Structuring landmark sales is formula for success.

In commercial real estate brokerage, the unique ability to read the buyer, the seller and the product with unfailing accuracy, and then act intelligently and with creativity, is the deceptively simple formula for success.

For Norman Baker, a senior managing director in the Saddle Brook, NJ office of Insignia/ESG, who arranged the landmark sale of New York City's famed Empire and Barbizon hotels, that formula might also include the ability to withstand the emotional roller coaster of a $177 million transaction playing out with a movie-of-the week scenario.

Baker's role in the sale of two of Manhattan's most high-profile hotel properties. began modestly enough during the early months of 1997, when he represented John Kluge and Stuart Subotnick, owners of the Empire and Barbizon hotels, in a 15,000 square-foot lease transaction for their Empire Soccer Club in Secaucus, NJ. Reasoning that the metropolitan area hotel business was about to boom and knowing that the pair were hotel owners, Baker, a 28-year veteran of commercial real estate, suggested several properties in New Jersey that he thought might be of interest.

Not only were Kluge and Subotnick interested in new acquisitions, but for the "right price" they were interested in selling both the Barbizon and the Empire. Baker was given a non-exclusive listing on the properties, and for nine months researched prospective purchasers. Several groups reviewed the proformas; none was interested.

Enter the Witkoff Group, which had been purchasing commercial properties throughout New York and New Jersey with spectacular success. At the time, Witkoff was converting several floors of its recently acquired 866 Third Avenue into a Marriott hotel. With the insight that has served the company so well, Witkoff viewed the Empire Hotel with its Lincoln Center location, and the recently renovated Barbizon as excellent "brick-and-mortar" additions to its portfolio.

But the path to a successful transaction had several obstacles. Late in December, when Baker contacted Subotnick to arrange an inspection of the properties by Witkoff, he was informed that the owners had just reached an agreement with another prospective purchaser and had granted them a 30-day due diligence period. During this time, no other deals were to be discussed, nor any inspections allowed. The due-diligence period ended on January 31st.

The deal was resurrected for Baker on February 1st, when he received a call from Subotnick to arrange an inspection for Witkoff. The seller imposed an extremely tight due diligence and closing time-frame as a condition of the sale. Reacting quickly, Witkoff reached an agreement with the sellers on March 1st.

Recognizing that creating an agreement with professional hotel operators was an essential ingredient of the deal, Witkoff aligned itself with one of the world's premier operators of boutique hotels, the North Star Capital Group, a majority owner of Ian Schrager's hotels. The remainder of the due diligence functions and the closing now became the operator's responsibility. And on the evening of May 20th, about three months after the initial inspection, the transaction was completed.

Baker, the consummate real estate professional, knew that even the most seemingly secure deals can suddenly evaporate without warning, leaving the broker with little to show for many month's work. So while the Barbizon/Empire transaction demanded much of his attention, he still found time to arrange a 13-acre land sale to Avalon Bay Properties for development of a major rental apartment complex in Fort Lee. As agent at Fort Lee Executive Park, he also arranged a 73,000 square-foot lease with Ethnic American Broadcasting Company valued at $24 million.

Baker understands that the length of time necessary to close a deal varies from transaction to transaction. "The rare ones close in rapid fashion; others can take on their own lives and encompass years from concept to completion," he says. One example is the Konica Photo USA transaction in Mahwah, NJ, which occupied more than two years of Baker's life. During this period, about 25 sites were inspected and considered before Konica selected a splendid 20-acre wooded tract owned by the McBride family as the site of its new headquarters. Here, Prologis, formerly Security Capital Industrial Trust, will construct a 64,000 square-foot office building and a 96,000 square-foot warehouse under a $25 million lease.

High-profile deals have become a Baker signature. During his career, he has completed major transactions in New York, California, Illinois and Texas. In New Jersey, he includes among his recent credits: Kwasha Lipton, an 80,000- quare-foot lease in Fort Lee; Riker Danzig Scherer Hyland & Perretti, a 100,000 square-foot lease in Morristown; Metromedia Company, a 140,000 square-foot lease in a signature building opposite Giants Stadium in East Rutherford; and in New York City, a 30,000 square-foot lease for M.R. Weisgr at 135 West 50th Street.

Baker currently is in the midst of several transactions involving prominent corporate clients and well-known buildings. But as every commercial broker knows, one does not discuss a deal until the ink is dry on the final agreement.