131-137 Spring Street

The former owners of 131-137 Spring Street are facing up to a $6.75 million lawsuit from Azad Property Group, a commercial brokerage that claims it arranged a deal for Vornado Realty Trust to buy the Soho retail building, only to have the owners back out and sell the property to SL Green Realty.

Azad, led by three brokers formerly of Itzhaki Properties, said it approached Willet Cos., a Rye, N.Y.-based commercial landlord, with a $100 million bid from Vornado, and ultimately reached an agreement for the trust to purchase the 68,000-square-foot property for $112.5 million. [more]

Eric Patino, now of Azad Property Group

Many New York sales agents have come to the business of real estate from a wide range of other professions. In an ongoing series, TheRealDeal.com will profile brokers for whom selling properties represents a major career transition. Ideas for the series? Email tips@therealdeal.com.

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Eric Patino, 42, has been a New York City police officer for 18 years; as of a month ago, he’s also a real estate agent, having joined the commercial brokerage Azad Property Group. These days, he’s selling real estate by day, and working as a police detective in the evenings and on Saturdays.  He spoke recently with The Real Deal about how his police work turned him onto to real estate, what confounds him about New Yorkers and how to tell when someone is wasting your time. [more]

Barry Farchi and the firm's headquarters at 40 Exchange Place

In the wake of real estate executive Erez Itzhaki’s announcement that he had handed over control of his eponymous brokerage to a new partner, three Itzhaki graduates have announced the formation of a new brokerage and management firm, they told The Real Deal today.

Former Itzhaki brokers Andrew Feldman, Barry Farchi and Mansour Tabibnia, who all left the firm in the last two months, have established commercial brokerage firm Azad Property Group and management house R.O.I Management, they said. The trio opened its first office, a 1,500-square-foot space at 40 Exchange Place in the Financial District for both companies, last week. [more]