History of GVA Williams.

For nearly a century, GVA Williams has been one of the most active and well respected full-service real estate firms in the country. We are an integrated professional organization dedicated to helping clients meet rapidly changing real estate requirements whenever and wherever they arise. This is our story ...

In 1926, two real estate brokers, Victor J. Cohen, who began his career in the mailroom of the real estate department of Trinity Church, and William Silverman joined forces and founded a company headquartered at 1178 Broadway in New York City. To determine the name of this company the two founders placed their first names in a hat. Mr. Silverman's name was drawn and Williams & Company was formed.

While attending a Spanish language class, Mr. Cohen met a ribbon salesman named Sydney Roos, who joined the firm in 1929. A few years later, Silverman was bought out. The new partnership of Cohen and Roos quickly became a significant force in the loft and industrial markets, from 14th to 40th Streets between 3rd and 8th Avenues, now known as Midtown South. The firm employed eight people and managed a portfolio valued at $1.5 million.

The period of the Great Depression gave Williams Real Estate Company the opportunity to expand, allowing them to serve as asset managers for several loft and showroom properties acquired through bank foreclosures. Not losing a single property to lenders during this period, Williams quickly developed a reputation for regaining a level of profitability for the buildings they managed. As the Depression era ended, Williams formed partnerships with investment banking firms and other financial institutions to help them rebuild their real estate portfolios. Furthermore, Cohen and Roos invested in the loft buildings that Williams managed and eventually obtained partial ownership of six buildings.

Williams has always been known for its excellent front line personnel as well as a solid infrastructure. This has held true since our beginning as we were one of the first firms to have a fully automated records management tracking system, a database that was able to handle the increasing complexity of real estate and payroll taxation. This infrastructure was centered around a pioneering female executive named Esther M. Woolf who joined Williams in 1943 as the firm's bookkeeper. During her career, Ms. Woolf was in charge of all of the administrative functions from rent billing to managing the payroll for all of the building employees. Ms. Woolf moved up the ranks to become the firm's Chief Financial Officer before retiring after 45 years with the firm.

Throughout the 1930's and 1940's, Williams continued to grow and establish itself as one of New York City's most prominent real estate firms. Although the company had become well known and respected, it had not yet tried to expand north of 40th street. However, this would change when Jerome Cohen and Edwin Roos, the sons of the founders, joined the firm.

Between 1948 and 1950, Williams & Co. Inc. welcomed Edwin G. Roos and Jerome M. Cohen into the firm to help further expand the company throughout New York City. Within a few years, the founders' sons, together with their fathers, successfully guided Williams & Co. Inc. into office leasing while maintaining a strong presence in the loft and industrial markets.

The conclusion of World War II sparked an economic surge that strengthened the real estate market in the early 1950's. During this time, Williams & Co. Inc., with fourteen brokers working out of the ground floor at 15 West 44th Street, prospered by assisting clients to enlarge their real estate portfolios through the creation of investment partnerships.

Cohen and Roos began conducting leasing transactions north of 40th Street. Mr. Roos worked with clients like Citroen and Renault and closed several auto showroom deals while Mr. Cohen completed 150 lease transactions in a single year. By the mid 1950's the two brokers earned positions as vice presidents of the firm. During this time, Williams Real Estate Co. Inc. was formed.

The year 1959 proved to be very significant for Williams Real Estate Co. Inc. President Victor J. Cohen brought in the agencies of sixteen loft and office buildings containing over 2.1 million square feet of rental space. His son, Jerome Cohen, successfully completed five relocation transactions for some of the largest bedspread manufactures, including Bell Textiles and A.P. McAuley Co. These transactions were marketed as some of the largest relocations conducted by a single broker.

During this same year, Williams Real Estate Co. Inc. served as the leasing agents at 222, 444 and 468-470 Park Avenue South. As such, Edwin Roos became actively involved in the $1 million upgrading program of this newly re-named corridor (formerly known as Fourth Avenue). He recommended that building owners plant trees along the sidewalk and petitioned the City to install new streetlights, similar to the fluorescent lights on Third Avenue. Mr. Roos believed that these modifications would give Park Avenue South a more competitive appearance.

Williams' share of the office leasing market grew. The company eventually concluded some of the largest transactions in the history of New York City including a 756,000 SF lease at 9 West 57th Street for Avon. The newest addition to Williams Real Estate Co. Inc., Mr. Robert Carmel, contributed to many of these noteworthy transactions. Beginning in 1959, as a trainee earning $35.00 per week, Mr. Carmel worked his way up through the ranks to become a shareholder and senior partner.

Throughout the 1960's and 1970's, Williams Real Estate Co. Inc. continued to close some of the largest commercial leasing transactions in New York City. Cohen, Roos and Carmel also assembled a portfolio of owned properties and played the role of both owner and managing agents. In 1968, the firm's principals partnered in the development of 1700 Broadway and, in 1970, 1 Dag Hammarskjold Plaza. By the early 1970s, Williams Real Estate Co. Inc. had become known for its expertise in office leasing (as well as loft leasing), management and investments in New York City.

In time, the firm's noteworthy contributions to the real estate industry would expand beyond New York City with the help of three new additions to the Williams' legacy. In the 1970s and 1980s, the torch was passed to the next generation: Michael Cohen, Andrew Roos and Robert Freedman. Under their leadership, GVA Williams became the third-party brokerage and management division of Williams Real Estate Co. Inc.

Today, GVA Williams is a leading provider of specialized real estate services, including leasing, property management, investment advisory services, development, construction management, tenant representation and institutional management. In recent years, the firm has completed some of the most notable deals in Manhattan. In 1998, GVA Williams leased the entire 1.6 million-square-foot building at 2 Broadway to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for 49.5 years. The deal has been touted as the "largest lease transaction of the decade". In 2003, the firm completed the year's largest new lease transaction in Manhattan when it represented HIP in a 555,000-square-foot headquarters relocation to 55 Water Street. This transaction represented the first major corporate relocation to Downtown since 9/11.

In 2004, the firm completed 15 million square feet of transactions totaling more than $2.1 billion, including noteworthy transactions at the famed Flatiron Building and Two Liberty Place in Philadelphia. The firm's growing roster of clients includes top national and international business leaders, institutional/ entrepreneurial ownership entities, law firms, publishing entities, financial institutions and services firms, retailers, heath-related organizations, and pharmaceutical companies.

GVA Williams has offices in Manhattan, New Jersey, Connecticut and Chicago. The firm is also a founding partner of GVA Worldwide Ltd., a global strategic partnership of leading real estate firms serving 120 business capitals on five continents. In 2004, GVA Worldwide completed more than $17 billion in transactions and held a property management portfolio in excess of 150 million square feet.

The evolution of GVA Williams has spanned more than 75 years. The founders of the firm took the enterprise from the mailroom to Broadway and became loft and industrial market specialists. The second generation expanded the firm's capabilities and market coverage to include all of Manhattan. The third generation has made the firm a global industry pacesetter. The future holds more exciting opportunities as GVA Williams continues to expand its reach across the region and around the world.