Ken Uranowitz Named President of Gebroe-Hammer Associates

Livingston, N.J.—Ken Uranowitz has been named president of Livingston-based Gebroe-Hammer Associates, the region’s dominant commercial real estate brokerage firm, announced Chairman Alan Gebroe. The 37-year industry veteran has risen through the ranks since being hired by Mel Gebroe and Morris Hammer at the firm’s inception in 1975.

At the age of 20, Uranowitz was hired as a sales associate by Morris Hammer,  following a lengthy appeal by his watchmaker/jeweler father, whose business was across the street from Gebroe-Hammer’s offices. Although there was much hesitation on Hammer’s part to hire someone so young, he recognized Uranowitz’s potential and assigned him to a sales territory that primarily focused on Essex County and the Oranges.

For the past 37 years, Uranowitz has consistently set new industry records for sales and the number of units sold, which total in the billions of dollars and thousands of units. He also has spearheaded Gebroe-Hammer’s rise and dominance within the multi-family investment arena while overseeing the firm’s expansion into new markets, including New York; Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia; and throughout the Northeast. Wearing multiple “hats,” he oversees a team of 24 brokerage professionals and support staff while remaining hands-on and extremely active on the sales-front.

Under Uranowitz’s guidance, the firm recently closed out a record-setting 3Q12 with 30 multi-family deals totaling 1,400 units valued at more than $100 million. In one four-week timeframe alone, Gebroe-Hammer closed 13 deals representing 724 units, which sold for in excess of $54 million.

Today, Gebroe-Hammer provides innovative professional brokerage services and solutions on behalf of a wide range of locally, nationally and globally based private owners, REITS, private equity firms and other institutional investors, many of whom are long-time clients.

The firm’s activities focus on suburban and urban high-rise, mid-rise and garden-apartment properties, as well as active adult and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-designated senior retirement rental communities and bank mortgage debt. Gebroe-Hammer also markets mixed-use and free-standing office and retail properties. While the firm’s prime geographic concentration includes the tri-state region, Gebroe-Hammer’s brokerage professionals record key transactions annually throughout the United States.

A highly respected industry leader, Uranowitz is active in a wide range of commercial real estate industry programs and associations. His professional memberships include the New Jersey Apartment Association (NJAA) and Property Owners Association (POA).