NEW YORK CITY—Todd Bassen, former senior director of acquisitions at Invesco Real Estate, has joined Metropolitan Realty Associates, where he will serve as managing principal, CIO and partner. The three-decade veteran of the industry—who has completed over $11 billion in completed acquisitions and brings extensive experience in purchasing office, retail and multifamily properties here—will spearhead MRA's renewed focus on large investment in Manhattan and the outer boroughs, company founder Joseph Farkas tells GlobeSt.com.
"We want to make large deals in Manhattan and the boroughs more of the focus of what we do," he says. "We previously have done transactions in suburban office too but we're looking more at retail, multifamily and office properties here, and Todd has a fantastic track record on that."
He continues, "We've grown from $50 million deals to $100 million, plus we love Manhattan and we like the dynamics of the outer boroughs. We're looking at Brooklyn, we want to look in Queens too and we just completed a major deal in the Bronx with Riverdale Crossing so we want to build on our relationships there. This is just the next phase of the company, which has been in business for 15 years."
Following a brief stint this summer as co-head of real estate at co-working space giant WeWork, Bassen served for five years at Invesco, where he was responsible for the purchase of office, retail and multifamily properties in some of the city's hottest markets. Among the projects he oversaw were significant stakes in Brooklyn's Watchtower portfolio, which has been transformed into the veritable tech mecca Dumbo Heights office complex; Long Island City's the Factory, a one-million-square-foot conversion of Macy's former furniture warehouse into modern collaborative workspace; the retail condominium at the Knickerbocker hotel in Times Square; and the 400-unit residential property formerly known as Madison Belvedere.
Bassen previously worked at Vornado Realty Trust for 12 years as SVP and he spent five years as a managing director at Deutsche Bank-RREEF.
With the appointment, MRA has opened an office at 555 Madison Ave., in addition to its Long Island office, to focus on its growing business in the five boroughs.
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Rayna Katz
Rayna Katz is a seasoned business journalist whose extensive experience includes coverage of the lodging sector, travel and the culinary space. She was most recently content director for a business-to-business publisher, overseeing four publications. While at Meeting News, a travel trade publication, she received a Best Reporting award for a story on meeting cancellations in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
