Name: Daniyel Cohen
Company: Winick Realty Group
What was your greatest professional accomplishment in 2019?
This year I was proud to not only complete four times as many deals in 2019 as I did in 2018, but also to be able to diversify my portfolio with business done in neighborhoods across Manhattan and Brooklyn, ranging from 1,000 s/f to over 11,000 s/f. One-third of my retail deals were completed on behalf of tenants, which is a significant increase from the year before, and I also completed my first office deals this year, which is something I am very proud of.
What are your predictions for commercial real estate in 2020?
Since the beginning of the year, 2019 has been very transactional for us. We’ve seen a huge uptick in activity as tenants were ready to make deals and landlords were more flexible. I expect that trend to continue in 2020. There will be more short-term to long-term deals and I anticipate larger sit-down and chef-driven restaurants in particular will demand more creative rent structures and management deals as landlords try to amenitize their new developments. I also expect that we’ll continue to see non-traditional use groups and more direct-to-consumer brands look to enter the retail market in the year to come.
What was your most notable project, deal, or transaction in 2019?
This year saw the completion of the 62,000 s/f retail leasing project at 300 Livingston St. We were able to honor the landlord’s distinctive vision for the building, signing Chelsea Piers and a highly-curated slate of Brooklyn-based tenants that adds value to the apartments above. This was my first major project at Winick and it was a great accomplishment to finally complete it. I was also proud to lease the 19,000 s/f former Pier 1 at 71 Fifth Ave. in Flatiron. We worked with ownership to creatively divide the space with the goal of maximizing rent and signing credit tenants. After leasing the first portion to The Well, we devised a focused marketing campaign for the balance of the space and ultimately signed with one of the handful of tenants we were targeting.