Chris Leehy joined Newmark in 2016 as a senior managing director with Retail Occupier Services (ROS), a specialty practice within Newmark’s Global Corporate Services platform. In this role, Mr. Leehy is responsible for building and managing teams that partner with retailers by delivering integrated services for global retail occupier accounts across all suites:
- Strategy
- Lease Administration
- Transaction and Asset Management
- Project Management
- Facilities Maintenance
- Tenant Representation Brokerage Management
Additionally, Mr. Leehy leads the lease administration service within ROS and oversees the department’s operations, ensures the timely and consistent execution of projects and focuses on finding savings for all ROS clients.
Mr. Leehy is a retail executive with 24 years of retail real estate, field and national corporate management experience. With expertise in portfolio development, portfolio optimization, portfolio management and maximizing organizational efficiencies, Mr. Leehy has developed new systems and processes for two different retail category leaders to ensure optimization of each company’s resources to deliver results.
Prior to joining Newmark, Mr. Leehy served as a vice president with Ashley Furniture, the number one furniture retailer in North America and number one furniture manufacturer in the world. During his nearly four-year tenure, he developed two new store concepts: Ashley Sleep and Ashley HomeStore Select. He also developed and implemented a real estate revenue growth strategy of over $200 million while introducing lease administration, facility management and construction management systems that delivered in excess of $1 million in savings in 18 months.
During the 1990s and early 2000s, Mr. Leehy held numerous positions with Blockbuster Video including roles in operations, real estate, loss prevention, sales management, lease administration and facility management. Mr. Leehy was responsible for leading Blockbuster through the challenges associated with the company’s bankruptcy filing and subsequent acquisition by Dish Network, where he continued to optimize the Blockbuster store portfolio while saving millions of dollars in occupancy costs through ongoing lease review and negotiation.
Areas of Specialty
- Portfolio Optimization
- Portfolio Management
- Lease Administration
- Real Estate Development
- Facilities Maintenance
- Strategic Planning
- P & L Analysis
- Licensee Development
Education
Mr. Leehy earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from the University of Nebraska at Kearney.