Two veterans of the New York City commercial real estate market, Neil Helman and Gerry Davis, have announced the formation of Collins Realty Partners, which will specialize in the acquisition of opportunistic, value-add properties in the Tri-State region, within a 100-mile radius of Manhattan and along the Boston-DC corridor.
“While we will seek value-add opportunities in the DC to Boston Corridor, our primary focus will be Manhattan and the boroughs as well as assets within an approximate 100-mile radius of Manhattan,” said Helman, who has over 35 years of real estate experience, most recently as a Principal in the Investment Sales division of Avison Young. “We will be seeking assets in the office, industrial, and residential sectors with values upwards of $10 million, placing a special emphasis on properties that are well-suited for adaptive re-use, have below market rents, or deferred maintenance”
Davis, who was a Principal with Alchemy Properties for 15 years, has more than 30 years of diverse real estate industry experience, most recently as an owners’ representative for several development projects. He added, “We plan to draw on our extensive network of capital partners, debt providers, and agency relationships, and explore the intersection of opportunity and value to pursue well-suited real estate investments. After 24 months of pandemic-related disruption in real estate, we believe this to be an excellent time to capitalize on a changing landscape.”
During his career, Helman has actively marketed and sold nearly $2 billion of investment-grade property in Manhattan and Brooklyn including office, residential, and retail properties, commercial buildings for adaptive re-use, as well as sites for ground-up residential and hotel development. Helman’s numerous high-profile development and property transactions include the sale of 250 Church Street in TriBeCa for $205 million.
Prior to joining Avison Young, Mr. Helman was an Executive Vice-President at Grubb & Ellis New York and a recognized company-wide top-performer, repeatedly earning inclusion in Grubb & Ellis’ “Circle of Excellence”, a mark of distinction reserved for the company’s top transaction professional specialists nationally.
At Alchemy Properties, Davis managed the development of more than 18 projects in New York City comprising nearly 1 million square feet of residential and retail space, both new construction and renovations, valued at approximately $1 billion. Davis’s experience is concentrated in urban, mixed-use office, and residential properties.
Prior to joining Alchemy, Davis led acquisitions for a New York City family real estate office, and was a Vice President at M&T Bank, where he was a part of the Commercial Real Estate division responsible for originating first mortgage debt and managing a significant loan portfolio. He began his career as an architect.
