The state agency that licenses real estate brokers opened an investigation this week into two of the city’s top retail brokers based on court testimony from one of them saying that about a decade ago they accepted a $ [more]
From the May issue: Drugstore chain Duane Reade had a problem: A competitor was sniffing around a large space across the street from one of its best Midtown locations on Sixth Avenue near West 57th Street. Officials at the store enlisted its broker, Winick Realty Group, to take care of the situation.
Several months later, not only had the competitor disappeared, but Duane Reade had taken that site at 100 West 57th Street for itself.
That’s partly thanks to Winick Realty’s founder and CEO, Jeff Winick, who used back channels to help secure the site for the drugstore. Winick’s aggressive, take-no-prisoners style seems to win him accolades from clients but has created fierce enmity among his competition.
That style has been on full display for the last few weeks in a federal courtroom in Lower Manhattan, where two former Duane Reade executives are on trial for fraudulently pumping up earnings reports, partly through allegedly bogus real estate transactions involving Winick. [more]
From left: Cory Zelnik and defense attorney Reid WeingartenThe government and defense laid out their arguments in opening statements this morning in the trial of two former Duane Reade executives accused of pumping up share value including by creating allegedly bogus real estate transactions between the pharmacy and its primary broker Winick Realty Group. Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan Streeter told the jury that the deals between Duane Reade and Winick and other landlords and developers including Jeff Sutton, president of Wharton Properties — were bogus. “All this was done for Duane Reade to claim higher profits than they really had,” he said. Former Duane Reade CEO Anthony Cuti and former CFO William Tennant are facing multiple charges including securities fraud, filing false quarterly and annual reports, and filing false books. [more]
Despite a grinding recession producing “for rent” signs all over the city, commercial services firm CB Richard Ellis is beefing up its presence in the outer boroughs.
The California-based company recently opened a new office in a retail space in Long Island City, replacing a nearby now-shuttered office location, and for the first time, is basing two retail brokers in the borough. The firm also is interviewing to hire new brokers, the managing director for Long Island and the outer boroughs, Ellen Rudin, said.
The LIC office, covering all the outer boroughs, houses eight agents including the two retail brokers (one of whom splits his time with the firm’s Woodbury, LI, office), one investment sales broker and five office and industrial brokers, Rudin said. The firm is the only national brokerage with an office in the outer boroughs, even as most also do deals there.
Although CBRE’s number of brokers working outside Manhattan is about the same as in recent years, this is the first time it has based any retail brokers in an outer-borough location. [more]
