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David Firestein can remember when Manhattan landlords had never heard of Starbucks, one of the clients of his White Plains-based realestate company.
"They'd go, 'Star Wars?"' Firestein recalled," and I'd say, 'No, Starbucks."'
Eleven years later, Firestein, now co-owner and regional director of Northwest Atlantic Real Estate Services L.L.C., no longer has to describe what the coffee shop does. Nowadays he's telling landlords about San Francisco-based Jamba Juice, a fruit-smoothie purveyor well known elsewhere, but with only one store in New York state.
Northwest Atlantic occupies an unusual but lucrative real estate niche - it represents tenants only, and often tenants from Western companies interested in expanding into the Northeast. The company's 10 clients include Whole Foods Market of Austin, Texas, Costco Wholesale Corp. of Issaqua, Wash., and Michaels arts and crafts stores of Irving, Texas.
Business has surged in the past two years, which led the company to add two new brokers and two other employees, bringing the total to 14. In 2001, the company negotiated 42 transactions with a total lease value of $90 million. By 2003, transactions had increased to 87 with a total lease value of $225 million.
The lease values cover multiyear contracts, and the private company doesn't release revenue figures, but the transaction totals are reflected in revenue growth over the same period, Firestein said.
Firestein says mutual trust is a major reason why his company has retained clients for year after year. Earlier this year, Firestein completed his 200th real-estate deal for Starbucks in Manhattan, and Costco has used Northwest Atlantic for a decade.
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By specializing exclusively in representing tenants, Northwest Atlantic avoids possible conflicts of interest and builds up trust with its clients, Firestein said.
To avoid another conflict of interest, the company won't take competitors of current clients, he said. After taking on...