Mr. Knakal is Chairman, New York Investment Sales of Cushman & Wakefield. Previously, he was Chairman and Founding Partner of Massey Knakal Realty Services, New York’s #1 building sales firm. He has graduated from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics in 1984.
He started his real estate career at CB Richard Ellis where he met Paul Massey. They both left CB in 1988 to form Massey Knakal.
From 1988 through 2014, Massey Knakal closed over 6,000 transactions with an aggregate value in excess of $23 billion. To date, Mr. Knakal has been personally responsible for the sale of more than 1,700 buildings (generally considered to be the highest total ever for a single broker in New York) and over $13 billion in sales.
On December 31, 2014, Cushman & Wakefield acquired Massey Knakal.
In 1998, at the age of 36, Mr. Knakal was named to Crain’s New York Business’s Forty Under Forty/New York Rising Stars list for his outstanding achievement in the New York City business community. He is a two time winner of the Real Estate Board of New York’s Robert T. Lawrence Award in the Most Ingenious Deal of the Year Contest.
Mr. Knakal writes a weekly article on the NYC Real Estate Market called Concrete Thoughts for The Commercial Observer.
Mr. Knakal’s personal civic involvements are numerous and are highlighted by his presidency of the 152-year-old Prescott Foundation for Children and Youth, which makes grants to disadvantaged children for educational purposes. He also serves on the boards of several New York City Charitable organizations.
Awards:
- 2012: Mr. Knakal recognized as one of the top 5 sales brokers in North America in Rod Santomassimo’s book Brokers Who Dominate.
- 2004: Mr. Knakal wins the Robert T. Lawrence Award in REBNY’s “Most Ingenious Deal of the Year Contest” for the sale of the Gotham Book Mart at 41 West 47th Street.
- 2002: Mr. Knakal wins the Robert T. Lawrence Award in REBNY’s “Most Ingenious Deal of the Year Contest” for the assemblage of the easterly blockfront of Second Avenue between 54th and 55th Streets.
Affiliations
- Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), 20 Member Executive Committee
- Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), Arbitration Committee
- Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), Sales Brokers Committee, Chairman
- Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), Economic Development Committee
- Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), Seminar Committee
- Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), Transportation Committee
- Realty Foundation of New York
- National Realty Conference, President
- The National Association of Realtors
- National Realty Conference, Board of Governors
- Wharton Real Estate Center
- Building New York, Advisory Board
- Wharton School, JWD Board of Trustees
- Shema Kolainu, Board of Directors
- Community Housing Improvement Program (CHIP), Board of Directors
- Ice Hockey in Harlem, Board of Directors
- The Prescott Fund for Children and Youth, Board of Directors
- Wharton Club of New York, Board of Directors
- Lincoln Center Real Estate and Construction Council
- University of Pennsylvania Club of New York
- Metropolitan Opera Guild
- New York Philharmonic Association
- Ice Hockey in Harlem, President
- The Prescott Fund for Children and Youth, President
- Exchange Club Child Abuse Prevention Center
- Tomorrows Children Fund
- New York Building Congress and Trustee
- Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church