LIVINGSTON, NJ – After a 37-year career with Gebroe-Hammer Associates, Ken Uranowitz has been named president, GlobeSt.com has exclusively learned. The appointment was made by Alan Gebroe, chairman of the multifamily brokerage.
Uranowitz was hired by Mel Gebroe and Morris Hammer when they established the multifamily brokerage in 1975. He was only 20 at the time.
The story goes like this: Uranowitz’s father, a watchmaker/jeweler, maintained a shop across the street from the G-H office in Livingston, and he pressed Hammer to give his son a job. Hammer was reluctant to hire such a young man, but Uranowitz Sr. made “lengthy appeals” concerning Ken’s potential. After his dad’s campaign, Uranowitz was initially assigned a sales territory that primarily focused on Essex County and the Oranges.
“Like everyone who starts out in this business, I had to ‘pay my dues’ in the beginning,” says Uranowitz, who has served as vice president, senior vice president and managing director. “Both Mel Gebroe and Morris Hammer were my mentors, teachers and father figures, and I feel it is my duty and honor to carry on their legacy and vision. I look forward to doing so for many, many years to come.”
Alan Gebroe says the company founders were wise to trust Uranowitz with continuing their vision in a constantly evolving real estate market.
“In addition to his extraordinary deal-making achievements that span almost four decades, Ken has become a well-respected mentor whose dedication to imparting Mel Gebroe and Morris Hammer’s teachings upon the next generation of investment brokerage professionals is unrivaled in the industry,” says Gebroe.
He spearheaded G-H’s rise in the multi-family investment arena while also overseeing the firm’s expansion into new markets, including New York; Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia; and throughout the Northeast. Uranowitz oversees a team of 24 brokers and support staff while remaining active on the sales front.
Under his guidance, the firm recently closed out a record-setting third quarter with 30 multi-family deals totaling 1,400 units valued at more than $100 million. In one four-week period, the company closed 13 deals representing 724 units, which sold for more than $54 million.
G-H’s main focus is on high-rise, mid-rise and garden-apartment properties, but it also deals in active-adult and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-designated senior retirement rental communities and bank mortgage debt. G-H also markets mixed-use and free-standing office and retail properties. While the firm primarily concentrates on the Tri-state region, its brokers annually complete transactions throughout the United States.
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