Helmsley Spear, LLC, America’s oldest continuously operating real estate firm founded in 1866, is pleased to announce the appointment of James Harris as Senior Managing Director of the firm. Kent M. Swig, President of Helmsley Spear, made the announcement.

“James Harris has led many highly sophisticated and successful transactions over decades in the industry, and we are proud to have him join the growing team at Helmsley Spear,” stated Kent M. Swig. “His experience will provide invaluable counsel.”

Mr. Harris has more than 35 years of experience in the real estate industry participating in leasing and sales transactions consisting of millions of square feet of commercial office space. He specializes in tenant representation with an emphasis on strategic planning having represented an array of corporate occupancies from traditional office leases, commercial condominiums, to major retail tenants. In those transactions, he has been responsible for the multi-year planning of occupancy for corporations such as Toronto Dominion Bank and Continental Airlines, now United Airlines. Top retailers such as Hermes of Paris and Oxford Men’s Clothing have relied on Mr. Harris’ expertise to secure their New York flagship retail stores.

“Helmsley Spear is a premier New York City commercial real estate company with an accomplished team of top professionals, and I look forward to the unique opportunities the firm will provide to me in the coming years,” said James Harris.

As agent for landlords, Mr. Harris, has completed over 1,000,000 square feet of New York agency assignments for such prestigious buildings such as 7 West 34th Street, 131 West 32nd street, and 28 West 23rd Street. Mr. Harris has syndicated and developed over $5 million worth of real estate in multiple smaller transactions as a co-principal, including the redevelopment of the Dickson-Travis Wheel Factory, Houston’s 3rd oldest structure by securing an anchor tenant to the then emerging Market Square Historic District. During the same period, he also assembled a half block of downtown Houston property for Century Development. That project is now known as 1500 Louisiana Street. In addition, he sold the historic Rice Hotel in Downtown Houston.

Prior to beginning his career in New York with Tishman Realty and Construction, he worked as an assistant on a multi-state Starker Exchange (1301 Exchange) transaction that was awarded the Clinton B. Snyder Trophy for most ingenious deal by RNMI (Realtors National Marketing Institute) in 1986.

Mr. Harris attended Western Michigan University, where he majored in Business Administration and later studied physics at FUND DP Notre Dame, Namur Belgium. Mr. Harris has also earned the CCIM designation.

About Helmsley Spear

Since 1866, Helmsley Spear has been a leader in commercial real estate creating legendary deals that are the cornerstones of the real estate industry, and is the oldest, continually operating real estate firm in America. Evolving from a real estate appraisal company to a full-service firm providing highly-skilled, professional performance and bottom-line profitability for its clients, Helmsley Spear provides property owners and users of real estate with a full array of services including: office and retail leasing; property and asset management; capital advisory services; investment sales and financing; project development and construction management; preventative maintenance and engineering; insurance services and appraisal. Helmsley Spear is independently owned and operated with offices in New York and San Francisco.