RKF CHICAGO OFFICE GROWS TEAM WITH ANNOUCEMENT OF TWO NEW DIRECTORS
Chicago, Il – May 31, 2012 – (RealEstateRama) — RKF is pleased to announce that Steve Schwartz and Lara Keene have joined the firm’s Chicago office as directors. Schwartz and Keene, formerly of Baum Realty Group, LLC, mark the latest additions to the RKF Chicago office, which opened this past April as part of the firm’s ongoing expansion into key urban markets nationwide. RKF continues to speak with a number of prominent retail leasing specialists and expects to keep growing its team in the coming months.
“Steve and Lara are equally and individually well-matched for RKF. They show innate ability to think strategically about the retail market and have proven track records for delivering sound, insightful advice to their clients,” said Robert K. Futterman, chairman & chief executive officer of RKF. “Steve and Lara will be incredible assets to the RKF team as we continue to move forward and make our imprint on Chicago’s commercial real estate community.”
Since beginning his brokerage career in 2002, Steve Schwartz has sold and leased over $100 million worth of commercial real estate. In his most recent position at Baum Realty Group, LLC, Schwartz was responsible for leasing and positioning more than 1.5 million square feet of retail space in the Chicago metropolitan area for retail owners and developers, including Harlem Irving Companies, Craig Steven Development, MB Financial, Antheus Capital and the Mizrachi Group.
In 2011 Schwartz notably sourced, secured and completed a 30,000-square-foot, ground-floor lease with Whole Foods Market on behalf of Antheus Capital, the developer of a 156-unit, luxury retail condo in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood. The transaction was a greatly celebrated breakthrough for the neighborhood, which had been overlooked by strong national retailers for decades.
Schwartz additionally has experience with tenant representation, and oversaw site selection and lease negotiation for Chicago’s well-known quick casual restaurant I Dream of Falafel, and for the Scottsdale-based restaurant group, JNK Concepts. In 2011 Schwartz led the Chicago expansion of JNK Concepts’ Roka Akor Steak & Sushi, a high-end, modern Japanese restaurant that has been listed for six consecutive months on Chicago Magazine’s ‘Hot List’.
Lara Keene also joins RKF from Baum Realty Group, LLC with a strong background in landlord and tenant representation. Having worked with a wide array of retail clients on a national and local level, Keene has extensive knowledge of the retail market and knows what it takes to move the needle. She exclusively represents Panera Bread and has been instrumental in their expansion throughout the Chicagoland area, including representing Panera on its new 5,076-sf flagship at 2 North Michigan Avenue directly across from Millennium Park.
She has also worked with such prestigious tenants as Citibank, HomeMade Pizza Co., Piada, Levy Restaurants, Duxiana, Tricoci University, Snippet’s Mini-Cuts, Doctors Express, Falafill and Gymboree.
On the landlord front, Keene has worked extensively on behalf of property owners, such as L&B Realty Advisors, Repak Development, Peak Properties and Hood Development to secure a variety of retail tenants, including Title 9, Chrome Industries, Goorin Bros. Hat Company, Pierre Deux and Quatrine Custom Furniture. One of her most recent significant transactions was a 9,000-sf lease to Anthropologie at The Shops on Fremont in Lincoln Park, on behalf of owner CRM Properties.
Schwartz and Keene are both members of International Council of Shopping Centers and licensed real estate brokers in the state of Illinois. Schwartz, a graduate from New England College, is also a member of the Chicago Loop Alliance. Keene, who graduated from University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, is an active member of Women in Retail Leasing and serves as a key member of the Greater North Michigan Avenue Association’s By the Numbers Committee.
About RKF
The country’s leading independent real estate firm specializing in retail leasing, investment sales and consulting services, RKF serves a broad spectrum of domestic and global clients in services ranging from national tenant and owner representation to advisory, consulting and disposition. With approximately $20 billion in aggregate real estate transactions to its credit, RKF has been responsible for identifying scores of real estate opportunities throughout the United States for leading American and international chains, retailers, developers and institutional clients. RKF is headquartered in New York with offices in Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Northern New Jersey, and San Francisco. www.rkf.com
Contact:
Elizabeth Walden, Quinn & Co., 212.868.1900 x349, ewalden (at) quinnandco (dot) com
Greg McGunagle, Quinn & Co., 212.868.1900 x228, gmcgunagle (at) quinnandco (dot) com
