Newmark Group to Acquire RKF Retail Holdings

By Scott Baltic, Contributing Editor

Robert Futterman, RKF’s chairman & CEO, will serve as chairman of Newmark RKF

Newmark Group Inc., the parent organization of Newmark Knight Frank, has agreed to acquire RKF Retail Holdings LLC and its subsidiaries. RKF is a leading independent real estate firm specializing in retail leasing, investment sales and consulting services, including tenant and owner representation and dispositions.

The acquisition will build on Newmark’s already substantial national retail business, which includes retail leasing, retail investment sales, retail occupier services and Excess Space Retail Services Inc., which specializes in real estate disposition and lease restructuring.

The closing is expected by year’s end.

Since its founding 20 years ago, RKF, which is headquartered in New York, has added offices in Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Northern New Jersey, San Francisco, Toronto and Tokyo.

Robert Futterman, RKF’s chairman & CEO, will serve as chairman of Newmark RKF, Newmark’s retail leasing division, and will be responsible for leading the company’s retail real estate business across North America.

Barry Gosin, CEO of Newmark Knight Frank

“RKF has been consistently ranked as the top retail brokerage company in New York and has demonstrated national and global expertise,” Newmark CEO Barry Gosin said in a prepared statement. “This acquisition is consistent with Newmark’s goal to add top talent in all disciplines and is an important step in continuing to build the leading retail platform in both leasing as well as retail investment sales.”

“This is more about acquiring talent than it is acquiring a business. RKF has some of the top retail brokers in the country and is certainly number one in the greater New York City market,” Jeff Green, president of Jeff Green Partners, told Commercial Property Executive.

A steady flow of deals 

That RKF is an active player, especially in New York City, can hardly be questioned. Last fall, the company co-brokered a 1,200-square-foot, 10-year lease for Hawaiian restaurant Poke Signature at 9 Times Square. About a month earlier, RKF had arranged two leases totaling more than 6,000 square feet at 1515 Broadway, for tenants Kiko Milano and Line Friends. RKF represented the landlord, SL Green Realty Corp., in both deals. In May 2017, RKF brokered a 1,050-square-foot lease for Anne et Valentin, a French luxury eyewear brand, at 1185 Madison Ave, again representing the building owner.

Image courtesy of Newmark Knight Frank