First Deals of Top Brokers
Nowadays, it's nostalgic to remember your first tweet. But we bet every broker recalls their first deal, too. Last week as the industry gathered at the CREBA Awards, we polled some of the big names for the stories behind their first deals. Trailblazer Fred Ezra (right, with son Mark and Cushman & Wakefield's Niel Beggy) can rattle off the stats of his first deal in 1970: 50k SF for the Air Transport Association at 1709 New York Ave. It was a "big deal" at a time when the industry was wrapping its head around the tenant rep concept, Fred tells us. Mark's first deal was repping Oracle in 90k SF at 3 Bethesda Metro in '90, while Niel's was a small space on M Street in Georgetown in 1992.
JBG's Jill Goubeaux (right, with Cushman & Wakefield's Susan Thomas) says her first was locking down Honeywell for the firm's 1911 N Fort Myer Drive in Rosslyn, working with tenant reps Rob Caputo and Eric Berlin.
My, how times have changed: in 1977, then-CB broker Ray Ritchey (here with Cassidy's Darian LeBlanc and Mark Sullivan) inked tenant 4Phase to International Square on a 20k SF deal at $10/SF full service, with a $1/SF commission. Darian's first deal was an 1,800 SF lease for a two-person law firm on 10th Street in 1994.
How's this for a commission: when Studley's Adam Singer (left, with HITT's Brian Urben, Ryan Webb, and Cliff Chow) found a 400 SF sublease for a phone book company at 805 15th St in 1983, the company tried to pay him in phone books.
Adam's Studley colleague Art Greenberg (right, with Greenstein DeLorme & Luchs' Don Holmes) says his first big deal was helping Marriott renew its space in Bethesda in 1999. Art spent years as an accountant before getting into commercial real estate. Don worked on one of Art's early deals as a lawyer on the American Petroleum Institute's space at 1220 L St in 2005.
Cassidy's Chris Sowick says moving a few tenants around (with net growth of 200 SF) at 8300 Old Courthouse Rd in Tysons in the mid-'80s represented his maiden deal, while Advisory Real Estate Services' Michael Sims says his first was leasing up a mixed-use project on Georgia Avenue in 1987.
ASD's Bob Pruitt's first design (architects need love too, right?) was a building for Ericsson in Raleigh's Research Triangle in 1991, while Cushman's Michael Katcher's first deal was moving Hawkins Delafield & Wood to 1015 15th St in 1997. Is there a good story behind your first deal? Tell Chris Baird and we'll run some more later this week.
