REBNY's 20th Annual Retail Deals of the Year Awards

Winners of the Most Significant Deal of the Year and the Most Ingenious Deal of the Year highlight something old and something new.

From left: Bob Gibson, Patrick A. Smith, Benjamin Birnbaum, Ben Shapiro, Matt Ogle, Bill Rudin, John H. Banks, Corey Zolcinski, Neil Seth, Kenji Ota, Steven Soutendijk/ photo by Jill Lotenberg

NEW YORK CITY—The Real Estate Board of New York awarded The Most Significant Retail Deal of the Year 2018, coined “Toy Story 2.0,” to Neil Smith and Kenji Ota of Cushman & Wakefield for their December 2017 deal representing FAO Schwartz in leasing space to open at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. The landlord owner in the deal was Tishman Speyer. In 2015, citing high rents the legendary toy store vacated its space at the GM Building, at 767 Fifth Ave.

From left: Neil Seth and Kenji Ota/ photo by Jill Lotenberg

“Most deals considered for this award are deemed significant because they help revitalize or rejuvenate the neighborhood. This deal is significant because of the tenant not the location,” said REBNY retail committee co-chair Steven Soutendijk of Cushman & Wakefield, who presented the awards. “This transaction represents the rebirth of an iconic brand, one that may have been knocked down a few pegs thanks to Walmart and Amazon but who the judges were convinced would use a brick-and-mortar flagship to make this chain relevant again.”

This is the second time Ota has won this award, also receiving it in last year’s competition.

The Most Ingenious Retail Deal of the Year 2018, titled “Retail’s Next Ride,” recognized Peloton’s 35,000 square-foot flagship location lease at Manhattan West. REBNY awarded this prize to the Newmark Knight Frank team of Benjamin Birnbaum and Ben Shapiro, who represented the tenant, and JLL’s Patrick A. Smith, Matt Ogle, Corey Zolcinski and Bob Gibson, who represented the owner landlord, Brookfield Properties.

From left: Bob Gibson, Patrick A. Smith, Matt Ogle, Benjamin Birnbaum, Ben Shapiro, Corey Zolcinsk/ photo by Jill Lotenberg

REBNY pointed to how Peloton’s leasing in an unproven location in a new development helped its brand image. The transaction involved overcoming a complicated multi-lease, and addressing tax consequences, according to Soutendijk. He described how the deal also required taking back space from an anchor tenant who had already signed and started its space layout.

That was not even mentioning the flood mitigation, train tunnel and infrastructure issues, added Soutendijk. “The deal basically threw up every hurdle you could imagine and both teams managed to overcome them,” he said.

This is the fourth time Smith has won a REBNY Retail Deal of the Year Award, and the second time for Ogle and Zolcinski.

A total of 18 transactions were submitted for this year’s competition.

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