NEW YORK — The offices of PBS Realty Advisors LLC are buzzing with energy. Real estate deals are wrapping up, while others are just getting started.
Down the hall, several executives huddle together discussing clients and recent business trends. Laura Pomerantz is the one balancing a BlackBerry, cell phone, stack of papers and a cup of peppermint tea in her arms.
“The tea gives you energy,” Pomerantz said, smiling. “Not like I need more energy.”
Indeed. Pomerantz, principal and founding partner of the six-year-old company, is bursting with energy. Just ask her clients, which include firms such as Bloomberg LLP, Abercrombie & Fitch, Giorgio Armani and David Yurman, among others, many of them luxury fashion retailers. She’s on the job — thumbs and fingers working furiously on her BlackBerry — from about 7 a.m. until 10 p.m.
“I get about 200 e-mails a day,” Pomerantz said. “And it’s not spam. These are clients and sources with whom I’m in contact. I have to respond.”
And there’s the key to the success of PBS: The company works hard to develop and nurture long-term relationships with clients. For Pomerantz, this not only means building valuable industry sources, but having the power to tap these sources for market intelligence.
“There is no one who she can’t get on the phone,” said Betty Ende, senior managing director at PBS. Pomerantz has more than 4,000 contacts in her virtual Rolodex.
PBS, headquartered at 230 Park Avenue here, offers full-service real estate consulting in a variety of disciplines including office, retail, distribution centers, acquisition and disposition. Before founding the company with John Brod and Morton Schrader, Pomerantz honed her real estate management skills at brokerage Newmark & Co. and landlord S.L. Green. Prior to that, Pomerantz served as executive vice president at The Leslie Fay Cos. Inc.
Although Pomerantz has been in the real estate business for more than a decade, she’s not the typical broker or consultant. Before meeting with a client or potential client, Pomerantz does a lot of homework, including compiling market-specific data such as competitive analysis, street locations, mall locations and consumer demographics.
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“Our job is to be very familiar with different markets and the level of consumers there,” Pomerantz said. “We also know what is in the development pipeline in those markets.”
Her ability to create forward-looking market analysis also sets Pomerantz apart from the competition. “It enables clients to strategize a market,” Pomerantz added.
Building strategy also takes time — and space.
“The first thing I ask a client is how big their conference room table is,” she joked. “I ask, because I then make a presentation to them that fills the entire table.”
Pomerantz avoids PowerPoint presentations for a more personal, interactive approach with clients. Her presentations are designed to promote a lively discussion with the client.
For example, on this particular day, she was working on a presentation pitching a retail expansion plan for one of her fashion clients, who asked to remain confidential. Pomerantz spread a poster-size map of the U.S. across the conference table. The map included the client’s current retail locations as well as the competition, and possible future sites.
Along with the map, Pomerantz and Ende had a printout of more detailed market data, including shopping centers, retail districts in cities and malls where the client might fit in well. Pomerantz and Ende then rolled up their sleeves and went to work analyzing each street mall, weighing the pros and cons of expansion.
“A good part of what we do is detective work,” Pomerantz said.
Clients also often come to PBS to dispose of stores. Pomerantz empathizes with retailers going through an asset disposition. It can be an emotionally taxing experience for all. But Pomerantz reassures them that they are “doing the right thing, and the resources can be deployed more productively.”
“Companies need to be constantly pruning their real estate,” she said. “You need to try new things and take risks. It’s how a company grows.”
Pomerantz admits the business can be stressful. The phone keeps ringing, and in 45 minutes, she received more than 35 e-mails. “There are many frustrating days, but overall, it has been good, and I feel extremely fortunate,” she said.
The frustration is far from enough to stall the company’s growth. In August, PBS was named a partner of Oncor International, which is the fifth-largest real estate network in the world. Last month, Oncor was acquired by Realogy Corp., the largest real estate firm in the world. The partnership with Oncor effectively extends PBS’ reach in the global market.
In addition to running her business, Pomerantz is committed to the arts and the local community. Her philanthropic work includes serving on the board at Carnegie Hall as well as the Richard Tucker Foundation. At Carnegie Hall, Pomerantz chairs the special events committee, which includes a fund-raiser aimed at offering affordable tickets to lower-income families.
EDITOR’S NOTE: On the Job with Laura Pomerantz is the first in a series of stories where WWD goes behind the scenes — in corporate offices, on trade show floors and in the market — to profile a notable industry executive.