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A venerable real estate development firm is looking to make a New York comeback.
Galbreath-Ruffin Corp., an international real estate company whose rich history in New York includes developing the Mobil Building on East 42nd Street, no longer has any major holdings in the city. But now, with ambitious new management and the prestigious Saks Fifth Avenue/Swiss Bank tower project to work on, the firm is striving to again become a major force in Manhattan real estate.
"Dan Galbreath has made the decision to refocus all the capital resources of the whole organization on the New York market," says Galbreath-Fuffin's managing director, Philip Restifo, referring to the firm's chairman and son of one of the founders. "One of the principles of the new strategy is to acquire, develop and hold onto property here."
To do that, Galbreath-Ruffin has reorganized its executive structure. Two former Cushman & Wakefield office space brokers, Mr. Restifo and Gordon McCollum Jr., also now a managing director, have taken lead positions.
New blood infuses old firm
"It's a very fine, prominent firm. And now they've gotten new blood," says Raymond O'Keefe, executive vice president of Cushman & Wakefield.
Galbreath-Fuffin was founded in New York in the 1940s when Peter Ruffin and John Galbreath, who hailed from Columbus, Ohio, became joint venture partners in the Mobil Building, then...