Paul Massey Launches New Brokerage Firm
The new company, B6 Real Estate Advisors, is looking to disrupt the industry with proprietary technology and a new culture.
NEW YORK CITY—Paul J. Massey Jr. is bringing the band back together—or at least some of its members. He’s starting B6 Real Estate Advisors, a new investment sales and capital advisory commercial brokerage firm, with a couple of former colleagues. Neil Heilberg who will be the new COO, formerly served as COO at Massey Knakal. Michael Wlody was the treasurer and CFO for Massey’s 2017 New York mayoral campaign, and CFO for Massey Knakal as well as for Cushman and Wakefield after its $100 million acquisition of Massey Knakal through 2015. He’ll be the new CFO at B6.
The company will specialize in middle market transactions ranging from $1 million to $200 million.
The “B6” is short for Building by Building, Block by Block, and the firm will launch in New York and New Jersey. Although a company spokesperson tells GlobeSt.com that it has not yet signed a lease for either location, they are temporarily at 275 Madison Ave. Massey set up an office there shortly after he left his role as president, New York investment sales, at Cushman & Wakefield.
“Both the investment sales and capital advisory markets are extremely fragmented. I’m confident that we will position ourselves as a leading firm in both spaces,” says Massey. “Our culture will be one that is collegial, collaborative, connected and tech-savvy. Our agents will benefit from extensive, effective training and a no-conflict environment.”
The new firm is looking to expand. It has contracted the global executive search and consulting firm Spencer Stuart to hire a head of recruiting and a head of the capital advisory division. The company will announce additional management roles in the coming weeks.
B6 will emphasize data, technology and agents in the field.
Heilberg says the technology will increase efficiency of the agents’ daily tasks, streamlining and automating standard brokerage services. The goal will be to free up more time for agents to better understand their markets and to serve clients.
“Our agents will be equipped with our proprietary market intelligence, which combined with our boots-on-the-ground business model, ensures they will understand every building, every block,” says Wlody.
The announcement of the creation of B6 comes within the same week of Cushman & Wakefield’s termination of Bob Knakal, Massey’s co-founding partner at Massey Knakal Realty Services.