CBRE taps NY broker to oversee Broward, Palm Beach offices

CB Richard Ellis has named Kenneth Krasnow to oversee its Broward and Palm Beach County offices, the firm announced today.

Krasnow, who will assume the position of managing director, is a veteran of the New York real estate market, most notably with 18 years at Cushman & Wakefield in New York City.

“I have a tremendous amount of respect for the company — it’s clearly a leader in the market,” Krasnow told The Real Deal. “My family is in Florida, and I was always sort of looking for the right opportunity to come along that would get me back into [this] market.”

Krasnow’s most recent position was as managing director at Massey Knakal Realty Services, an investment sales firm in New York, where he expanded the company’s Brooklyn office.

He previously served as COO of Boca Raton’s Apartment Realty Advisors, where he opened new offices for the firm in Tampa and Orlando.

“Ken will play an integral role in helping us leverage opportunities and find ways to serve our clients even more effectively,” said Mary Jo Eaton, senior managing director for CBRE overseeing the state of Florida, in a statement.

Krasnow encountered controversy at Massey Knakal earlier this year, when he was temporarily replaced as managing director at the firm because he was operating without a license, as required by New York State’s Department of State.

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Krasnow said that it was strictly an administrative issue, however.

“When I moved back to New York, I didn’t change my Florida license,” he said. “It was just administrative. It lapsed because I didn’t have a New York license. I resolved it, took care of it, and got my license renewed. It was just being conservative and cautious.”

He said the licensing law is meant to protect the public in terms of transactional work, but at the time he was not doing transactions.

“The way it was reported was that I actually stepped down, but I was still performing on a day in, day out basis,” he said. “What I really did was step away from a couple of duties that might have required some form of licensing. Because I was in a managerial role, I wasn’t actually processing and brokering transitions. I never stepped away from my job — there were just a couple of responsibilities I was being cautious with until the paperwork went through.”

According to Krasnow, who has a home in Vero Beach (which he retained throughout his years living in New York), he has already passed the licensing course in Florida, and is set to take the state exam in the next several weeks.

The Florida Department of Business and Financial Regulation informed The Real Deal that hiring unlicensed brokers was permitted, although brokers could not perform transactions or do business until they had obtained a license. The department did note that it was not uncommon for officers of brokerages to be unlicensed.