Cushman Broker Diana Boutross Phone Seized

State officials seized Cushman & Wakefield broker Diana Boutross’ cell phone upon her return from a trip to Japan.

At the time, Boutross was with the mayor’s chief adviser, Ingrid Lewis-Martin, and Jesse Hamilton, deputy commissioner of real estate at the Department of Citywide Administrative Services. Their phones were taken too.

The seizures were part of the Manhattan District Attorney’s office’s probe into possible bribery and money laundering across the city’s commercial property leases, according to the New York Times.

Boutross, who has not been accused of wrongdoing, started handling the firm’s account with DCAS last October, helping the city find office and industrial space for different agencies, according to the Times.

She joined Cushman in 2015 as an executive vice president in the brokerage’s tri-state retail group and was later named vice chair. She represents both landlords and tenants on retail deals, and landlords on office and investment sales, according to Cushman’s website. Her bio also indicates that she represents Japanese hotels’ retail development.

In her early days at Cushman, Boutross represented the Chetrit Group and Cornell Realty in a complicated land swap on 34th Street, as part of the landlords’ years-long effort to assemble properties in the area. She also helped ramp up Starbucks’ presence in the outer boroughs.

Before joining Cushman, Boutross made a name for herself at Winick Realty Group, where she worked for more than 15 years. During that time, she helped Whole Foods open its first Williamsburg location. She also previously worked with Murray Hill Properties, Tri-Star Properties and Aegis Properties, according to Cushman’s website.

Her bio touts that she was the exclusive broker for the Trump Organization’s retail on Third Avenue. She also once worked for former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger’s consulting firm.

She did not return a message seeking comment.

It is not clear from city data what leases Boutross worked on for DCAS. Cushman & Wakefield has a $40.5 million contract to manage and operate the city’s second public safety answering center at 350 Marconi Street in the Bronx. The firm was also hired to provide appraisal services to the city’s Law Department related to an apartment building at 14 West 29th Street and the Ace Hotel at 1186 Broadway in Manhattan. The net lessee of the buildings, an entity tied to GFI Capital Resources Group, has been challenging its property tax bill there.

City Hall did not respond to a request for more information. A representative for Cushman did not comment.

Boutross has kept a relatively low profile, largely garnering media attention for her retail deals. A former landlord client and three brokers who spoke to TRD said that Boutross had a good reputation in the industry. One Brooklyn broker said she has a lot of connections with landlords and tenant clients.

“She has incredible contacts,” the broker said. “She’s a strong broker, very private and worked on some major tenant accounts.”

“She’s a hustler,” the broker added. “I always perceived her as somebody very good.”

Campaign finance records indicate that Boutross gave Eric Adams, who was running for mayor, $10,000 in 2019, though the campaign returned $8,000 of it (individuals can only donate $2,000). Boutross is not among several Cushman employees in the city’s Doing Business portal, though other colleagues are listed as contract managers. Donations to candidates for citywide office from people on that list are limited to $400.

Landlords looking to fill their vacant office space have lobbied deputy commissioner of real estate the DCAS Jesse Hamilton for municipal leases, including the owners of 110 William Street, where the the city’s Administration for Children’s Services agreed to take 641,000 square feet. Cushman & Wakefield handled the lease, according to nonprofit publication The City.

Several senior officials in the administration have left since Adams was indicted on bribery, fraud and other charges. This week, Deputy Mayor of Public Safety Philip Banks and First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright resigned.

Elizabeth Cryan contributed reporting to this story.