REBNY Spotlights Creativity with 82nd Annual Most Ingenious Commercial Deal Awards

The Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) brought together the industry on May 11 for the 82nd Annual Commercial Sales Most Ingenious Deal of the Year Awards. The annual event was held at Lever House in Midtown Manhattan. Geoffrey Newman of Savills won the top award, with professionals from CBRE finishing second and Cushman & Wakefield taking third place.

“Tonight’s winners exemplify the very best of commercial brokerage—smart, complex deals executed with skill and determination,” said REBNY President James Whelan. “REBNY is proud to honor the professionals behind these transactions that drive business growth across New York City.”

Since 1944, the annual member contest has recognized commercial brokerage professionals who demonstrate exceptional resourcefulness in complex property negotiations. Co-chairs of the Sales Broker Committee Woody Heller of Branton Realty Services and Michael Rudder of Rudder Property Group presented the following awards for calendar year 2025:

• The first-place Henry Hart Rice Achievement Award to Geoffrey Newman of Savills for “The Keys to the Park: A Gramercy Gambit” at 252 Third Ave., 254 Third Ave., 256 Third Ave., 258 Third Ave., 37 Gramercy Park and 38 Gramercy Park. Over a 13-year period, Newman assembled a stretch of frontage on Gramercy Park that many viewed as effectively impossible, including the acquisition of a 34-unit cooperative building at the center of the deal. The breakthrough came from recognizing that the Sliver Law limited what that cooperative could become on its own. Cantilever rights were then used to move stakeholders toward alignment, and the deal was rebuilt after a judge voided a key agreement twice.

• The second-place Robert T. Lawrence Memorial Award to Scott Gottlieb, Brendan Herlihy and Michael Wellen of CBRE for “Music is Universal: New York City to Reclaim ‘Music Capital of the World’ Title” at 2 Penn Plaza. The CBRE team guided Universal Music Group (UMG) through a 336,000-square-foot, 20-year headquarters lease at PENN 2, consolidating a fragmented Manhattan footprint into a single home adjacent to Madison Square Garden. The approach focused on securing space that matched UMG’s creative identity while still delivering the scale and infrastructure of a major global headquarters.

• The third-place Edward S. Gordon Memorial Award to Mark Weiss and Jared Thal of Cushman & Wakefield for “Way Back to the Future: Rethinking How Law Firms Operate” at 200 Fifth Ave. Weiss and Thal represented Goodwin in a 20-year, 300,000-square-foot lease at 200 Fifth Ave., with additional space in the adjacent 21 W. 23rd St., after approaching the assignment through the lens of Goodwin’s culture, engagement and long-term workplace strategy.

Pictured: Henry Hart Rice Award winner Geoffrey Newman (second from right).