Retail stalwart, Fox, makes move.

Veteran retail broker, Ben Fox, has called it a day at Newmark Knight Frank and announced he has taken on the role of president at Winick Realty Group.

Steve Asch and Gary Ackerman, Fox' partners in New Spectrum--the retail brokerage they founded and sold to Newmark in 1999--have also left to join Robert K. Futterman & Associates.

"At this stage in the game, I thought it was a perfect time to get involved in other facets of retail leasing and sales and to expand my reach into other parts of the country," said Fox, who like many of the city's leading retail brokers, began his career at Garrick Aug Store Leasing, in the mid 70s.

Fox is excited to be getting in early on Winick's plans to tap into the southern California market in particular. He commented, "Winick represents many developers who have properties in southern California. We plan to utilize our expertise in urban leasing to take advantage of a market that, for the most part, has never seen a New York broker.

"I know the California market well and this will give me an opportunity to really expand my reach."

Not that Fox has any plans to uproot and head for the Golden State. The retail stalwart will continue to stamp his mark on New York deals and will also be delving into the investment sales arena.

"This combination of strategies, along with a broadened marketplace, offers a great new challenge for me and I look forward to working with the Winick team."

Fox has enjoyed a prolific career in the retail sector and, along with his peers at pioneering Garrick Aug Store Leasing, helped elevate the business to new levels.

He worked with both Asch and Ackerman at Garrick-Aug and the trio branched out on their own in 1987 to form New Spectrum. Fox recalled, "It was like Hertz versus Avis, in those days." But it proved to be the little firm that could, bagging contracts with such High Street mainstays as The Gap and making the firm a choice buy itself when Newmark was looking to bulk up its retail services in 2001.

Fox said his latest move to Winick has rekindled his passion for the business and working with an old pal like Winick has him feeling energized. "We've known each other for a million years and I'm excited to be working with Jeff to grow his company and take it forward into new areas."

Winick--who lost his right hand man, Corey Zelnick, last year when he left to set up his own firm--said he was thrilled to have Fox on board. "His background and success in brokerage and management is unsurpassed and his ideas on how to help move the company into new areas of growth is invaluable."

While Fox's move surprised some in the industry, others have speculated that he's likely to find Winick a better fit than the multi-disciplinary NKF, which has powered up its retail division in the last 24-months with a series of promotions and new hires that took that firm's retail division to a record year in 2006.

Al Gottlieb, Proctor Wong and 2006 REBNY Deal of the Year winner, Amira Yunis, were each promoted to partners, joining longtime rainmaker, Jeff Roseman, at the helm of the practice.

NKF managing directors, Craig Slosberg, Paul Berkman and Jason Pruger also have solid reputations for coming out winners in an arena that has become as complex as it has colorful as landlords volley for tenants prepared to pay top flight rents for the right space.

Retail rents in New York City have spiked to an average of $106 per square foot, according to the most recent numbers for the Real Estate Board of New York, while select corridors along Madison are renting at $1,000 psf.

"We have a exciting group of well established retail brokers on the team and our goal is to continue to add bright, young talent to our mix, so we're very excited about our prospects for 2007 and beyond," said Jimmy Kuhn, president of Newmark Knight Frank, who wished Fox well in his new endeavor.

"Ben has been a contributor to the retail real estate business for many years and we wish him well in his new environment."