NGKF’s Newest Acquisition

By Scott Baltic, Contributing Editor

Barry Gosin, NGKF

BGC Partners Inc., the parent company of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, will be acquiring Excess Space Retail Services Inc., which specializes in real estate disposition, lease restructuring, lease renewal and related valuations for retailers across the United States, BGC announced Monday. Financials on the transaction were not disclosed.

Excess Space currently advises on 35.6 million square feet of retail space in North America and since its founding in 1992 reportedly has generated about $4 billion in savings for clients. Those clients include national supermarket, drug store, department store, home furnishing and restaurant chains, which Excess Space has assisted with dispositions of leased and fee simple property and other concerns.

Its headquarters is in Lake Success, N.Y., and it also operates from an office in Huntington Beach, Calif.

The company’s client list runs to more than 150 and invites one to wonder, “Who hasn’t worked with Excess Space?” Just a sampling includes (take a deep breath): A&P, AMC Theatres, Amoco, AT&T Mobility, AutoZone, Bank of America, Baskin-Robbins, Best Buy, Blockbuster, Borders, Bridgestone, Burlington Coat Factory, Carrabba’s Italian Grill, Chipotle, CVS, Denny’s, Dillard’s, Dollar General, Dunkin’ Brands, Eckerd, Ethan Allen, Family Dollar, Gap, General Cinemas, Giant Eagle, Hollywood Video, Home Depot, JCPenney, Jiffy Lube, Kinko’s, Kmart, Lane Bryant, Little Caesars, Lowe’s, McDonald’s, Michaels, Office Depot, OfficeMax, Outback Steakhouse, Panera Bread, Payless Shoe Source, PETCO, PetSmart, Pier 1, Radio Shack, Regal Cinemas, Rent-A-Center, Rite Aid, Sears, Sonic, Sports Authority, Staples, Stein Mart, Stop & Shop, Sunglass Hut, T-Mobile, Toys R Us, Virgin, Wal-Mart, Waldenbooks, Walgreens, Wendy’s, White Castle and Whole Foods.

And that’s barely half the list.

“Excess Space is a dominant force in the niche area of real estate dispositions and lease restructurings for retailers, they have an excellent industry reputation, and their business of moving rapidly and efficiently to assist clients in healthy and distressed situations complements our own services,” NGKF CEO Barry Gosin said in a release.

“Retail is evolving rapidly, and today’s retailers face complex opportunities and challenges on multiple fronts,” Michael Wiener, founder & president of Excess Space, commented in the announcement.

“In partnership with NGKF’s Global Corporate Services retail business, we can deliver stronger solutions across the entire lifecycle of clients’ store portfolios, including strategic planning and revenue modeling, new store rollout management, project management, and lease administration.”