Fifteen months after being forced out of a global brokerage shop, Bob Knakal headed to Las Vegas to host an event aimed at expanding his network just as he's about to launch a new property tool and a how-to book.
Knakal, who says he has sold 2,342 buildings, is looking to leverage the crowd that gathers annually for ICSC Las Vegas with an event to drum up business for his BK Real Estate Advisors, or BKREA. The ICSC show, billed as the largest retail real estate event of its kind, is expected to attract some 25,000 people this week.
He held his gathering, dubbed "Knakal Knetworking," on Sunday at B Bar at Wynn Las Vegas. Knakal's connections, friends and former colleagues crowded into the bar, where he autographed a large version of his baseball card complete with his yearly sales statistics that he uses for marketing and networking throughout the year.
"The networking here is critical also," Knakal said in an interview at his event. Knakal, who has more than 41 years in commercial real estate, launched BKREA in spring 2024 after suddenly being asked to leave real estate services firm JLL.
His gathering shows how brokers use such real estate shows to conduct business, make contacts and bolster their image to help draw new clients.
At major commercial property events, brokerage firms often host dinners for clients and prospects. Ken Ashley, a Cushman & Wakefield broker, used events such as ICSC to network and help expand his social media gathering into a national conference called Commercial Real Estate Influencers, or CREi, Summit.
New land index
For Knakal, he said he is close to launching what he calls the Knakal Land Index, a follow-up to his Knakal map room that offers a catalog and analysis of 27,649 properties in Manhattan to fill what he considered a void for accurate development details.
His land index, he said, "is probably the most comprehensive research project that's ever been done in commercial real estate. It deals with land values in New York City. What we've done is, we have taken a look at comparable sales of land sites in Manhattan, south of 96th Street, which is prime Manhattan and disaggregated them into five buckets because each silo operates very, very differently."
The five categories, he said, are residential land for rentals and condos, as well as for hotels, office properties and a miscellaneous bucket. "And we have that data going all the way back to 1984," Knakal said. "Calculated using the same exact methodology all the time. We have 2,438 transactions that we have verified that go all the way back to '84."
Knakal said his firm is taking the changes and trends in land value gleaned from the information, and applying artificial intelligence models to that data, "comparing those fluctuations to things like interest rates, inflation, lending rates. S&P 500, Dow Jones, price of gold, price of oil, consumer sentiment and about 30 macroeconomic factors to see which factor or combination of factors is most predictive of what's going to happen with land values."
His land index may have some way to go before challenging the Knakal map room in terms of success and fame, he said.
"We'll see what happens. The map room kind of has developed a life of its own, and people flying in from all over the globe, to see the map room," he said. "That's been a great thing. My only regret, I wish I created the map room 40 years ago, but, we did it now, and it's booming."
Book release Tuesday
Knakal said more information about his land index would be found in "Selling Buildings," the book he wrote with broker coach Rod Santomassimo about his career and how to maximize prices and profits when selling commercial properties. Knakal wouldn't say too much about the book ahead of his launch events set for Tuesday, when the book is scheduled to be released.
James Nelson, who was recently promoted to head of U.S. investment sales at Avison Young, said his time working with Knakal at Massey Knakal in Manhattan provided him with invaluable knowledge.
"Better than an MBA," Nelson told CoStar News at the event. Knakal "was sitting five feet away from you in a bullpen," like a trading floor. Nelson also said he ordered a box full of "Selling Buildings" and looked forward to its arrival.
Knakal did preview one tale in his book centered on a good-luck charm he had in his pocket on Sunday.
"The lucky coin started, in 2003. Richard Parkoff, one of my clients in New York, is always very great to brokers. Gives a gift every year," Knakal said. "So he gives me this silver coin, a Tiffany's silver dollar coin, with a note that says 'Bob, I hope the next time we do a deal, it comes up heads in my direction.'"
The charm worked. Within months, in spring 2004, Knakal worked with New York real estate development and investment icon Harry Macklowe in the sale of a seven-building apartment portfolio to Parkoff for $179 million.
The day after the deal closed, Knakal said he took the coin to a Tiffany store and had it engraved with "Macklowe to Parkoff 4/26/04 $179,000,000."
"This thing is in my pocket and has been every day since," Knakal said, and "I carry it everywhere I go."