Back Home and Learning the Territory

As Seen in Newsday May, 2004 By Alan J. Wax Staff Writer

David Katzman grew up in Baldwin. He’s spent the past few weeks learning about the region where he spent his youth.

A Manhattan resident, Katzman recently joined the Long Island office of Newmark & Co. Real Estate, where he is launching a move into retail space brokerage in Nassau and Suffolk by the big Manhattan-based commercial space broker.

Katzman says he has spent days on end driving to such places as Montauk and Riverhead, familiarizing himself with parts of the Island that he had never before seen.

Katzman has been trekking on roads long traveled by competitors who have done business in Nassau and Suffolk counties for decades, among them Breslin Realty Development, Schuckman Realty and Ripco Real Estate Co.

“They’re good at what they do, but there’s a lot of other business here on Long Island,” said Chuck Tabone, managing principal of Newmark’s office in Melville, adding that Katzman’s arrival marks the beginning of an effort by Newmark to become a presence in retail brokerage on the Island. Tabone said he foresees the firm cross-marketing its retail, office and industrial services on the Island.

Katzman, already familiar with most of Nassau County, where his parents live, has been criss-crossing Suffolk as part of a crash course. “I’m learning the Suffolk market, which I think has the most potential,” he said. “I’m doing as much driving and looking as I can…getting in touch with the local landlords.”

Katzman, 27, has been representing retailers since finishing his degree in business management at the University of Hartford, first at Newmark’s Manhattan-based retail arm, Newmark New Spectrum, then at Cushman & Wakefield Retail Services, working as an associate of Joanne Podell, one of the top retail brokers in Manhattan. Katzman, along with Podell, has represented such clients as Ann Taylor, Benetton, Ethan Allen, Gymboree, Harvey Electronics, Kate’s Paperie and Nine West.

He’s already working with two restaurant clients seeking locations in the region.

Katzman said he anticipates there will be synergies between Newmark New

Spectrum and Newmark of Long Island. “This is a market they could not previously serve,” he said.

Newmark’s well-entrenched competitors said they aren’t worried about a new rival.

“Most of these guys, they’re like cab drivers. They get the client in their car and drive them around,” said Stan Schuckman of Woodbury-based Schuckman Realty. “They don’t know how the system works, which is so development-oriented. In the city, it’s all just leasing space. It’s a much easier job.”

Transactions In Hauppauge:

Kitchen Depot, a cabinet maker, bought 115 Commerce Dr., a 39,000-square-foot industrial building, from Lanco Corp. Richard Cohen of Ashlind Properties represented Lanco, and Doug Omstrom of Corporate National Realty, represented the buyer. Meanwhile, Lanco Corp. bought 350 Wireless Blvd. and nine acres from W.P. Carey Co., where it plans to expand an existing industrial building from 70,000 square feet to 120,000 square feet. Cohen represented Lanco in the deal.

LNK International, a pharmaceutical firm, bought 400 Wireless Blvd., a 60,000 square-foot industrial building, from United States Luggage Co., which shifted operations to the West Coast. Ashlind’s Cohen brokered the sale.

Tags: