{"id":1004033826,"date":"2011-11-02T05:41:29","date_gmt":"2011-11-02T13:41:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/?p=1004033826"},"modified":"2022-12-08T02:22:47","modified_gmt":"2022-12-08T10:22:47","slug":"l-a-based-lee-associates-opens-nyc-doors-merges-with-sierra","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/l-a-based-lee-associates-opens-nyc-doors-merges-with-sierra\/","title":{"rendered":"L.A.-Based Lee & Associates Opens NYC Doors, Merges with Sierra"},"content":{"rendered":"

November 2, 2011<\/strong>
\nBy Nicholas Ziegler, News Editor<\/em>
\n

\"\"<\/a>

Lee & Associates CEO Edward Invik (left) and Sierra president James Wacht<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

New York City, by almost any measure, is the primary market for real estate in the country \u2013 and L.A.-based Lee & Associates opened its first office in the city as of Nov. 1. The office, created by a merger with Sierra Realty Corp., will be focused primarily on the retail sector but will look to make headway into office leasing.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re now officially Lee New York,\u201d Lee & Associates CEO Edward Invik told Commercial Property Executive<\/em>. \u201cWe\u2019ve wanted to be in the market for more than a decade, but it was a matter of us finding the right people.\u201d<\/p>\n

James Wacht, president of Sierra, agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur firm has been around since 1953,\u201d he said, \u201cand while Lee would be the perfect partner, it only made sense if we hire top-notch brokers to start a robust leasing practice.\u201d<\/p>\n

The idea that the right employees and brokers make or break the new venture is somewhat unique to Lee\u2019s business model, in that of its 700 employees nationwide in its regional offices, 400 are owners and shareholders with a profit-sharing stake in the overall firm. The newly formed NYC company will retain Sierra\u2019s 14 employees and has already hired two more experienced brokers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always been counter-cyclical,\u201d Wacht said, \u201cand this is a very good time to be growing a business. You need to grow when the markets are bad. In soft markets, people look for greener pastures.\u201d<\/p>\n

The opening of the New York office follows a series of recent Lee openings in Atlanta, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Kan., and Greenville, S.C.<\/p>\n

Wacht told CPE <\/em>that, while his firm has a strong retail presence — 13 of the 14 Sierra brokers specialize in that sector — he wants to grow his business with the \u201csweet spot\u201d of 5,000 through 25,000-foot office leases.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d like to penetrate the entire NYC market,\u201d Invik said. \u201cAnd the closer you are to the marketplace, the better equipped you are to serve your clients. We want to be as close to the pulse, to the activity, of the market as we can.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the next year is slated to bring growth to the firm, it will also present its challenges. The New York market has an inventory of more than 400 million square feet of office space and 105 million square feet of retail space — and, with external market forces constantly changing the landscape, making broad predictions is difficult.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not really sure where the market will be heading,\u201d Wacht said. \u201cI don\u2019t see a real decline happening, but it\u2019s a fragile market right now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

