CPN - March 2009 - (Page 16) HOT BROKERS The Closers Behind the Deals rokers today are challenged as perhaps never before. In a market in which few deals are occurring and matches are tough to make, brokers require problem solving and negotiating skills, a capacity to understand clients’ business needs and finesse at relationship building, among other attributes, to make deals happen. This year’s Hot Brokers have drawn on such strengths to achieve success. CPN’s B tional multi-family group, which focuses on the Mid-Atlantic region, and arranged $1 billion worth of multi-family sales in 2008. Secrets to Success: Encyclopedic knowledge of the Mid-Atlantic; repeat business and long-established relationships with major multi-family owners; and investors,keeping a close watch for buyers seeking to enter the Washington, D.C., metropolitan-area multi-family market. Best Advice Received: “Don’t get discouraged. In a down market, you tend to want to go in 150 different directions.You have to stay focused,” noted Cissel. “We’re still busy.” Melnick recalled his real estate broker father saying:“Once a buyer and seller agree, stop talking. Get out of the room and focus on getting the deal done. If you keep talking, one party may start to have second thoughts.” Advice to Others: You’re going to go through Jonathan Ahron, Charles Dunn Co. New Achievements: Ahron was the top earner for the Charles Dunn Co.’s brokerage arm last year and negotiated transactions that ranked among the California Real Estate Journal’s Deals of the Year, hitting more than $1,700 per square foot—a repeat of a 2006 feat. The 2008 sale of 13,200 square feet at Larchmont Avenue and Beverly Boulevard set a Larchmont price-persquare-foot record,and 2006’s 8457 Melrose Place deal for 4,639 square feet set a similar record for West Hollywood. Record: Ahron specializes in high-end/luxu- Scott Melnick Managing Principal Jonathan Ahron Senior Managing Director of the Retail Services Group up and down markets.You can be successful in a down market, Melnick stated. In such markets, added Cissel,“you have to look for different types of sellers and buyers.” ry, storefront retail investment sales in the Santa Monica,West Hollywood and Beverly Hills submarkets of Los Angeles but has brokered deals that cross into the office sector and farther afield in Los Angeles. His five-person team accounted for 30 percent of Charles Dunn’s West Hollywood sales in both 2006 and 2007.The team plans to expand its leasing work. Secrets to Success: Entrepreneurial nature;persistency;immersion and specialization in the market; ability to brand locales, create barriers to entry and inspire trust; aggressiveness that is unleashed “with a soft hammer.” Best Advice Received: Don’t go 100 miles per hour because you will get pulled over, advised Charles Dunn Brokerage president Darrell Levonian. The person going the speed limit will always pass the person pulled over, reaching his destination faster and without an accident. Advice to Others: The harder you work, the more results you’ll see. But also work smart and know your angles. Don’t be a sheep. Gregg Domanico, GVA Kidder Mathews New Achievements: In the past 24 months, Domanico leased more than 788,300 square feet in 33 life sciences developments. He oversaw GVA Kidder Mathews’ expansion into Northern California, including opening of a Redwood City office in late 2007 and acquiring Wayne Mascia Associates in Santa Clara in fall 2008, doubling the number of GVA brokers in the San Francisco Bay area. Record: Before joining GVA in December 2007, he served as managing partner in NAI BT Commercial’s Palo Alto office. He Gregg Domanico has also served as director of Ernst & Managing Partner & Young L.L.P.’s life sciences real estate conExecutive Vice President sulting group. As national director for CB Commercial Real Estate Group’s biosciences group, he was responsible for more than 2.5 million square feet of projects each year.Before entering real estate,he spent 10 years working in leadership roles at technology firms. Secrets to Success: Development of long-lasting relationships and trust with clients; telling clients what he feels is the best decision, even if it might not be what they want to hear; understanding of clients’ business strategies and development of real estate strategies around them; focus on the life sciences/biotechnology sector. Best Advice Received: When he started out, older colleagues advised him to focus on one specific industry, becoming an expert on all aspects of it. Al Cissel & Scott Melnick, Transwestern Achievements: In 2008, Cissel and Melnick arranged the sale of the 2,877-unit Springhill Lake Apartment Community in Greenbelt, Md., representing the seller, Apartment Investment and Management Co. At $275 million, the deal was one of the largest multi-family sales in 2008. They also represented Archstone in a sale of a 1,202-unit, three-property portfolio across Virginia and Maryland for more than $200 million. Record: They head Transwestern’s institu16 New Al Cissel Managing Principal Advice to Others: “Have a vertical focus. Become an expert on one or two things and don’t stray from that.” COMMERCIAL PROPERTY NEWS • March 2009 • www.cpnonline.com http://www.cpnonline.com
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