Industry veteran launches new venture to capitalize on shifting market.

At the age of 21, just out of college, Edward A. Friedman was looking for a career. A friend who had no interest in real estate asked Friedman to attend an interview with a real estate company in his place. And this is how Friedman stumbled into the industry.

Friedman excelled in the small brokerage company, and was soon given the opportunity to work at a giant firm - Helmsley Spear. Friedman was fortunate to have several mentors at this company, including Harry Helmsley, Alvin Schwartz, Maurice Spear and Leon Spear.

Working with these industry leaders became Friedman's life. He listened to them and learned from them, and he took their advice when they encouraged him to buy property - to this day, he owns property with Alvin Schwartz. Now, after nearly four decades as a retail real estate expert for some of New York City's leading companies, the Brooklyn-born realtor has opened Edward A. Friedman Realty LLC to focus on development.

Headquartered at 136 East 57th Street in Manhattan, Friedman Realty will focus on commercial and residential development, while also continuing retail brokerage activity. Friedman begins the Venture with a portfolio of more than three million square feet of East Coast commercial, residential and retail properties that he assembled during his years in the retail brokerage side of the industry.

"Early on at Helmsley Spear, I was involved as buildings such as the Helmsley Palace, the Empire State Building, the Carlton House, the Windsor Hotel, and the St. Moritz Hotel were transformed by the quality of their retail component," Friedman said. "At the Carlton House, for instance, high quality retail stores such as Lalique Boutique, Christofle Pavilion, Fogel and Maxine's dramatically enhanced the property. This helped spark my interest in creating value by repositioning properties in the marketplace."

Friedman believes that recent uncertainty in the market has created an enormous number of opportunities in the greater New York metropolitan area and throughout the East Coast. Extensive ownership experience, combined with decades of hands-on experience within the industry, provides him the platform necessary to capitalize on current and future development opportunities.

Properties currently owned by Friedman Realty in whole or in partnership include 303 Park Avenue South, a five-story residential building with a retail component; 850 Eighth Avenue, a 60-unit residential building with retail; 145 Fulton Street, net leased to Lucille Roberts for a health club; 447 Lexington Avenue, net leased to Wendy's Hamburger Restaurant, and a two-story retail building on the eastern block-front of Eighth Avenue between 23rd and 24th streets, which houses Champs Sports, CVS Drugs, Boston Chicken and New York Sports, a major health club.

Friedman also owns 40 Flatbush Avenue Ext., a 300,000 square-foot commercial office building in Brooklyn, NY; 13 shopping centers in cities along the Atlantic Coast of Florida; and he is currently renovating the 1.2 million square-foot Bamberger's Department Store in Newark, NJ. He also owns a number of additional properties in Brooklyn, The Bronx, Yonkers, NY, Upstate New York, Ohio and New Jersey.

A former executive managing director of Newmark & Company Real Estate, Inc., who was senior vice president of Helmsley-Spear Inc. for 29 years, Friedman is well known as the creator and publisher The Friedman Report, which tracked retail rental rates in key sectors of Manhattan. The report was used as a market data source by more than 200 publications nationally and internationally.

Friedman, however, is known in the industry beyond his role as an expert on retail data. In fact, he has been thoroughly immersed in all aspects of real estate since his youth. A founding member and former president of the Real Estate Industry Lodge of B'nai B'rith, Friedman is also a former member of the board of directors at the Real Estate Board of New York.

Friedman is a member of YM/WREA, a member of the board of directors of the Churchill Apartment Co-op, and an investor in several New York City restaurants including Redeye Grill, Brooklyn Diner and Trattoria Dell'Arte. Friedman is also a partner in the Atlantis Group, a partnership that will develop waterfront sites for entertainment power centers. He is married to Gerry and has two daughters, Julie and Diana.