Winoker was in the ‘prime of his life,’ business associates say

Real estate executive who died skydiving grew agency in past year

David Winoker, the real estate executive who died Friday in a skydiving accident in Ulster County, N.Y., grew his leasing agency business rapidly over the past year, picking up at least three new buildings. Winoker, 49, the president of the Midtown-based commercial real estate firm Winoker Realty, was awarded the leasing agency at the firm’s biggest building, the 382,269-square-foot 1450 Broadway, in June 2011. The husband and father of three also won the assignment for at least two other properties over the year, for a total of more than 500,000 square feet, a review of data from CoStar Group shows.

“I have to say he was at the prime of his life in the last 12 months,” Shlomo Bakhash, president of the Kash Group, a real estate investment company, told The Real Deal. “That’s when he took a lot of new buildings, some prime buildings on Broadway.” Bakhash said that Winoker Realty manages four of his buildings in Midtown and Midtown South. Most recently Bakhash picked Winoker to be the managing agent at 145 West 28th Street, which the Kash Group bought in August 2011.

Winoker Realty handles management and leasing (as well as sales of office condominiums) at 22 office buildings in Manhattan, according to the company website, which CoStar shows comprises about 2.5 million square feet of office space. The business focuses mainly on Class B and C office buildings in the Garment District. Winoker also owns several office buildings in the area, data from CoStar shows. His holdings include 242 West 38th Street and 148 Madison Avenue.

Winoker Realty has 15 agents and brokers, in addition to principals, Corey Abdo and Winoker and two senior managers, the company website states.

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Bakhash, who went to Winoker’s office this morning to express his condolences and speak with his colleagues, added that he was a pleasure to work with. “David was an honorable man, and a man of very good character.”

Another industry professional, Adam Rosen, a salesperson at A.C. Lawrence & Company, spoke with Winoker earlier this year about a lease Rosen completed at 152 Madison Avenue, which Winoker represents.

“He was very down-to-earth,” Rosen said. “He had fair prices and I never had a problem. He never over-budgeted my client, and he was a skilled negotiator. The space came out great.”