NEW YORK, Jan. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Marketplace pundits searching for "green shoots" and other indications of the commercial real estate market recovering need look no further than The Vortex Group LLC. Since last spring this boutique brokerage has been expanding and has closed out 2009 exceeding its target -- the firm is expanding by 25%.

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True to form -- Vortex deliberately stayed small when others were consolidating and focuses exclusively on tenant representation transactions -- the firm launched an audacious "No Kidding" recruitment drive to find like-minded professionals to thrive in its unique environment where information is shared, problems are solved as a team, commissions are generous and "no locked desks, no inter-company competition, no hidden agendas -- no kidding!" are the rule.

The result was the recruitment of a trio of talent: principal, director and associate.

Jordan Mandel, Principal

Licensed at 20 while in college, and an unabashed believer in mentoring, Mandel comes to Vortex from UGL Equis, where as Vice President, he rebuilt the firm's New York business base and launched its Junior Training Program. Previously, he was a senior director with CB Richard Ellis' NY office, concluding 2.5 million-sf of transactions over 7 years. Named one of New York's Rising Stars Under 30 and a 2008 Commercial Broker All Star by Real Estate New York, he was a 2003 finalist for REBNY's Most Promising Broker. Previous, he was a director at Bloomberg, LP, working under Michael Bloomberg to launch the successful Bloomberg WebNetworks.

Mandel sees the new decade as one where relationships will be paramount. "Technology and market dynamics shifted brokerage from a relationship-base industry to one based on information and many forgot to put client interests in front of their own. This new decade will be a time for Vortex to truly act as the outsourced real estate arm of our clients, while being aggressive in the market and focusing on cost conservation." Past clients include Raymond James & Associates, Hogan & Hartson, LP, Sting's Rainforest Foundation, SunAmerica Asset Management and Cramer Rosenthal McGlynn. He graduated from New York University's Real Estate Institute and Babson College, and is a member of REBNY and YREPNY.

Oliver Petrovic, Director

After meeting Jordan Mandel in 2006, where the "connection" was evident from the start, Petrovic immersed himself in commercial real estate at UGL Equis and benefited not only from Mandel's tutelage, but his own considerable talents. Petrovic's first exposure to real estate was through his parent's work in England, where he was raised, but he did not consider it a career until meeting Mandel, who recruited him to Equis. There, Petrovic worked as a global corporate real estate advisor focusing exclusively on tenant representation for such clients as The Dennelisse Corporation and Susquehanna International Group. Equis recognized him as the firm's top business developer in the Northeast Region for six consecutive quarters. Previously, he had worked in the Hotel Division of Upward Bound International working with such clients as Sony BMG, Virgin Records and other entertainment franchises.

Petrovic (with Mandel) has closed more than a dozen transactions this year and negotiated leases for more than 100,000 sf since 2007. At Vortex, he will develop business for the firm, attract and mentor new talent, and grow the Vortex brand. A graduate of SUNY-NewPaltz, he is a member of REBNY and YREPNY.  

Kirill Azovtsev

Russian-born Kirill Azovtsev parlayed his commanding skills as a tennis player, coach and manager to pay for a US college education -- during which he launched his professional training business -- and continues to use those organizational and analytical skills as an associate at Vortex. While in college he worked as a leasing and property management associate with Houlihan Parnes, and it opened the door to a field which Azovtsev sees as a fundamental component to any business's success. That perspective translated into a desire to work with corporations as tenants, and led him to Vortex.

Azovtsev graduated with honors from Concordia College in Bronxville, New York, where he was named including Freshman of the Year, President of the International Students Club, and won numerous tennis honors, including a #4 doubles/#8 singles ranking in the East and being named as the 2006 "Player to Watch" in the East.

The Vortex Group was founded in 2003, when one of the toughest markets in years was rewriting the rules. Amid the scrambling and shakeouts, Vortex chose to do what its principals did best: focus exclusively on serving tenants seeking to lease, acquire or dispose of space -- representing no landlord assignments, which allow it to be 100% conflict free. Vortex specializes in New York firms with a global reach in law, finance and banking. Clients include Rockefeller Brothers; Bracewell & Giuliani, LLP; Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker, LLP; Akermann Senterfitt and Tweedy Browne.

SOURCE The Vortex Group LLC