New York, NY According to Mitti Liebersohn, Avison Young principal and president of the firm’s NYC office, office leasing specialist Rick Marek has been hired by the firm.
Effective immediately, Marek becomes a principal of Avison Young and will continue to advise tenants involved primarily in legal and financial services.
Marek brings more than four decades of New York City commercial real estate experience to Avison Young, most recently as a co-founder and president of The Vortex Group since 2002.
“Over the past four decades, Rick has built an extremely distinguished career, and we’re thrilled to announce that he is now part of our continually expanding office leasing team in New York City,” comments Liebersohn. “Rick is a well-respected real estate market leader with the high level of experience and strategic thinking needed to complement Avison Young’s already deep-seated New York team. He will serve as an integral asset to our clients and the other professionals in our firm, and we look forward to his future accomplishments as we continue to build our office sector market share throughout Manhattan.”
During his career, Marek has assisted numerous law firms such as Akerman LLP as well as many financial tenants, including Lazard Freres & Co. LLC, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Coller Capital and Key Square Capital Management LLC (which came out of the Soros Fund), with their office- space situations.
Liebersohn said, “Throughout his career, Rick has made significant volunteer contributions to our industry and the local community. He understands the meaning of global citizenship, a core component of Avison Young. He will help us grow our business and increase our philanthropic efforts.”
Marek has been active with the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) since starting his real estate career at Julien J. Studley Inc. at age 21, one week after receiving a Master of Business Administration degree from Syracuse University. He was chair of REBNY’s Plaza committee for 22 years, participated for two terms on the group’s commercial board of directors and, since 2015, the REBNY board of governors. In 2004, he received the Kenneth R. Gerrety Humanitarian Award at the annual REBNY dinner for initiating a fundraising effort among all REBNY members on September 11, 2001 to support the needy children of the porters at the World Trade Center and workers at Windows on the World restaurant who had lost their lives on that day.
Marek is active in other areas of the community as well. He co-founded the DirectEffect research program at Rockefeller University in 1992 and is a member of the university’s council. He has also been a trustee of Educational Alliance, a member agency of the United Jewish Appeal (UJA), for more than 20 years.
“I am eager to play a leading role in the expansion of Avison Young’s office leasing and overall brokerage footprint in New York City,” says Marek. “I look forward to being part of this firm’s collaborative culture, client-centric business model and full-service platform. This is a great opportunity to play a leadership role with a highly entrepreneurial organization and work alongside some of the best professionals in our business.”
Marek’s addition represents another key component of Avison Young’s ongoing New York-area recruitment drive, which has resulted in more than 30 hires, including several new principals, since the beginning of 2018.