Former restaurant pro beefs up NKF Retail menu: Marc Frankel, managing director, Newmark Knight Frank.

Who knew that a job working for McDonald's would lead to a career with one of the world's largest independent real estate service firms like Newmark Knight Frank (NKF)?

But Marc Frankel said he knew that the skills he gained as an in-house real estate manager for the global burger franchise were exactly what NKF was looking for when it decided to set up a specialized restaurant services group earlier this year.

Frankel, who joined NKF as a managing director of its new Restaurant Service Group in October, recalled how Jeffrey Roseman, executive vice president of NKF Retail, had a vision to develop a one-of-a-kind restaurant services group within the company.

Said Frankel, "I had developed an ongoing relationship with Newmark through my work at McDonald's and I knew they wanted to become an outsourced real estate company for all restaurant chains, so that if a restaurant was looking to expand in New York, they could help them from A-Z. Because of my background, I speak their language."

The broker learned that language after earning his real estate license while attending SUNY Buffalo, where he received a BA in Legal Studies.

"I knew I wanted to do something in business transactions," said Frankel, who soon secured a position with New York landlords, The Parish of Trinity Church, and later Sylvan Lawrence, before joining investment researchers, Prudential Equities.

Frankel said he realized he had a preference for the retail deals he was handling and when, in 1987, a position came up at the corporate headquarters of McDonald's--which owns and leases all of its properties--he jumped at the chance.

In 1992, Frankel went to work for the Marriott Restaurant Group and then to Rite Aid, only to end up back at McDonald's in 1997 when the chain had incorporated Chipotle Mexican Grill into its family.

He was tapped to manage Chipotle's entry into the metro New York market, a project which resulted in the creation of 21 restaurants and over $50 million in annual sales in less then two years. Frankel also co-ordinated a management program that tripled net operating income from non-food sources for McDonald's.

The chance to get involved in some of the most high-profile restaurant deals in the country proved too tempting to Frankel, who worked to Roseman to get NKF's new Restaurant Service Group up and running.

The group is comprised of a team of five brokers each of whom is a specialist in a different real estate field and therefore able to help any restaurant tackle the many different real estate processes, from screening sites to negotiating leases and assisting with project management.

Working with other NKF brokers, the Restaurant Services Group will also be able to assist developers and property owners who have restaurant space in their buildings, or those who have been considering adding one, in their proposed development.

"From providing assistance with the overall design and layout to the placement of mechanical and ventilation systems, we have it covered," said Frankel.

Currently the team is working with several celebrity television chefs hoping to open restaurants in the Big Apple and is representing a number of national chains planning to expand into the New York market.

"It takes a lot of time and emotional commitment to do my job well, Frankel admits, "but I want to be the best at what I do.

"I don't know any other profession that allows you to go back and physically see what you have created, and with restaurant openings in New York creating record breaking grosses, it's exciting to be a part of that.

"Everyone wants to be here, and with high demand, and low supply (of space) it becomes a hot market."

While New York is undoubtedly the hottest city in the nation for new restaurants and often a bellwether for the industry as a whole, NKF is already planning to expand its Restaurant Service Group nationwide.