NGKF triumphs at REBNY’s “ingenious” deal awards

Barry Gosin, Brian Waterman and Romel Canete of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank took home top honors last night at the Real Estate Board of New York’s annual “Most Ingenious Deal of the Year” awards, held at the 101 Club on Park Avenue.

The trio took home first place in the competition for its role in representing Morgan Stanley in a 1.2 million square-foot office lease at One New York Plaza last year. The deal was the largest single-asset office lease in New York City since 2008 and involved creating a long-term occupancy strategy for Morgan Stanley’s back-office functions in New York and New Jersey, as well as negotiating a unique transaction structure that enabled the financial firm to pursue an early renewal of its previous lease.

Helen Hwang and Nat Rockett of Cushman & Wakefield took second place honors for their role in negotiating a deal for the sale of 88 Leonard Street on behalf of Africa Israel. In third place were Scott Singer and Jeffrey Moroch of the Singer & Bassuk Organization for a construction financing deal they structured at 50 Oceana Drive West in Brighton Beach.

REBNY received 37 separate submissions for the awards this year, according to a statement from the organization. –Katherine Clarke