NEW YORK CITY—As part of our ongoing series profiling up-and-comers across the commercial real estate industry, Real Estate Forum has selected a group of standout young professionals in the retail field. Of those, a handful shine especially bright and have therefore been chosen for a closer look on GlobeSt.com. Get to know these Emerging Retail Leaders, and check out the entire roster here.

[IMGCAP(1)]

NICHOLAS HOWELL, 32

Vice President

Vornado Realty Trust

New York City

Nick Howell is vice president of retail leasing for one of the largest REIT's in the United States. He has extensive retail expertise in both The United States and United Kingdom having worked on high profile transactions and developments in London, New York, Washington D.C, and Miami. This unique experience gives Nick a competitve advantage over his counterparts and has laid the foundations for him to succeed as a future leader in the industry.

Howell's leases and asset manages Vornado's extensive urban retail portfolio.Vornado is the largest owner of street retail in Manhattan with approximately three million square feet. His primary repsonsibilty is to execute new retail leases and renewals however he also works closely with the development and captial market teams on leasing strategies, valuations and tenant mix advice.

Prior to arriving in New York, Nick worked on the leasing of the prestigous Westfield London (1.5 million square feet) and Westfield Stratford City (1.9 million square feet) projects which have received worldwide acclaim and attention. Since joining Vornado in 2010, Howell has been instrumental in the leasing of the street retail portfolio, executing high profile transactions and setting new record rents across the portfolio. Deal highlights include Flagship stores for Berluti, Belstaff, John Varvatos, Kent & Curwen and Christofle on Madison Avenue; Sandro, Fogal and Capital One in Soho; Nike, J.Crew, H&M, Pinstripes, DSW and Forever 21 in Georgetown, Washington D.C.; Zadig & Voltaire, Custo Barcelona and Laduree on Lincoln Road in Miami. One of the most significant projects Howell currently works on is 1535 Broadway where Vornado is creating 51,000 square feet of newly created retail at the center of the bowtie in Times Square.

“Retail real estate has changed dramatically over the last few years,” Howell says. “Retailers are taking less stores and concentrating on premier locations. This has caused a huge void between 'A' locations and the rest. The rents in these premier locatons have seen huge gains over the last few years. Manhattan is a unique retail landscape and is currently seeing unprecedented rental growth and demand in all its major retail corridors. Technology, especially smart phones, have changed shopper habits forever, however people still want to experience retail; whether that be clothes shopping, dining or entertainment. I see the urbanization movement continuing; strong retail centers will get stronger. It remains to be seen how the weaker malls and centers will remain relevant unless they give shoppers a strong reason to visit.”

Instant Insights /

Get to Know... Nick Howell

Related Stories

Recommended For You