Livingston Real Estate Firm Celebrates 40th Anniversary

LIVINGSTON, NJ — A Livingston-based commercial real estate investment brokerage firm recently marked its 40th anniversary in business.

These days, Gebroe-Hammer Associates represents a wide range of private individuals, REITS, private equity firms and other institutional investors, many of whom are long-time or second/third-generation clients, according to a company news release.

The firm also has expanded its reach from its initial northern New Jersey geographic focus to include New York and the Philadelphia market.

The company founded 40 years ago by the late Mel Gebroe and Morris Hammer has arranged more than 67 transactions so far this year. In total, the deals involved over 6,600 units that sold for a combined $1.01 billion, company spokespeople stated.

In 2015, the firm closed with a 178 percent sales increase over 2014, marking the “best year in its history,” according to a company news release.

The firm’s brokerage professionals – many of whom are with the company for 20 years or more – hail from other national brokerage firms and former careers in technology, television, finance and academia, company spokespeople said.

One if its secrets to success has been Gebroe-Hammer’s mentoring program, which pairs those who “show promise” with a member of the senior management team, the company stated.

“They learn the ropes the old-fashioned way, earning trust and experiencing a day-in-the-life of a multi-family investment broker every day – attached at the hip of other, more experienced members of the firm – the way Mel and Morris taught my peers and me,” President Ken Uranowitz said. “They have to work hard and have the stamina to endure failure early on for a period of time.”

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Photo: CMM Strategic Communications

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