Time Warner Center retail guru and mixed-use expert Mitchell Friedel has joined Newmark Grubb Knight Frank (NGKF).
Friedel, whose expertise is in planning, marketing and leasing the retail portion of large, mixed-use projects from ground-up to full occupancy, is joining NGKF’s retail division as an executive vice president and will take on two high-profile developments at the outset, one headed by an iconic company.
Friedel is entrusted as the exclusive retail leasing consultant for Disney Springs, a new development for The Walt Disney Co. in Orlando, Fla. The project includes 350,000 s/f of retail and restaurant space.
“Mitch has shown time and time again, no matter where in the country, that he can help create a dynamic retail showpiece, ushering it from its genesis through to its ribbon-cutting,” said NGKF’s Neal Golden, a vice chairman who is leading several national mixed-use projects. “He knows that retail is the foundation for a mixed-use project’s success.”
Barry Gosin, NGKF CEO, stated, “Across the country, mixed-use projects will continue to be the key to many of our most important new developments. Bringing Mitch in-house allows our clients to have access to one on the best retail advisors in the United States. We are excited to add his expertise to the fold as a part of our commitment to accelerate the growth of our national retail platform.”
Friedel has been involved with retail real estate from the onset of his career. He made his name at The Related Companies wooing prominent retailers such as Tourneau, Williams-Sonoma and Sephora to the Time Warner Center and cementing its position as the Upper West Side shopping destination.
He shushed skeptics who thought no retailer would pay $400 psf by leasing it to full occupancy. A decade later, the Time Warner Center ranks as one of the top three for sales per-square-foot worldwide.
Friedel has repeated his success across the country and throughout his career. While at Thor High Street Advisors and RKF & Associates, he leased more than one million square feet at mixed-use projects in Naples, Fla., Cherry Hill, N.J., and Pittsburgh. In the latter project, 80 percent of the retailers were new entrants to the Pittsburgh market. In addition, Friedel exclusively consulted on a multitude of other mixed-use developments in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, Philadelphia and West Palm Beach, Fla., also in N.Y., N.J. and Michigan.
“Our firm’s goal is to provide the most comprehensive solutions for retailers and developers alike to get a competitive edge,” added Golden. “Mitch gives us even more depth and expertise for our clients to capitalize on.”
In addition to strategic retail advisory, the combined platform of NGKF, its affiliates and partners includes a spectrum of services such as site selection and feasibility analysis, appraisal, acquisition due diligence, joint venture equity raising, mortgage finance, property and facilities management, investment sales and more.
“I knew that coming to NGKF with its expansive, global footprint would mean opportunities for me to help shepherd major mixed-use projects across the country, possibly worldwide,” said Friedel. “It’s an exciting challenge and I look forward to working with the firm’s incredible roster of talent to offer a full-service experience to developers.”
Friedel, a graduate of Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa., is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers. He is an active supporter to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. He also holds a diploma in Real Estate Investment Analysis from New York University and is a licensed salesperson in New York and Florida.
