Brand Urban Accelerates Growth, Adds Marquee Leadership Team as Firm Enters Next Chapter

Retail real estate advisory firm strengthens senior leadership and broadens national reach with the addition of Alvarez & Marsal Property Solutions team

NEW YORK, July 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Brand Urban, the New York City-based national retail real estate advisory firm, today announced that key members of the Alvarez & Marsal Property Solutions (AM-PS) team have joined the company. The move marks the latest step in Brand Urban's effort to build one of the industry's premier retail advisory platforms and further expands the firm's notable client roster.

The addition represents a significant milestone in Brand Urban's growth – deepening its leadership, broadening its operational capabilities and reach across the nation's top markets, and reinforcing its position as a leading advisor to many of the industry's most prominent brands, landlords, and consumer investors.

Founded in 2019 by Taryn Brandes, Brand Urban is one of the industry's few female-founded retail real estate advisory firms. Over the past seven years, the firm has built a differentiated, strategy-first platform grounded in data and market intelligence. Brand Urban has become a trusted advisor to many of the industry's leading lifestyle retail and growth-stage hospitality brands, including Maman, Goop Kitchen, Uchi Restaurants, Trader Joe's, Sézane, and Quality Branded Restaurants. On the landlord advisory side, the firm's clients have included Prudential, Iconiq Capital, Urban Edge, Blackstone, and Rockefeller Group. In recent years, Brand Urban has evolved beyond traditional brokerage into a full-service, data-driven advisory business, launching its Placemaking and Consulting vertical and, most recently, its Growth Advisory division – an analytical consulting platform serving growth-stage operators, brands, and investors across hospitality and lifestyle retail.

As part of the move, Matthew Krell joins Brand Urban as Principal, bringing more than two decades of experience advising leading national retailers and developers across the United States, along with senior-level management and operational expertise – most recently launching and leading the retail advisory platform at AM-PS. Daniel Bodner and Lucas Kooyman, each with more than 15 years of experience guiding high-growth retailers, restaurants, and landlords on national and regional leasing strategy and asset repositioning, join as Executive Vice President and Vice President, respectively. The team also brings a distinguished roster of client relationships to the firm from institutional landlords such as Asana Partners, Nuveen, and Kushner Companies, to nationally recognized lifestyle brands including Patagonia, Lush, Ghirardelli and Barcelona Wine Bar, to high-growth emerging brands such as Sploot Vet Care.

"At Brand Urban, we have been exceptionally disciplined in selecting both the individuals we bring into our organization and the clients and assets we choose to represent – ensuring every relationship aligns with our values, standards, and long-term vision," said Taryn Brandes, Founder and Managing Principal of Brand Urban. "Matthew, Daniel, Lucas, and the entire team perfectly share our culture and our focus on thoughtful client service, data-forward strategy, and long-term strategic partnership. The integration of the AM-PS team expands our leadership bench, enhances our national reach while reinforcing our deep New York City roots, and positions us to deliver even greater value to the brands, landlords, and consumer investors we serve."

"The opportunity to join Brand Urban was a natural fit because of our shared commitment to putting strategy and culture ahead of transactions," said Matthew Krell, Principal at Brand Urban. "Both organizations built their reputations as boutique shops that act as trusted advisors rather than simply brokers. By combining our teams, we're bringing together talent spanning fashion, food and beverage, lifestyle retail, and institutional work that simply doesn't exist anywhere else, allowing us to better serve clients in New York City and in every tier and type of market across the country."

About Brand Urban
Brand Urban is a strategic retail real estate advisory firm that partners with premier retailers, landlords and developers, and global investors of best-in-class hospitality and lifestyle brands. Founded in 2019 and headquartered in New York City, the firm provides tenant and landlord representation, placemaking strategy, and strategic growth-stage consulting services, bringing strategic thought partnership, market intelligence, and executional excellence under one roof. Brand Urban pairs analytical rigor with lived experience to help many of the industry's leading brands, institutional owners, and investors across New York City, the Tristate area and markets nationwide. For more information, visit https://www.brandurbanre.com/.  

SOURCE Brand Urban