Firm Bringing Major Retail Brands to Dallas Is Acquired by Public Company

Dallas-based Open Realty—a retail-focused real estate investment firm that's helped companies like Apple, Warby Parker, and Bonobos bring brick-and-mortar stores to North Texas—has been acquired by New York-based Newmark Group.

Open Realty will now join Newmark's retail services business, joining the public company's global team of more than 6,300 worldwide.

“We couldn’t be more bullish on the future of retail,” says Open Realty co-founder Mark Masinter. And so is real estate firm Newmark Group.

Masinter’s retail-focused real estate investment firm—which includes Open Realty Advisors and Open Realty Properties— has been acquired by New York-based Newmark for an undisclosed amount as Newmark looks to expand its global presence.

“This acquisition underscores Newmark’s commitment to brick-and-mortar retail—a foundational and enduring component of the global commercial real estate landscape,” said Barry Gosin, Newmark Group’s CEO, in a statement.

New leaders and a new office

Founded more than three decades ago, Open Realty helps retail brands with services like strategic planning, site selection, project development, and asset management. The firm is responsible for helping to bring a number of brands’ brick-and-mortar locations to the region, including Apple, Warby Parker, and Bonobos.

As part of the move, Open Realty will join Newmark’s retail services business. In addition, a number of Open Realty leaders are joining Newmark’s global team of more than 6,300 spread across 170 company- and partner-owned offices globally.

Masinter—who’s also the co-founder of retail startup Neighborhood Goods, will take on the role of chairman of global retail, while fellow Open Realty co-founder Johnny Siegel will take on the role of president of global retail. Steve Merkle, who helped head up Open Realty’s tenant advisory business, will join Newmark as vice chairman.

Newmark also said it’s planning to open an office with a larger footprint in Dallas alongside Open Realty, but has yet to say where it will be located, according to The Dallas Morning News.

“Open Realty’s and Newmark’s client-service standards are in perfect alignment, prioritizing thoughtful and deliberate tenant advisory and a holistic approach to real estate,” Siegel said in a statement. “We see assignments through the lens of each stakeholder, having worked in every aspect of the real estate process; and the same can be said of Newmark’s breadth and depth of retail services.”

Retail rebound

The acquisition comes as the local retail real estate market is rebounding from the worst of the pandemic, which saw many stores shutter their doors. According to a DMN report from January, which cites data from commercial real estate brokerage Weitzman, last year saw the highest occupancy rates for retail space in North Texas in more than three decades, with occupancy levels of the region’s 200 million square feet of space at 93.5%. That’s up from 91.7% in 2020, but less than the 95% Weitzman if projecting for this year.

“Providing top-level services to retail clients is more important than ever as the sector plays a critical role in revitalizing the economy,” Gosin said.

The move also comes as Newmark, which trades on the Nasdaq under the ticker NMRK and reported $2.9 billion in revenue last year, has been steadily growing through acquisitions and strategic partnerships—more than 50 over the past decade. Last month, the company announced acquiring two real estate advisory firms—London’s BH2 and Boston’s McCall & Almy.

“Acquiring Open Realty, an authority on brand-building in retail real estate, is Newmark’s next move to being the most knowledgeable, well-connected retail advisory firm in the U.S. and beyond,” Gosin said.