B6 Hires Leaders for Investment Sales in Manhattan and Brooklyn

NEW YORK CITY—B6 Real Estate Advisors continues to expand in size and operations, progressing with its plans to hire 50 new brokers. The newly formed brokerage firm founded by Paul J. Massey Jr. with Neil Heilberg and Michael Wlody has appointed David Chase as partner and executive managing director of investment sales. He’ll oversee the Manhattan neighborhoods of Harlem, Manhattanville, Striver’s Row, Upper Manhattan, Hamilton Heights and Sugar Hill.

In addition, last week, B6 hired DJ Johnston as partner and senior managing director responsible for the Brooklyn territory covering the Bedford Stuyvesant, Bushwick, Crown Heights and Prospect Lefferts Gardens neighborhoods.

In what is looking like a Massey Knakal homecoming, at B6 Chase will be responsible for territory management, business development, real estate advisory services and executing sales goals.

He comes from ONE Commercial Realty Services, where he was the president and CEO. Chase worked at Massey Knakal as director of retail leasing. Subsequently as the firm’s director of investment sales, he focused on Long Island City and Astoria. He continued in this position at Cushman & Wakefield after its acquisition of Massey Knakal. To date, Chase has evaluated over 720 buildings with an aggregate value of over $4.5 billion.

Earlier in his career, starting in 2001, he was at J.P. Morgan in retail banking. His real estate experience includes wearing several different hats—including a hard hat working in construction management, developing a modern 10-story, 24-unit ground-up project in Tbilisi. Chase also was a commercial leasing agent at Manhattan Spaces focusing on the Upper West Side and Upper East Side.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Georgian State University in Tbilisi, Georgia, and studied management at Cornell University. His professional honors include receiving the ONE Commercial Excellence Award in 2017, the CoStar Power Broker Award for 2014 and the Massey Knakal Agent of the Year Award for 2013.

Also returning to the reunion, Johnston left his most recent position as director of capital markets at Cushman & Wakefield. At B6, Johnston’s responsibilities mirror those of Chase.

Johnston was a senior associate at Massey Knakal when it was acquired by Cushman. Throughout his career, Johnston has evaluated and underwritten over 900 properties and executed the sale of over 200 transactions with an aggregate value of approximately $1 billion. He was the recipient of the CoStar Power Broker Award for 2016 and 2017. Johnston earned his bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Scranton.

Commenting on the new hires, Massey notes that Chase’s depth of experience and thoughtful approach to the marketplace will fit with the company’s culture and long-term goals. “He brings an effective mix of both the keen market knowledge and the values that we expect from the territory agents in our firm,” says Massey.

Heilberg, B6’s COO, refers to Johnston as “the ideal ‘next generation’ broker’” whose market knowledge experience will help the company grow in Brooklyn. “His energy, confidence and collaborative nature will provide an excellent model for our younger brokers,” says Heilberg.

Calling his career move an important milestone, Chase says he looks forward to applying the firm’s rigorous methods to thoroughly understanding the marketplace in furtherance of client services. Johnston says the formation of B6 with its aggressive and disciplined approach to the market is an opportunity for brokers to take their careers “to the next level.”

In addition, last month David A. Simon, another Massey Knakal alumnus, left Colliers International to join B6 as the executive managing director of New Jersey operations.