Compass hires Solil’s Brett Weinblatt, rounding out NYC commercial offerings

With investment sales and office leasing teams in place, Compass is beefing up its commercial offerings in New York with the hiring of another veteran agent.

The SoftBank-backed brokerage brought in longtime Solil Management agent Brett Weinblatt last week, to head a team focused on retail and industrial leasing throughout the city, according to PincusCo.

Compass announced its arrival in the commercial space last August, with the hire of Eastern Consolidated’s Adelaide Polsinelli to join its investment sales division. Polsinelli had become a free agent as result of Eastern’s shuttering in June.

A month later, Compass received another massive injection of funds, with SoftBank’s Vision Fund and Qatar Investment Authority raising $400 million for the firm, at a valuation of $4.4 billion. This was more than double its valuation in December 2017, when SoftBank invested $450 million in the company.

In December, Compass further diversified its commercial business with the hire of James Emden from Colliers International to lead its office leasing vertical.

Weinblatt had been Solil’s lead agent since 2009, and his major deals there included a 475,000-square foot industrial lease for UPS in Maspeth in 2017, and a 12,000-square foot lease for Chik-fil-A at 711 Lexington Avenue last year. The 300-property real estate giant manages a portfolio originally cobbled together by the late Sol Goldman. [PincusCo] — Kevin Sun