Newmark Knight Frank (NKF) is pleased to announce the appointment of Jeff Fishman as vice chairman of the company’s recently formed Private Client Group, which focuses on investment sales transactions over $25 million. Fishman joins other recent hires, Brian Ezratty and Ronald Solarz, as part of the group’s leadership team.

“Jeff, Brian and Ronald represent the type of industry-leading professionals that NKF wants on our team,” said NKF Chief Executive Officer Barry Gosin. “These leaders have decades of combined experience, an entrepreneurial spirit and the skills needed to grow our presence while providing clients with fully customized service.”

Fishman joined NKF through the company’s acquisition of RKF Retail Holdings, LLC, where he served as vice chairman of RKF, overseeing the firm’s Investment Sales & Advisory Services practice. He is a 30-year veteran of the real estate industry and has executed all types of real estate transactions with an aggregate value in excess of $5 billion.

Fishman has been involved in transactions throughout the US. Most recently he orchestrated the sale of NY REIT’s New York City retail portfolio, consisting of seven properties totaling 90,000 square feet for approximately $100 million. He also was responsible for the record sale of a three-building, 53,000 square foot retail portfolio on Lincoln Road in South Beach, Florida for $139 million.

Other notable deals include arranging the sale of the 268,750 square foot 303 East 83rd Street on Manhattan’s Upper East Side for $170 million. This luxury residential building features 261 units with 11,520 square feet of retail space and a 115-car garage at its base. He also sold the fee position at One Superior Place in Chicago for $80 million, which occurred simultaneously with the $220 million sale of the leasehold of an 800-unit high-rise residential building, which contains 58,000 square feet of retail space. Fishman also sold the unsubordinated ground lease of a 752-unit, 34.6-acre apartment complex in Fairfax, VA and at Marina Terrace in Marina Del Ray, CA. On behalf of the two sellers, Fishman arranged the simultaneous sale to a public REIT of the leasehold and fee interest of a 500-unit apartment building on 5.6 acres for $165,250,000.

Fishman has also been involved in selling and acquiring numerous retail-driven assets throughout New York City on behalf of both buyers and sellers, including REITs such as Acadia Realty Trust and Vornado Realty Trust, as well as numerous private investors.

“I am excited to complete the leadership team of NKF’s new Private Client Group, as there is tremendous potential for growth within the $25-million-plus asset class,” said Fishman. “Brian Ezratty has been a partner and dear friend of mine for many years, and we are excited to embark on this endeavor together. Our multi-disciplined investment sales team brings the longevity and depth of experience necessary to nurture long-term private client relationships and to offer a full range of capital markets and investment capabilities.”

Prior to joining RKF, Fishman was president and CEO of One Liberty Properties, Inc., a public REIT. Previously, he was a managing director with Cogswell Properties, LLC., a real estate owner and manager in New York City.

About NKF Capital Markets

NKF Capital Markets, operated by Newmark Group, Inc., is one of the world's leading commercial real estate advisory firms. Together with London-based partner Knight Frank and independently-owned offices, our 16,000 professionals operate from approximately 430 offices in established and emerging property markets on six continents.

We provide access to a wide range of services, including asset sales, sale leasebacks, mortgage and entity-level financing, equity raising, underwriting and due diligence. The transactions we broker involve vacant land, new real estate developments and existing buildings. We specialize in arranging financing for most types of value-added commercial real estate, including land, condominium conversions, subdivisions, office, retail, industrial, multifamily, student housing, hotels, data center, healthcare, self-storage and special use. For further information, visit www.ngkf.com/capitalmarkets.