Finding the perfect fit comes easy to retail pro.

By virtue of its large residential holdings in Manhattan, real estate owner, Rose Associates, also has a considerable stock of retail space.

In addition to this, the firm has parlayed, from its prolific business as third party property managers, a considerable amount of agency work for retail spaces outside its portfolio. Between brokering deals for its own properties and as an agent for properties it doesn't own, the firm has become one of the city's busiest retail dealmakers.

Bruce Spiegel, a senior managing director at Rose who is in charge of the firm's retail leasing, heads a team of just a handful of brokers who handle retail. He credits his ability to run such a lean operation, despite being responsible for so many properties, to his proficiency at identifying and signing tenants that wind up flourishing.

"If we were having lots of rollover, a lot of tenants coming and going, there's no way we could do what we do," Spiegel said. "You know you're doing something right when two or three years ahead of their lease expiration you have a tenant approach you about wanting to renew."

Instead of earning a commission, Spiegel works on a salaried basis even on properties outside of Rose's portfolio. Spiegel explained that this compensation structure allows him the type of patience and in-depth analysis that is necessary to gauging whether a tenant will be the right fit for a particular retail space.

"It means I'm not transaction oriented, I'm not just trying to bag another tenant, get him in there and move onto the next deal," Spiegel said. "I focus on getting someone in there that is going to do well and benefit from the surrounding retail."

Spiegel's most recent retail masterwork can be seen on Peter Cooper Village/Stuyvesant Town's main retail corridor called The Shops, a 100,000 s/f stretch of street level retail that serves not only the surrounding neighborhood but Peter Cooper Village/Stuyvesant Town's more than 25,000 residents. Hired by the Peter Cooper Village/Stuyvesant Town's owner, MetLife, as the property manager for the complex's 11,000 apartments, Rose Associates was also given a mandate to revitalize the sizeable retail component in an effort to make the neighborhood more attractive to potential renters.

Spiegel made efficient strides, bringing two higher end restaurants, Hane Sushi and Petite Abeille. He is also planning a comprehensive renovation of The Shops' signs and facades that will give the area a uniformity while also allowing retailers to still express their brand identity.

Spiegel's talents are such that, from time to time, he is retained on a personal basis to handle specific transactions. Such was the case in his involvement in the leasing of 776 Avenue of the Americas' retail and office space. A recently built residential tower with an awkward 60,000 s/f chunk of office space, the building had had trouble luring in commercial office users.

Through Rose, Spiegel was initially tapped to lease the building's retail space. The property's profile however bore resemblance to Rose Associates' mixed-use building, The Sheffield, which the firm sold last year for over $400 million, an asset whose office space was equivalently poorly conceived but which Spiegel had successfully leased. Spiegel was then personally enlisted to act as the broker for the office space in 776 Avenue of the Americas as well and, within a year, nearly filled the entire fallow block--which had sat empty for nearly the three years prior--with Beth Israel School of Nursing and childcare tenant, Tutor Time, who also took retail space.

Again, it was Spiegel's ability to analyze the best use for the space that found him success. "In a building like 776 Avenue of the Americas, which is of concrete construction and therefore has a lot of columns, the office space really isn't considered prime," Spiegel said.

"It's not in the center of a business district and a lot of tenants would rather not go there. But it had its own lobby for the office section and so we focused on the type of tenant for whom that feature, having a private lobby, would be a big bonus. The nursing school was perfect because they have a lot of foot traffic that may be disruptive in a normal office building. But here, they practically had it to themselves. It was a great fit, they love the space and the building and will be there for a long time to come."