Lessons from NYC’s King of Commercial Real Estate
Category: Podcast
This episode explores life and career lessons from legendary NYC broker Bob Knakal, Head of JLL’s New York Private Capital Group.
The Crexi Podcast explores various aspects of the commercial real estate industry in conversation with some of the top CRE professionals in the space. In each episode, we feature different guests to tap into their wealth of CRE expertise and explore the latest trends and updates from the world of commercial real estate.
In this episode, Crexi’s Ashley Kobovitch and guest host Eli Randel, COO of Crexi, sit down with Bob to discuss life lessons, career path choices, work ethics, and the nuts and bolts of commercial real estate in NYC. Their wide-ranging conversation includes:
- Introductions and early career decisionsFavorite mistakes and essential lessons learned that paved the way for opportunities moving forward
- Fundamental work ethic tenants, daily habits, and why it’s important to be so active on social media and constantly be networking
- How to build and maintain organic client relationships, stay top of mind, and create the most value for your clients
- A high-level overview of NYC’s commercial real estate market, what trends are emerging, and what investors should consider when looking to make moves
- Advice to young brokers navigating the current market cycle
- And much more!
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About Bob Knakal:
Bob Knakal currently serves as the Head of JLL’s New York Private Capital Group.
Bob was Chairman and Founding Partner of Massey Knakal Realty Services, New York’s #1 building sales firm. He started his real estate career in 1984 at CB Richard Ellis, where he met Paul J. Massey Jr. They both left CB in 1988 to form Massey Knakal.
From 1988 through 2014, Massey Knakal closed over 6,000 transactions with an aggregate value above $23 billion. To date, Bob has been personally responsible for selling over 2,000 buildings (generally considered the highest total ever for a single broker in New York) and over $18 billion in sales.
In 2014, Cushman & Wakefield acquired Massey Knakal. At Cushman & Wakefield, Bob acted as Chairman of New York Investment Sales. He was ranked the top originating investment sales broker at Cushman & Wakefield globally in 2014, 2015, and 2016. Bob joined JLL in September 2018.
Since 2009, Bob has written a weekly column on the New York City real estate market called Concrete Thoughts for the Commercial Observer.
About Crexi:
Crexi is transforming commercial real estate with advanced, integrative technology and data analytics designed to accelerate every CRE stakeholder’s success. From trading properties to machine-learning-powered industry Intelligence, Crexi’s intuitive CRE solutions accelerate transaction velocity and have empowered over 2 million monthly users to close $440 billion in deals and market over $5 trillion in property value.