Paul Massey’s B6 Real Estate Advisors is the latest brokerage to suffer layoffs as New York City remains on lockdown.
It wasn’t immediately clear how many employees were let go and in which departments they worked. As of last spring, the investment-sales and debt brokerage counted 55 employees, 30 of whom were brokers.
“We deeply regret that several members of our team were let go due to the current business climate,” a spokesperson wrote in an email to The Real Deal. “They are part of the B6 family and our thoughts are with them and their loved ones during this difficult time. Our firm will continue to press forward and serve our clients during these challenging days.”
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Massey launched B6 in 2018, and the company has since made inroads in the middle-market brokerage landscape. The firm brokered $241.6 million worth of deals in 2019, and its most notable of late was the $150 million sale of the Kestenbaum multifamily portfolio in Queens to Doug Eisenberg’s A&E Real Estate Holdings. The deal marked the first significant trade since the state passed a tenant-friendly rent law last year, and it served as an important benchmark for the city’s multifamily market.
For years, Massey and business partner Bob Knakal ran Massey Knakal Realty Services, which was the city’s dominant middle-market brokerage. The two sold their company for $100 million in 2014 to Cushman & Wakefield. Massey left the company to start B6 after an unsuccessful bid for mayor in 2017.
New York City has been shut down for three weeks, and without the ability to transact deals brokerages are starting to let staff go.
Ralph Herzka’s Meridian Capital Group made cuts to support staff and back-office roles last week. Some of the city’s biggest residential brokerages, too, have started laying off and furloughing significant numbers of employees.
Contact Rich Bockmann at rb@therealdeal.com or 908-415-5229.