Commercial Broker Thomas Donovan Moves from B6 to Meridian

As the founder of B6 Real Estate Advisors deals with a mounting pile of debt, he’s also dealing with the departure of one of his key employees.

Thomas Donovan is leaving Paul Massey’s B6 for Meridian Capital Group, the Commercial Observer reported. The investment sales veteran will be tasked with scaling up the Queens deal flow for Meridian’s commercial property sales arm, Meridian Investment Sales.

In a statement, Donovan referred to Meridian as the “next logical step” in his career. He’s coming off a five-year stint as vice chairman and partner at B6, where he specialized in Northwest Queens investment sales.

Donovan has been a loyal lieutenant to Massey throughout his career. He spent 16 years as a partner at Massey Knakal Realty Services before Massey and Bob Knakal sold the company to Cushman & Wakefield for a reported $100 million in 2014. Then, Donovan spent four years as a vice chairman of Cushman’s capital markets group before following Massey to B6.

Donovan has been involved in several notable deals in Queens in recent years. Last year, he led the team representing The Musso Group in its $87 million sale of a four-building portfolio in Briarwood. Josh Gotlib’s Black Spruce Management bought the portfolio, which was listed a year earlier asking $99 million.

This spring, Meridian laid off around 5 percent of its staff due to broader economic conditions. The cuts specifically hit the debt and investment sales team, sparing leasing brokers. The commercial advisory firm remains one of the city’s most active debt brokerages.

Donovan is leaving B6 at an unfortunate time for Massey. Last month, The Real Deal reported that Massey owed roughly $2 million in federal, state and city taxes while also trying to hold off the foreclosure of his Westchester home and make B6’s lease payments on its Midtown office.

B6’s financial duress is obscured due to the firm’s private status, but court records show the city put a $32,000 lien on B6 last year. The brokerage allegedly failed to make full rent payments to DHI Group, which was subletting the space, between February 2020 and August 2021, prompting a lawsuit.

— Holden Walter-Warner