Offering diverse services to meet retail clients' needs.

When Jedd Nero and Robert Gibson established Newmark & Company's Retail Services Group in 1995, their objective was to expand the firm's retail business on both the owner and tenant sides.

Nero and Gibson, senior managing directors with over 20 years of combined commercial real estate experience, have achieved this goal, as Newmark now provides the complete range of leasing services to local, national and international retail tenants and owners.

As a division of Newmark, the largest privately-held full-service commercial real estate firm in the New York Metropolitan area, the Retail Services Group has drawn on the firm's experience leasing and/or managing 43 million square feet of commercial office space throughout the New York Metropolitan area to meet the real estate needs of numerous prestigious clients. The team is the exclusive agent for Hugo Boss and Paul & Shark nationwide, as well as Lenscrafters and Vanishing Point in New York City and Chase Manhattan Bank in Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan below 34th Street. Other clients include Missoni, RCS Computer Experience, Rockport, Rodier and Gold's Gym.

"Despite the red-hot market, we procure high-visibility locations for our clients by using our experience to determine the ideal location and aggressively search out and secure hidden space," said Nero. For example, in only 18 months, the Retail Services Group obtained six corner retail locations for Lenscrafters - 530 Fifth Avenue, 150 Fifth Avenue, 777 Third Avenue, 1941 Third Avenue and 1148 Third Avenue in Manhattan, and a store at the Eastchester Shopping Center in Westchester County - putting their client on track to achieve its Tri-State expansion goals.

In 1996, Hugo Boss retained the Retail Services Group to launch its U.S. retail operation. Functioning as Hugo Boss' inhouse retail department, Newmark spearheaded a 30-store national expansion in concert with its global partners. "In two years," said Gibson, "we not only obtained 16 prestigious locations, but also supervised the build-out of these stores to develop a retail department for Hugo Boss from the ground up."

Last month, Nero and Gibson secured the second Manhattan retail location for Rockport by negotiating a long-term lease for 3,500 square feet at 465 Broadway in SoHo. Other recent transactions include Missoni's New York flagship store at 1001 Madison Avenue (Newmark represented both tenant and landlord); Paul & Shark's 3,300 square-foot lease at 772 Madison Avenue for its U.S. flagship store; RCS Computer Experience's deals for 6,870 square feet at 1230 Avenue of the Americas (in Rockefeller Center), and a 5,500 square-foot New York flagship store at 575 Madison Avenue; and Vanishing Point's two 1,200 square-foot locations at 4 West 16th Street and 102 West 73rd Street.

In addition to their experience in tenant representation, the Retail Services Group serves building owners throughout the Tri-State area. Newmark is the exclusive leasing agent for Gallery Partners LLC at 1001 Madison Avenue, a 45,000 square-foot commercial condominium that Nero and Gibson brought to full occupancy when they closed the Missoni deal and a 3,000 square foot transaction with Intermix. Newmark also serves as exclusive leasing agent for Tishman Speyer Properties at 15,000 square feet of retail space at 11 West 42nd Street, and for Big Six Towers, Inc. at the Big 6 Shopping Center in Woodside, NY.

"Newmark's experience in owner representation enables us to do more than just evaluate tenants' real estate opportunities," said Gibson. "We improve their negotiating position by optimizing our knowledge of the 'other side of the table.'"

Moreover, added Nero, "The firm's depth of in-house resources allows us to enhance the value of the service we provide our clients." He noted that Newmark employs professionals with backgrounds in finance, law, engineering, construction, architecture, economics, market research, financial services, public incentives, taxes and zoning, as well as building management staff who are expert in electrical, heating, ventilation and air conditioning, cleaning and building evaluation. "These diverse skills will help us achieve our future objective, which is to continually grow our client base by providing services that exceed the increasingly demanding expectations of today's retailers," Nero said.

Newmark & Company, founded in 1929, is the largest privately held full-service commercial real estate firm in the New York Metropolitan area. Newmark provides tenant and owner representation, facilities, property and asset management, financial/investment sales and retail services. With offices in Westchester and Fairfield counties and Brooklyn/Queens, NY, Connecticut and New Jersey, Newmark represents clients throughout the Tri-State area, as well as nationally and internationally.