Who says retail is slow these days? Certainly not Bradford Siderow, founder and CEO of the Siderow Organization and the leader of its Commercial Group.
Yes, commercial group. Ironically, what began as a commercial services firm at its founding in 2008 became better known for its residential component, largely due to the timing of the Great Recession. With the recovery, the commercial operations, especially on the retail side, is coming to the fore.
In the early 2000s, Siderow was working on the commercial side at Murray Hill Properties, a firm founded by Brad’s father Neil. In 2005, Siderow began leasing commercial properties for Richard Parkoff, eventually extending his work to the developer’s residential properties, many of which had retail on the ground floor.
Joshua Arcus, now president, joined with Siderow to handle the residential leasing as he continued to work on commercial. Working with family owned and operated portfolios has become something of a specialty for Siderow.
“We became an extension of the leasing apparatus,” Arcus said. This is especially important as prospective tenants don’t have time to waste when considering properties, he added. It isn’t unusual for someone to ask to see a space immediately—because they’re standing outside.
By June 2008, the Siderow Organization structured to handle both commercial leasing in one group and residential leasing in the other. Shortly after, the commercial market collapsed with the downturn and the residential business became the focus of the organization. Residential agents were added, and the firm ironically became quickly known for that sector.
“People still needed to move. People were still renting,” Arcus recalled. “So that’s what we expanded on first.”
Even so, Siderow continued to focus on commercial leasing.
“While other brokers were waiting for the phone to ring, I was doing my deals on my own,” Siderow said. “And we also were laying the groundwork for expanding the business.”
The turning point began from 2010 through 2012 when several major deals were completed, including several restaurant leases in Midtown and downtown. Siderow also handled major luxury retail deals, such as placing John Lobb and Cesare Attolini in adjacent locations on Madison Avenue, and served as UBS’ broker for its purchase of the land beneath 135 West 50th Street in 2012. He also co-represented Blue Mountain Capital in its lease renewal and expansion at 280 Park Avenue in 2013.
With those deals as turning points for the commercial group, it was time to focus on expansion. The firm began adding commercial agents, preferring to bring on experienced professionals who had contacts while the sector lagged.
“For the most part, we’re not going to be the company that will take people out of real estate school. That’s not how we learned the business,” Arcus explained. “That decision forged what we could offer people: a company not mired in bureaucracy, no 100-agent roster list of deal flow, and a nice clean sandbox for people to play in while we provide the tools. We give them the ability to form their businesses as they see fit.”
A case in point: Alex Altman, who joined the firm several years ago with the goal of building a team.
“He’s built a team that is closing deals, many of them retail and services,” Arcus said. “And we’re looking for these entrepreneurs who take advantage of the structure we’ve built.”
Retail remains the core of the commercial business, though Siderow does some small office leasing as well. The owners of the Lobb/Attolini space continue to expand their portfolio, turning the commercial leasing over to Siderow. The client base began to grow at the same time.
“All of my retail clients are planning on opening multiple locations,” Siderow said. “And two I’m working with now are going national. I’m the busiest I’ve ever been because one of my core retail clients is a high-end Korean marketplace. They never close. They’re the ones who can pay the rent.”
Today, between the commercial and residential sides of the business, the company has about 45 agents. Given modern technology, many work in the field, using the firm’s Madison Avenue offices as a home base between various trips and telecommuting.
“Especially on the retail end, it’s a 24-hour business. When a client sees a space going to dinner, snaps a photo and sends it to me, I answer,” Siderow said.
Both Siderow and Arcus plan to expand the business nationwide—but whether they open offices around the country or rely on networks is up for debate.
“While we continue to expand, we will always remain a lean operation,” Arcus said. “But does expanding nationally mean expanding physically or expanding our sphere of influence?”
“Retail is retail. Leases may look a little different. Some factors may change from market to market, but a retail space is the same in San Francisco and New York City. It’s what’s between the four walls,” Siderow observed. “Any modern company wants to have scale. Our scale more than anything will come from our expansion of retail deals across the country. Whether we scale through partnerships or physical expansion is not mutually exclusive.”
The firm is exploring working with partners that would have the local knowledge needed to help their clients expand. A road tour is planned. And Saudi development firm A.M. Sharbatly is interested in working with the Siderow Organization, as a backer or in some other fashion, Brad Siderow reported.
“We’re now at a point where we must make some crucial decisions about how we’re going to continue to expand,” Arcus said. “The Siderow Organization has proven its success in the retail and office commercial sectors, as well as residential. We feel confident we can expand that success to any market in the country. We’ve struck a perfect balance, and now is the time to grow.”
That balance keeps the firm stable—if retail deals are slow, the residential side is usually busy and vice versa. The result is regular 20 percent year-over-year growth. What won’t change is the company’s dedication to its relationships. Though he has clients of his own, Arcus focuses mostly on managing the operations, freeing Siderow—and everyone else—to concentrate on deals, and even plan a 10th anniversary party for next year.
“Looking back on the last 10 years, a lot has happened and changed both in the industry and our own business, and we can’t wait for the next 10 years,” Arcus said. “There will be many exciting opportunities as we continue to grow our operations.”
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