Addressing the needs of expanding retail clients as they move to take advantage of opportunities in Chicagoland and the Midwest, global real estate services provider Newmark is growing the retail brokerage division of its Chicago office.
Company Principal and Midwest retail division head Gregory Kirsch - a longtime player in the area retail market who joined Newmark earlier this year - has announced that his operation has added two new retail brokers.
William Selonick has joined the division as executive managing director. A recognized industry leader with 22 years of experience in retail real estate, he will be working closely with Kirsch in increasing the Chicago office’s retail capabilities.
Prior to joining Newmark, Selonick was a principal with Baum Realty Group LLC, where he specialized in tenant representation for six years. He previously worked in a similar capacity for Northern Realty Group, where his accomplishments included assembling 90 acres for the development of Deer Park Town Center by noted lifestyle center developer Poag & McEwen. Prior to Northern, Selonick worked for 10 years at Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), focusing on underwriting and negotiating institutional real estate acquisitions by the firm’s pension fund clients, as well as leasing space in JLL’s regional mall portfolio to national retailers.
Since 1995, Selonick has exclusively represented and completed more than 70 transactions for Panera Bread in the Chicago metro area; and, while a colleague of Kirsch’s at Baum, more than 180 transactions for Washington Mutual. He has also worked on the expansions of a number of regional and national retail tenants, including Johnny Rockets, Andy’s Frozen Custard, and Borders. A member of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), Selonick was named a finalist in the 2003 Retail Broker of the Year in the Crain’s Chicago Business and Chicago Food Depository competition; and won the 2003 Gold Medal for Retail Broker of the Year - Tenant Representation from the Commercial Forum of the Chicago Association of Realtors.
Meanwhile, Jason Jarchow has joined the division as an associate. Jarchow’s primary focus will be on representing landlords on agency assignments and representing retail tenants in site selection and entry strategies in the Chicagoland marketplace. His current engagements include leasing the 11,000-square-foot retail component of 626 W. Jackson, a 103,000-square-foot, eight-story building on Chicago’s Near West Side.
Formerly with Chicago-based Beitler Properties, Jarchow was responsible for leasing of space at Metra headquarters (“Metra Center”) home to Potbelly Sandwich Works, as well as the retail leasing assignment of 15,000 square feet at Metra Millennium Station. On the tenant rep side, his major clients have included Kohler Co. brands such as Baker Furniture, Ann Sacks, and McGuire, assisting them in securing store locations in Chicago and Scottsdale, Ariz., and Hubbard Woods, Ill.
The expansion of Kirsch’s team accompanies a burst of growth in business for Newmark’s Midwest Retail division. The group now exclusively represents Qdoba Mexican Grill, a fast-casual Mexican fare restaurant concept that combines fresh ingredients with innovative sauces, salsas and marinades, in securing sites for expansion in Chicagoland, south of Irving Park Road. The group is also assisting Panera Bread’s franchisee in selecting productive new locations for the chain’s popular bakery-cafes in the “collar counties” surrounding Chicago.
“These are both significant, best-of-class retail operations that are expanding while other prominent retailers are pulling back in a market that, while challenging, is also rife with opportunities,” said Kirsch.
“And with this major expansion of our Midwest retail division - and the further additions I anticipate we will make by the end of this year - Newmark has exactly what is needed to help these - and other - clients capitalize on those opportunities.”
Newmark is one of the largest independent real estate service firms in the world. Headquartered in New York, Newmark and London-based partner Knight Frank Newmark operate from over 165 offices in established and emerging property markets on six continents. Last year, transactions were valued at more than $47.6 billion with annual revenues of over $872 million. With a combined staff of more than 6,300, this major force in real estate is meeting the local and global needs of owners, tenants, investors and developers worldwide. For further information, visit www.newmarkkf.com.