Capin brokers branch out to form new firm

Two New York commercial real estate brokers with more than $1.5 billion in transactions in two years under their belts have opened their own brokerage firm.

“Colleagues and friends may wonder what we were thinking when we decided to open a new commercial real estate brokerage at this time,” said Lazer Sternhell and Peter Vanderpool who have named their firm, Cignature Realty.

They say, however, that they are “in the right place at the right time” because the apartment building market in New York City is a “sure bet, even though the overall real estate market in New York City has weakened.”

The pair specialize in that segment of the five-borough real estate market and over the years they have built a reputation for being able to flush out what they call “the quiet deals” — high value, low visibility transactions. “We also have a track record for being able to close these kinds of deals in good times and in bad,” said Sternhell.

The vision the partners have for their new firm is based on the experience they had working together at Capin & Associates, where they enjoyed careers that allowed them to personally engage with owners and buyers.

“We don’t just bring deals to table; we seek to match and meet their business objectives by offering properties that are not necessarily known to be on the market, those quiet deals I talked about. We also do our homework to find hidden values in transactions,” Sternhell says.

The pair intends to keep their practice focused on their clients “among whom they have created trusted relationships based on knowledgeable, personal attention to detail.”

“As a result, we will not be growing the firm willy-nilly just by adding brokers to our roster in hopes of creating volume. We want to be nimble and quick so that we can offer experienced, thoughtful service to each and every one of our clients,” said Sternhell.

Cignature Realty is located at 208 West 30th Street.