Episode 045: Peter Braus

Introduction:


 


Today we have with us Peter Braus, an owner and operator of real
estate as well as the managing principal of Lee & Associates
NYC, the entrepreneurial, fully integrated service real estate
firm with a national reach yet local expertise. Among two of
Peter’s sagelike business mantras are that of “a good broker must
understand a client’s business well enough to know what type of
space their client needs,” and (somewhat akin to Albert
Einstein’s line of “Try not to become a man of success, but
rather try to become a man of value”) Peter’s mindset of that “if
a broker can’t add value to a deal as a broker, they have no
business being involved in that deal.” 


 


Episode Notes:


 


At 2:12, Peter Braus touches upon diversification, Lee NYC’s
growth, and opportunities that exist in the marketplace. At 6:14,
Peter provides his thoughts on commercial rent control and the
current retail landscape. At 11:15, Braus discusses situations in
which pop-up stores make sense for a tenant. At 13:31, he makes
note that the definition of mom-and-pop stores has changed. At
17:38, Peter talks about SoHo now versus the SoHo of the past. At
20:46, Braus speaks on a tenant having the power in the current
day marketplace, and at 23:49, he shares time being on the
tenant’s side. At 29:00, Peter dives into starting Lee NYC about
8 years ago. At 30:07, Braus believes that in brokerage one
doesn’t have the option to spectate given the “eat what you kill”
nature of the business, and as a result one must always be on the
job. At 33:20, he points out that Lee NYC likes to hire athletes
due to the competitiveness athletes possess. At 36:17, Peter
shares the impact September 11th has had on how he goes about his
life. At 40:34, Braus answers the question in if he believes real
estate owners will shop around and take advantage of rising cap
rates and distress in the marketplace. At 48:00, he discusses
advising clients on how to leverage the equity in their
buildings. At 56:14, Peter mentions his dislike for “stupid, lazy
and/or lying” brokers. At 58:41, Braus talks about Long Island
City and Amazon. At 1:03:25, he dives into the collaborative
culture at Lee NYC. At 1:07:41, Peter speaks about learning from
difficult past experiences, as well as breaking through the
clutter in NYC when Lee NYC first started. At 1:12:23, Peter
Braus closes out the podcast with a dual message on appreciating
what you have to work for, and not allowing the highs get too
high and lows get too low.