From left: Ellaina Dreifach, former director of retail for Massey Knakal, Benjamin Fox, executive vice president of retail leasing, and Paul Massey, CEO of Massey Knakal

Ellaina Dreifach, who was nabbed by Massey Knakal Realty Services from Eretz Realty earlier this year to run day-to-day operations for its new retail division, has left the firm after only nine months, she told The Real Deal today, citing an unfair commission split and uncomfortable working conditions at the New York City investment sales firm.

Benjamin Fox, executive vice president of retail leasing at Massey Knakal, brought Dreifach over to the firm in January in his effort to staff up what was then the firm’s new retail leasing division, which he heads.

Dreifach was promoted to first vice president of retail leasing from director of retail leasing at Massey Knakal in October, focusing on the Tribeca and the Financial District neighborhoods. [more]

From left: Michael Glanzberg, Larry Abrams, Robert Frischman, Eric Roth and Catherine O’Toole

Midtown South broker Robert Frischman is in the process of doubling his firm’s
office space and the number of brokers. Last week he hired a veteran with nearly
50 years of leasi [more]

Chado Sushi is vacating its 2,200-square-foot space at 4 East 36th Street, and has put its lease, business and installations up for sale for $550,000, broker JDF Realty told The Real Deal. The rent is $12,000 per month, and the buyer will have the option to either take over the Chado name or to open a new business. For many years, the space, between Fifth and Madison avenues, housed Mediterranean eatery Fino. It includes a full basement, new chef’s kitchen and new installations, the brokers said. TRD

[more]

Clothing retailer Olive & Bette’s has signed a lease for 2,900 square feet at 1249 Third Avenue on the corner of 72nd Street, according to Newmark Knight Frank, which represented the landlord and Sinvin Realty, which represented the tenant. The location will be Olive & Bette’s fifth in Manhattan and its second on the Upper East Side. Meanwhile, a 2,400-square-foot restaurant space became open at 115 East 57th Street, with 800 square feet of basement space, with an asking rent of $300,000 per year. JDF Realty is handling the listing. TRD

[more]

From the July issue: Alcohol is said to be recession-proof. Drinkers are just as likely, if not more likely, to indulge in bad times as they are in good. But what better way to test how that age-old adage is holding up in New York than by looking at real estate prices for watering holes here during one of the worst recessions in decades? Unlike most citywide retail rents, which have dipped of late, rents for properties that house the city’s taverns, bars and clubs have for the most part only leveled off, according to brokers who work in the nightlife arena. Comments

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