Stan Johnson Co. Opens NYC Office

September 26, 2011
By Nicholas Ziegler, News Editor

Despite the prevailing economic headwinds, the net-lease space continues to perform. As proof, you need look no further than the opening of Stan Johnson Co.’s New York City office, the firm’s fourth major expansion since 2009, in order to be closer to its clients.

“The New York office was our next logical evolution,” Harold Briggs, managing director with Stan Johnson, told Commercial Property Executive. “It’s our strongest market in terms of client base, and our goal is to get close to the investors in the Northeast.”

The company, which is headquartered in Tulsa, Okla., and specializes in net-lease properties, has seen that client base grow when most firms were looking to contract. According to a report by The Boulder Group, cap rates for quality net-lease properties continued to compress in the second quarter of 2011 as demand for top properties tended to outstrip supply. And that demand for top clients is expected to continue through 2012.

“From 2007 through 2009 when investment sales as whole were down 90 percent, net-lease properties were still a star performer,” Briggs said. “It was and is a very attractive asset class.”

“We went against the trends and opened our Houston office in 2008,” Briggs said of the company’s first expansion effort. “We found two things. One, we were a lot closer to our [local] client base, but two, by going into the different markets we found strong talent in terms of our brokers.

The NYC office will bring two new brokers into the fold as managing directors: Jason Maier and Tom Georges. The city’s net-lease opportunities, according to Briggs, are numerous, including industrial and distribution space within the five boroughs, condo-ground-floor retail locations and big-box retailers in northern New Jersey.

Stan Johnson Co.’s satellite offices now include Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles and the upcoming NYC location, which will be located at 41 Madison Avenue.