets a national portfolio of properties - apartment complexes, office buildings and retail space - to investors worldwide.

The commercial venture capitalizes on Goodstein's core expertise as developers, owners and marketers of distinguished New York City properties. Goodstein was originally a development company. The construction division has undertaken jobs ranging from apartment rehabs to major new construction. A residential brokerage division was initiated in 1996, and recently expanded its operations with offices in Great Neck, Roslyn and Port Washington, NY. The new commercial division is a natural synergy that expands the expertise, reach, contacts and opportunities of the firm.

"This company has been associated with some of the best-known properties in Manhattan and beyond, and can offer one-stop shopping for real estate services," says Simon. "As but one example, when the commercial division is involved in a major store lease or building acquisition, we can call upon our development arm to estimate costs, oversee bidding, supervise work and serve as construction manager."

Simon has a long history in the New York real estate market, having consulted with many of the region's major tenants and owners in the course of a distinguished sales and leasing career.

As a broker, he has handled sales and leasing transactions for such prominent clients as Barnes & Noble, Talbot's, Filenes Basement, Harry's Shoes, Mickey Mantle's Restaurant, Sumitomo Real Estate and Chase Bank. He has represented Fairway on one of their lease renewals; Zabar's in various properties they own on the West Side; and World Gym at 1960 Broadway near Lincoln Center.

Simon is a member of the Real Estate Board of New York and serves as a director of its Commercial Division, as well as chairman of its Admissions Committee. He has also served on the faculty of the Real Estate Institute at New York University, and lectured at Fairleigh Dickinson University, the Real Estate Board of New York and the Academy for Continuing Education's Real Estate Division. A native New Yorker, he attended Horace Mann School and received his BA from Yale University.

In starting up Goodstein Commercial Realty, Simon saw an opportunity to put his in-depth market knowledge to work and his entrepreneurial vision for creating a small, high quality, full-service brokerage and consultant firm to the test. He is committed to a business philosophy of controlled growth, which he will achieve by bringing aboard seasoned veterans of the industry with complementary talents.

"I have no desire to be one of the top five or 10 in numbers in the industry, but [plan] to remain a small, full-service firm with top-level people and excellent quality control," he says.

A big step was recently taken in that direction when Goodstein Realty Commercial announced that investment sales specialist John Goldman had joined the division as executive vice president and director of Investment Sales. In that role, he will arrange the sale and development of investment properties throughout Manhattan, and provide investment and development opportunities to The Goodstein Organization and other clients.

Most recently, Goldman served as director of Investment Sales for Brown Harris Stevens, where he handled the sale of Manhattan properties to users and investors. He previously worked at William B. May, where he also specialized in investment properties, and practiced real estate law for 25 years. He has personally developed residential and commercial property costing $30 million to $35 million in Tribeca, NoHo, Clinton and the East Village, where he was an early investor.

Commenting on his decision to join Goodstein, Goldman said "I left a huge firm to join a start-up because I thought a young, growing, commercially-oriented firm, especially one that was a part of a larger real estate ownership, development and brokerage organization, would offer me greater opportunities. Alan Simon and others here are experienced people who can make a significant impact on the commercial market."

That impact is attested to by the young company's fast growth, which has already resulted in a move to new quarters. Having occupied space at The Goodstein Organization's Midtown headquarters, Goodstein Realty Commercial recently moved into new, larger office space on the entire seventh floor of 12 East 52nd Street between Fifth and Madison avenues.

In tandem with the move and expansion, the company has developed an initiative of aggressive hiring. "I expect to bring aboard as many as 10 experienced commercial investment sales and retail brokers over the next few months," says Simon.

Like Alan Simon and John Goldman, they will be savvy industry veterans possessing the "right stuff" to further accelerate the momentum of one of Manhattan's newest, fastest-growing commercial brokerage and consulting firms.