Stamford’s RHYS rises above the recession tide
When Cory Gubner quit his job after his firm was bought out in 2008, he decided to start his own commercial real estate business the next year. His vision, he said, was to create a company that understood how to serve the diverse leasing and buying needs of business owners in the Northeast and capitalize on opportunities for tenants and landlords to expand their operations.
Gubner, president and CEO of Stamford-based RHYS, had been working in the real estate business for 20 years before he decided to leave his previous company, which Canada-based Colliers International acquired. His decision to walk away from a stable job at the start of the recession and create his own business was risky, but in retrospect, he said it was a smart move.
After things started to get worse in 2008, “we didn”™t really feel the impact of the recession until 2009 when everything just stopped,” Gubner said. “But the reality is, it didn”™t really matter whether or not there was a recession. I decided to leave my previous job, and I wasn”™t going to be in a place where I was put into a box and this is how you do it and you do it because we say you do it. That”™s not how I”™m built. That”™s not what makes a company successful.”
During the recession, RHYS had an advantage over larger real estate firms in that it had more room to get creative with the way it helped tenants find affordable spaces. One of the ways RHYS was able to stay in business was by doing their market research, going door-to-door to see if tenants were looking for better economic deals and finding alternative lending sources that allowed them to buy buildings and keep businesses in operation.
“What happens is when times are bad, clients look for solutions that are a little outside the box in order to get things done,” Gubner said. “So we were very successful in getting deals done even with a bad recession, and that”™s what made us stand out.”
Today, RHYS, which is celebrating its fifth anniversary, has expanded to doing transactions in New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The firm started with eight people, including senior vice presidents and principals Jason Wuchiski and Christian C. Bangert, who oversee retail and commercial office leasing, respectively.
“We about doubled,” Gubner said. “We”™re looking to grow our office leasing division. Christian is looking for two more teammates. We”™ve recently hired two people in retail last year, and in investment sales I just hired someone. The office leasing business is in demand right now and we think this is a great opportunity to bring in more office leasing brokers. Plus, we brought on some new accounts, so we”™re ready to grow our staff.”
Bangert said he has noticed a trend in the 15-to-20-mile radius in which he conducts business. For one, he said Stamford, Norwalk, Bridgeport and Danbury have consistently had the biggest success of office spaces given their geography. The impact of a large company moving into these areas is huge because they buy up a sizable block of space and bring with them business services and clients, he said.
In smaller towns such as Greenwich, Darien, New Canaan and Westport, there”™s not a lot of office space in terms of square footage, but some businesses may still choose to move in, Bangert said. In these areas, most companies stay fairly small-scale, or they decide to leave when they need more space to grow.
Businesses will come and leave markets depending on their labor pool, Bangert said. There”™s a rumor that tenants like UBS will eventually move everything back to Manhattan because that”™s where their talent pool is, he said, adding that some companies are not looking to be flashy and waste money because that”™s not well-received by shareholders, clients and competitors. The company may move into a place like Greenwich because they have smaller office spaces, and that might be where the executive or owners live anyway, he said.
“It”™s not necessarily the best financial play for those companies, but the ease and luxury of being close to their home or waterfront or golf club keep them there,” Bangert said. “Other times, hedge funds may need to be in Greenwich to show they have a Greenwich address because their clients are mostly from there and they may not feel as comfortable if they were in Stamford because the city may be a bit overwhelming for their clientele.”
In the retail leasing division, RHYS works with businesses ranging from Greenwich Avenue stores to big-box anchor tenants in shopping centers. North Stamford in particular has been a desirable landing spot for retailers, Wuchiski said. There”™s very little turnover in that area, which makes it challenging for new tenants to move in.
In downtown Stamford, restaurants dot the streets. In the South End, RHYS was involved in two restaurant leasing deals: one with Italian restaurant Fortina and the other with Bareburger. The company is slowly beginning an expansion plan into the Long Island and New Jersey markets. Before it capitalizes on those geographies, RHYS plans to do “serious local market” research, Gubner said.
“We pride ourselves in repeat business,” Gubner said. “We try and find clients who are serious about what they do and want to roll out multiple markets. If we”™re going to show say Panera Bread a market, we give them a book of all of the research we did. It includes everything you ever wanted to know about the market, its demographics, traffic patterns and other competitive retailers in the area that will generate more business and traffic.”
Once clients decide on a market, RHYS assists them negotiate the deals. The company has a total of 50 clients in the retail and office leasing divisions and serves everyone from a Stamford business tenant looking to move into another space within the city to clients like Pet Valu, which has asked RHYS for help expanding into another region.