L.A.-based Lee & Associates, in a merger with Sierra Realty, opened its first office in New York City and will be focused primarily on the retail sector but will look to make headway into office leasing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1201,"featured_media":1004033827,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21784,21781,21808,21742,10,21747,21749,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1004033826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-brokerage","category-corporate-real-estate","category-featured","category-latest","category-northeast","category-office","category-retail","category-west"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nL.A.-Based Lee & Associates Opens NYC Doors, Merges with Sierra - Commercial Property Executive<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/l-a-based-lee-associates-opens-nyc-doors-merges-with-sierra\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"L.A.-Based Lee & Associates Opens NYC Doors, Merges with Sierra\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"L.A.-based Lee & Associates, in a merger with Sierra Realty, opened its first office in New York City and will be focused primarily on the retail sector but will look to make headway into office leasing.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/l-a-based-lee-associates-opens-nyc-doors-merges-with-sierra\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Commercial Property Executive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CPExecutive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-11-02T13:41:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-12-08T10:22:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2011\/11\/110211-Wacht-Invik-Lee-Associates-NYC-Office.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nicholas Ziegler\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@cpexecutive\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@cpexecutive\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/l-a-based-lee-associates-opens-nyc-doors-merges-with-sierra\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/l-a-based-lee-associates-opens-nyc-doors-merges-with-sierra\/\",\"name\":\"L.A.-Based Lee & Associates Opens NYC Doors, Merges with Sierra - Commercial Property Executive\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/l-a-based-lee-associates-opens-nyc-doors-merges-with-sierra\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/l-a-based-lee-associates-opens-nyc-doors-merges-with-sierra\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2011\/11\/110211-Wacht-Invik-Lee-Associates-NYC-Office.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-11-02T13:41:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-12-08T10:22:47+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/ff3a837f33daecfcf8978b405eaae20c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/l-a-based-lee-associates-opens-nyc-doors-merges-with-sierra\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/l-a-based-lee-associates-opens-nyc-doors-merges-with-sierra\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/l-a-based-lee-associates-opens-nyc-doors-merges-with-sierra\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2011\/11\/110211-Wacht-Invik-Lee-Associates-NYC-Office.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2011\/11\/110211-Wacht-Invik-Lee-Associates-NYC-Office.jpg\",\"width\":\"500\",\"height\":\"300\",\"caption\":\"Lee & Associates CEO Edward Invik (left) and Sierra president James Wacht\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/l-a-based-lee-associates-opens-nyc-doors-merges-with-sierra\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"L.A.-Based Lee & Associates Opens NYC Doors, Merges with Sierra\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Commercial Property Executive\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/ff3a837f33daecfcf8978b405eaae20c\",\"name\":\"Nicholas Ziegler\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/70e28229c24dc3cf14fac93ebb7647505c7519b301aa20c8f635957a4e8a8a66?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/70e28229c24dc3cf14fac93ebb7647505c7519b301aa20c8f635957a4e8a8a66?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Nicholas Ziegler\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/author\/nicholasziegler\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"L.A.-Based Lee & Associates Opens NYC Doors, Merges with Sierra - Commercial Property Executive","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/l-a-based-lee-associates-opens-nyc-doors-merges-with-sierra\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"L.A.-Based Lee & Associates Opens NYC Doors, Merges with Sierra","og_description":"L.A.-based Lee & Associates, in a merger with Sierra Realty, opened its first office in New York City and will be focused primarily on the retail sector but will look to make headway into office leasing.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/l-a-based-lee-associates-opens-nyc-doors-merges-with-sierra\/","og_site_name":"Commercial Property Executive","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CPExecutive","article_published_time":"2011-11-02T13:41:29+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-12-08T10:22:47+00:00","og_image":[{"width":500,"height":300,"url":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2011\/11\/110211-Wacht-Invik-Lee-Associates-NYC-Office.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Nicholas Ziegler","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@cpexecutive","twitter_site":"@cpexecutive","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/l-a-based-lee-associates-opens-nyc-doors-merges-with-sierra\/","url":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/l-a-based-lee-associates-opens-nyc-doors-merges-with-sierra\/","name":"L.A.-Based Lee & Associates Opens NYC Doors, Merges with Sierra - Commercial Property Executive","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/l-a-based-lee-associates-opens-nyc-doors-merges-with-sierra\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/l-a-based-lee-associates-opens-nyc-doors-merges-with-sierra\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2011\/11\/110211-Wacht-Invik-Lee-Associates-NYC-Office.jpg","datePublished":"2011-11-02T13:41:29+00:00","dateModified":"2022-12-08T10:22:47+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/ff3a837f33daecfcf8978b405eaae20c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/l-a-based-lee-associates-opens-nyc-doors-merges-with-sierra\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/l-a-based-lee-associates-opens-nyc-doors-merges-with-sierra\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/l-a-based-lee-associates-opens-nyc-doors-merges-with-sierra\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2011\/11\/110211-Wacht-Invik-Lee-Associates-NYC-Office.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2011\/11\/110211-Wacht-Invik-Lee-Associates-NYC-Office.jpg","width":"500","height":"300","caption":"Lee & Associates CEO Edward Invik (left) and Sierra president James Wacht"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/l-a-based-lee-associates-opens-nyc-doors-merges-with-sierra\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"L.A.-Based Lee & Associates Opens NYC Doors, Merges with Sierra"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/","name":"Commercial Property Executive","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/ff3a837f33daecfcf8978b405eaae20c","name":"Nicholas Ziegler","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/70e28229c24dc3cf14fac93ebb7647505c7519b301aa20c8f635957a4e8a8a66?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/70e28229c24dc3cf14fac93ebb7647505c7519b301aa20c8f635957a4e8a8a66?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Nicholas Ziegler"},"url":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/author\/nicholasziegler\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2011\/11\/110211-Wacht-Invik-Lee-Associates-NYC-Office.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004033826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1201"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1004033826"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004033826\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1004613567,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004033826\/revisions\/1004613567"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1004033827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1004033826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1004033826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1004033826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}