One Soho Sq

In his role as CBRE’s Chairman of Global Brokerage, Stephen Siegel advises major corporations and property owners on a broad range of real estate strategies. Widely regarded as one of the industry’s most talented and prolific professionals, he has been called by the media “a powerhouse,” “an icon,” “a game changer” and “the most legendary and revered broker still plying the trade in NY.”

Prior to the merger with CBRE, as Chairman and CEO of Insignia/ESG, Mr. Siegel was largely responsible for masterminding the firm’s expansion nationwide as well as throughout EMEA and the Americas. He also managed a group that completed approximately $2 billion in co-investments in a wide range of U.S. real estate portfolios across property types. Mr. Siegel initially rose to prominence in the industry at Cushman & Wakefield, where he became President and CEO at age 37.  

Throughout his distinguished career, Mr. Siegel has arranged multimillion-dollar transactions for some of the nation’s most prominent corporations. Mr. Siegel has represented the State of New York for seven years completing millions of square feet of leases. He represented Hudson’s Bay Company in the consolidation and relocation of its U.S. headquarters into 410,000 sq.-ft. at Brookfield Place, L’Oréal on its 407,000 sq.-ft. headquarters relocation to the Related Company’s 10 Hudson Yards, Estee Lauder into 400,000 sq.-ft. at the GM building, the Apollo Corporation into 385,000 sq.-ft. at 9 West 57th and Fried Frank into 400,000 sq.-ft. at 1 NY Plaza.

Mr. Siegel negotiated Gucci Group’s lease at Trump Tower, a transaction recognized by REBNY as 2006’s Most Creative Retail Deal of the Year. He advised Hudson Waterfront Associates on the acquisition of 1290 Avenue of the Americas for $1.25 billion, re-selling it one year later to Vornado Realty Trust. He arranged the $306 million sale of a parcel at 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue, the last developable site within the 42nd Street Development Project, to SJP Properties. SJP constructed Eleven Times Square, a one-million-sq.-ft. office property, on the site.

Renowned for his philanthropy, Mr. Siegel has been called by The Wall Street Journal “the most generous person in the industry.” He sits on numerous nonprofit boards. He was endowed a fellowship at the Cardozo School of Law. He received honorary doctorates from Baruch College, Yeshiva University, Monmoth University and St. Thomas Aquinas College. He has been honored by the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, The Lower East Side Tenement Museum and Israel Bonds. He was also celebrated for his contributions to the Young Women’s Leadership Network’s CollegeBound Initiative along with fellow honorees Queen Latifah and Danny Meyer.  

Frequently quoted in major newspapers, Mr. Siegel has been profiled in The Wall Street Journal, LEADERS Magazine, the Real Deal and recently presented with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award by Marquis Who’s Who for his accomplishments and prominence in his profession. He is regularly among the Commercial Observer’s Power 100 and was named by Crain’s as one of the 100 Most Influential Business Leaders in New York City. He was featured in the Urban Land Institute’s Leadership Legacies and the best-selling Commercial Real Estate Brokers Who Dominate. He has been honored with Commercial Property News’ Lifetime Achievement Award and has received prestigious industry awards from REBNY and New York University’s Real Estate Institute.

Since joining the Agency Group 10 years ago, Caroline has been actively involved in all aspects of landlord representation for institutional and entrepreneurial owners, as well as sublandlords. Caroline is responsible for the entire transaction implementation process from pitching, preparing detailed proposals for several thousand square feet to over 1 million square feet, lease negotiations, reviewing financial models, pricing development, and interpretation of market information and statistics. Caroline utilizes her expertise in marketing and finance along with her deep knowledge of the Manhattan market to structure creative real estate solutions for complex situations as evidence by having been involved in the disposition of more than 5.1 million square feet of office space.

Recent notable transactions in her portfolio include 19 deals at the General Motors Building (767 Fifth Avenue) since 2021, totaling over 390,000 RSF. Additionally, Caroline was recently involved in Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s 180,000 square foot relocation from Midtown to 3 World Trade Center. Caroline also worked on the redevelopment and lease up of 399 Park Avenue and was involved in 1.1 million RSF of leasing at the building between 2016 and 2019, including the 320,000 RSF relocation of Millennium Management.

Caroline joined CBRE’s Midtown office in 2013 as an Associate in the CBRE Wheel Program—a 14-month rotational platform designed to give selected young professionals a well-rounded foundation in commercial real estate. Caroline completed 2-3 month long rotations in various service lines including Research Services, Office Leasing Brokerage, Investment Sales, Consulting & Agency, and Debt & Structured Finance.

Since joining CBRE in 2011, Brett has worked on over 4 million square feet of transactions on both the landlord representative and tenant representative sides of the business. Having worked on a number of larger transactions and spent years as a member of CBRE’s Consulting Group, Brett has refined both his financial analytic and technical skills and is adept at approaching complex deal structures. During his initial 14 months at CBRE, Brett was a member of CBRE’s Wheel Program, a selective rotational program designed to give young professionals a well-rounded foundation in commercial real estate. During such time, Brett worked in the Consulting / Agency, Investment Sales, Asset Services, and Brokerage service lines.

Arkady Smolyansky is a Senior Vice President in the New York City office of CBRE, the world’s largest commercial real estate firm. As a tenant representative specialist, Arkady advises a variety of local, national and international firms on evaluating and implementing strategic real estate plans. Arkady bases his practice on cultivating exclusive, long-term relationships with clients, an approach that has enabled him to structure a wide range of complex leasing transactions totaling nearly 5,000,000 square feet on behalf of tenants and landlords.

With extensive knowledge of the New York City real estate market, Arkady—an eight-time recipient of CBRE’s market leadership award—devises creative deals for his clients in the leasing, acquisition and disposition of commercial properties/office space, utilizing sophisticated relocation methods and occupancy cost reduction strategies. In addition to representing a strong roster of tenants, Arkady represents landlords on assets throughout Manhattan. He currently advises the LeFrak Organization as the leasing agent for 40 West 57th Street, a prestigious 850,000-sq.-ft. office property in the Plaza District, and he represents Boston Properties in leasing 399 Park Avenue, a prominent full-block 1.7 million-sq.-ft. building, as well as 599 Lexington Avenue, a one million-sq.-ft. office tower. He is also part of the teams that are repositioning the Olayan Group/RXR/Chelsfield’s 550 Madison Avenue, EQ Office’s(Blackstone's) 1740 Broadway and The Georgetown Company’s redevelopment at 787 Eleventh Avenue. Arkady‘s ability to understand the ramifications of a transaction from both the landlord and tenant side enables him to devise creative and effective real estate solutions for his clients.

Prior to joining CBRE’s Brokerage Services Group in 2008, Arkady participated in the firm’s highly competitive Wheel Program, an 18-month rotational program designed to give young brokerage professionals a well-rounded foundation in the commercial real estate industry. Arkady’s commercial real estate career began in 2005, as an intern for CBRE’s Investment Properties Group.

Arkady is a proud graduate of Fairleigh Dickinson University, where he was a four-year member of the Men’s Varsity Tennis team and founded the Finance Club, serving as President for several years. Arkady most recently founded and launched an annual scholarship fund at the University where he was also recognized as the top 50 Under 50 alumni leaders in business in 2015.  He emigrated from the former Soviet Union to the U.S. in 1989, previously lived in Italy and Austria, and frequently travels internationally.