Livingston, N.J. – Gebroe-Hammer Associates, the nationally ranked multi-family investment sales brokerage firm, has promoted three of its top-producing brokers to new executive management positions, announced Ken Uranowitz, president. Stephen Tragash of South Orange and Nicholas Nicolaou of Ocean Township were named executive vice presidents and Adam Zweibel of Livingston was named senior vice president.
“Once again, 2018 was a banner year for Gebroe-Hammer Associates. No other firm can compete at our level in the apartment-building sales category, especially in the New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania and New York State region,” said Uranowitz, who made the promotions announcements at a 43rd anniversary reception recently held at Crestmont Country Club in West Orange. “These much-deserving individuals are standouts in their own right in the multi-family sales industry. They have significantly contributed toward raising Gebroe-Hammer’s sales benchmarks year after year and have paved the way for even greater personal and firmwide success in 2019 and beyond.”
Ranked among the nation’s top multi-family firms for 2018, Gebroe-Hammer serves a client roster that includes private family offices and owners, REITs, private equity funds and other institutional investors. In addition to suburban and urban apartment buildings, the firm markets mixed-use and free-standing office and retail properties.
“What makes this year, and the past couple of years, particularly momentous is that some of our brokers have achieved a rare feat – individual sales and units-sold figures that exceed the collective totals of entire multi-family divisions at competing brokerage firms,” added Uranowitz, who has been with Gebroe-Hammer since its inception in 1975.
Tragash and Nicolaou have been a catalyst for Gebroe-Hammer’s success since joining the Livingston, NJ-based firm as sales associates in 2006 and 2010, respectively. Today, they are among the region’s most sought-after brokers specializing in a wide range of apartment-asset investment sales, from new construction Class-A trophy properties to Class B/C assets with value-add and property repositioning potential.
Since the earliest days of the Great Recession when he started at Gebroe-Hammer, Tragash has spearheaded the firm’s record-breaking activity and dominance in Union County. In addition, his territory extends to Hunterdon and Sussex counties as well as parts of Morris County. He has recorded numerous high-profile transactions and is unrivaled in the amount of deals closed and units sold in this region where velocity of multi-family trades have been historically low.
Tragash represents a wide range of first-time and long-term clients in some of the region’s most prominent market and off-market transactions. “Since day one, Steve has stood out for his affable personality, impressive intellect and tenaciousness, which are evident to all with whom he works,” said Uranowitz, who noted Tragash’s total sales during the past 12 years involve more than 100 deals and 7,000 units.
Nicolaou also has emerged as the go-to multi-family broker-of-choice for all of Hudson County, including the Hudson River Waterfront as well as the entire North Jersey Metro. In the past 18 months, he has closed more than 35 deals involving over 3,600 units valued in excess of $800M throughout Northern New Jersey. “Property owners seek Niko out because he possesses rare character traits – expert knowledge of the Hudson County market, a strong work ethic and a down-to-earth personality without a trace of arrogance or ego normally associated with such success,” added Uranowitz.
Rounding out this year’s personnel promotions is Zweibel, who was hired as a Gebroe-Hammer sales associate in 2013 and is among the region’s leading Central and South Jersey market specialists. In just five years, he closed 56 deals amounting to over 6,000 units and $770M in sales. “Adam has quickly risen through the ranks because he is a quick learner, has advanced technological skills and leaps over any obstacles that get in his way,” said Uranowitz. Zweibel’s affiliation with Gebroe-Hammer marked a career change thanks to the firm’s mentoring program. Previously, he served as president of Alpha Technology Group, a company he successfully built, restructured and eventually sold to Strategic Micro Systems.
Since being founded in 1975 by the late Mel Gebroe and Morris Hammer, Gebroe-Hammer’s brokerage activities have evolved from initially focusing on New Jersey to now include the eastern Pennsylvania and New York State submarkets. Widely recognized for its consistent sales performance, the firm is a 14-time CoStar Power Broker and named a Top Multi-Family Influencer in the nation for 2018.