This week, our 5 for Friday features Gabriel Silverstein, Managing Director of SVN | Angelic, based in New York, NY and covering both national large investment sales and financing. He additionally serves as the SVN Institutional Capital Markets Chair. Gabriel’s product specialties include Corporate Real Estate, Industrial, Institutional Capital Markets, Medical Office, Multifamily, Office, Retail, Single Tenant Investment and Debt and Equity Financing. 
1. What advice would you provide to an aspiring advisor who is new to the industry?
First, endeavor to learn every side of every transaction type you will work on. You cannot negotiate well if you do not understand the other side’s perspective.
2. What does the SVN Difference mean to you?
The client-facing key takeaway is about getting to the real true market by openly working with everyone (co-brokering, fee sharing, etc.), contrary to the majority of the large commercial real estate platforms. For me, living it every day, the much deeper result is a culture of amazing people that really work synergistically and strategically together. From the moment they wake up each morning, they approach life openly and collaboratively because the platform breeds that mindset. What comes out of that is not only higher prices for sellers but better client solutions in every way.
3. What inspired you to open an SVN franchise?
It began with the relationship I had with Kevin Maggiacomo that was catalyzed by SIOR’s 75th Anniversary Conference in New York City, which I chaired. Karen Hurd, SVN Senior Vice President for National Franchise Sales and Development, introduced me to Kevin as part of bringing in roughly twenty CEOs and Presidents of prominent industry firms to be on stage. At some point, the conversation shifted to include what we could achieve together with Angelic as part of the SVN platform.
We were eager to contribute SVN | Angelic’s client offerings in large-scale institutional investment sales and debt and equity financing to the SVN brand. My goal and commitment to SVN is to help continue to grow the institutional capital markets part of the SVN platform to a $10B transaction volume annually in 10 year’s time. I think we are on track and that’s very exciting.
4. What was your most memorable deal and why?
The first deal I ever did after coming out of an investment management group was a large tenant rep assignment for a publishing company. They wanted to move a 92,000 SF leased suburban office to a newer building, but they could not make the economics work. We negotiated a move to 107,000 SF in a building that was just beginning construction and the lynchpin of making it price out was changing the architectural design to add clerestory windows for the lower level. We needed to do a 14,000 SF library, and altering the design to provide natural light below grade let us move it to space that the developer never planned on leasing. As such the developer agreed not to charge our client any rent other than reduced common area charges, which made the economics work. I was 21 years old, ignorantly fearless, and solved a problem that made the deal because I didn’t know to not rock the boat. As a result of the successful outcome of that deal, I have never been afraid to challenge the thinking of much more experienced colleagues, in search of a better mousetrap.
5. What is something that people may not know about you and that they may be surprised to find out?
I got into flying (as a pilot) six years ago, and have since gotten my commercial pilot’s license. I am now instrument rated and I’m getting my seaplane rating this summer. I almost never fly commercially anymore and fly myself to most of my meetings and deals. My husband Angel and I recently flew to Turks & Caicos for SVN’s 2017 Partner Circle award event.
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