Executive of the Month: Stratigos, new principal and managing director of Avison Young's Long Island office

The New York Real Estate Journal recently sat down with, Ted Stratigos principal and managing director of Avison Young's Long Island office for a question and answer session. Q: After spending so many years with Cushman and Wakefield, what made you decide to join Avison Young? A: It was a tough decision after all those year with a good firm, but I saw an opportunity to build a strong office around Avison Young's platform. I was very impressed with the company's brokerage model of creating a partnership structure within an office. This promotes the collaboration and teamwork required to successfully tap into the flow of market information and intellectual capital of the entire office - yielding the best results for the client. All of the larger brokerage firms end up with individual teams or camps in competition with each other, which ultimately blocks the collaboration required to successfully represent the firm's clients. Avison Young has broken through this barrier. Q: How has the commercial real estate industry changed since you started and what is your biggest challenge in building Avison Young on Long Island? A: The days of commercial real estate brokers being viewed as "space showers" are long gone - today there is a high level of sophistication in what needs to be offered and delivered to our clients. Companies looking for space need good intelligence and analyses to help them make informed decisions on the best location for their offices or operations, and how to secure the most advantageous financial terms. In today's competitive business environment employee morale and retention, as well as keeping costs in line, allow companies to be competitive. From a landlord's standpoint, agents are expected to be creative in their marketing plans, responsive to the client and provide solid market intelligence. Q: How do you see the Long Island commercial real estate market performing for the remainder of the year and into 2014? A: Long Island has a strong economic base created, in part, by the strength of its labor force and relatively high median capital income. Having said that, this recession has been deep and broad across all sectors. We have seen significant improvement in the Long Island commercial real estate market since the lowest point in the market downturn from 2008 to 2009, and we continue to see a steady recovery, albeit a slow one. For example, vacancy rates in the office market were more than 21% island-wide at their worst; today the vacancy rate stands at 17.4%. Industrial and retail activity has also picked up significantly lately and we expect office to follow for the remainder of the year and through 2014. Q: What characteristics separate the Long Island market from the rest of the greater New York commercial real estate market? A: First and foremost is our geography - we are an island jutting out 110 miles into the Atlantic Ocean, eliminating the "hub" characteristic of many cities. Based on this, we have to rely on having a strong local and regional economy - our own economic engine of sorts to feed the demand. Our proximity to Manhattan is a critical part of our success, as is the strong demographics we possess. After that, Long Island offers good quality, reasonably priced commercial space with a wide variety of choices for companies who base their operations here. The area amenities make the island a great place to live and work, all within a short drive (depending on traffic) to one of the greatest cities in the world. Q: What does it take to be a successful broker on Long Island? A: Companies who reach out to utilize the services of a real estate broker want a trusted advisor with strong market knowledge, an ability to understand their needs and someone who offers effective and creative solutions to their specific needs. Whether it's on Long Island or elsewhere, a broker who provides that level of service and puts the client's interests first, will always be successful. Q: Can you tell us a little bit about your plans for the Long Island office? A: In its simplest form, we want to build an office in which a client or potential client can have access to the highest-quality professionals who have excellent relationships and best-in-class market intelligence to assist them with any commercial real estate need they may have. The strength of Avison Young's model is its non-siloed, integrated client service approach, whereby we align the needs of the client with the skill sets of our professionals to ensure that every aspect of a client's requirement is managed by an expert in that discipline. To that end, our plans for the growth of our Long Island operations will focus on hiring the industry's top talent across all of our business lines, including; office, industrial and retail brokerage (both tenant rep and landlord rep), capital markets (including investment sales), valuation, property management and project management.