Massey Knakal Alum Thomas Donovan Joins B6 Leading Queens Operations

NEW YORK CITY—Thomas Donovan has been appointed as partner and vice chairman at B6 Real Estate Advisors, founded by Paul J. Massey, Jr. in July 2018. Donovan, who specializes in Queens property, will oversee a territory including Astoria, Long Island City, Elmhurst, Forest Hills, Glendale, Maspeth, Middle Village, Rego Park, Ridgewood, Sunnyside and Woodside. His responsibilities will include territory management, business development, real estate advisory services and sales.

From January 2015 through August 2018, Donovan was the vice chairman of investment sales in the capital markets group of Cushman & Wakefield. He had been a partner at Massey Knakal Realty Services, starting in February 1998 and working through Dec. 31, 2014 when Cushman & Wakefield acquired the company.

“I was born and raised in Queens,” Donovan tells GlobeSt.com. “I was originally hired 20 years ago to be the Queens, outer borough pioneer at Massey Knakal.” During his career, he has been been responsible for more than $2 billion of real estate and close to 600 buildings sold. He notes at Cushman & Wakefield the Queens operations grew from a two-person start-up to more than 10 times its original size. Three brokers from Donovan’s team at Cushman, Robert Rappa, Tommy Lin and Eugene Kim, will be joining him at B6.

Some of Donovan’s recent transactions include serving as the sole broker in the January 2018 $14.3 million sale of the retail property, the Georgia Diner, at 86-55 Queens Boulevard to United C&D Group. The seller was Dimitrios Kaloidis. This information was noted in Real Capital Analytics. In addition, Donovan represented the seller in the June 2018 $4.7 million sale of the John Maglio’s property at 77-17 Queens Boulevard to the United Jewish Appeal – Federation of New York, as recorded in PropertyShark.

“In addition to being an extremely successful broker, one who has achieved notoriety within the industry and gained the respect of owners and peers, Tom epitomizes the boots-on-the-ground approach that is at the core of B6’s philosophy,” says Massey, B6’s CEO. “He was the first partner at Massey Knakal to lead the company outside of Manhattan which was the linchpin of the firm’s success.”

Massey notes Donovan’s invaluable knowledge of “all things Queens,” coupled with the firm’s proprietary tech platform will ensure B6’s capturing a significant slice of the borough’s market share.

“I have been exclusively brokering in Queens and the boroughs since November 1998,” says Donovan. “Queens has become a very institutional and sophisticated market with the numerous zoning changes and market trends.” He further points out that Long Island City, Astoria and Sunnyside have risen as the development recapture markets. Donovan says his attention to the trends transforming Queens, and his longstanding relationships with owners will allow B6 to be a dominant player in that particular market.

His professional honors include achieving Real Estate Forum’s Top Broker Award in 2014, CoStar’s Top Sales Broker Award for 2008-2014, and being listed in Crain’s 40 Under 40 in 2005.

In addition to his real estate career, Donovan was a decorated US Marine and a New York City police officer. He graduated from St. Francis Preparatory High School and studied business management at St. John’s University. Having survived a brain tumor, Donovan has served on the boards of several charities including the Brain Tumor Foundation, the Varadi Ovarian Institute for Cancer Education, the Parker Jewish Institute for Health Care and Rehabilitation, the VFW Catholic War Veterans and the Columbus Citizens Foundation.