Dubner and Schultz with Rubackin of GFI ink three leases: 3,453 s/f total

GFI Retail Group has arranged leases for three retail spaces at 80 Dekalb Ave. in the Fort Greene neighborhood, acting as the exclusive broker for Forest City Ratner. The residential tower at 80 Dekalb contains 365 rental units and five retail spaces on the ground floor. Asking rents for the retail are $75.00 per s/f. The leases were arranged by the retail leasing team of Seth Dubner and Jaime Schultz under the direction of senior managing partner Lon Rubackin. The retail spaces include 1,772 s/f leased to one of the city's first locations of the Denver-based fast casual restaurant chain, Smashburger, represented exclusively by CPEX Real Estate in this transaction. The other two leases were signed with Brooklyn Bagel Works and O'Crepes, for 1,221 s/f and 460 s/f, respectively. Brooklyn Bagel Works is a new venture, owned and operated by a former manager at Manhattan's H&H Bagels. This will be O'Crepes' second location; its first is in the Dumbo neighborhood. Lon Rubackin, managing partner of GFI Retail Group was convinced the site would be a natural for great food retailers. "With LIU and Brooklyn Hospital a block away," he said, "We felt very confident that we'd be able to bring terrific food users to this wonderful, mixed use project." GFI Retail Group, founded in 2008, is a Manhattan-based firm specializing in all aspects of retail real estate.