Elizabeth Martin

After graduating from Yale, the Brooklyn native discovered her love of bricks and mortar while working as an investment analyst for Prudential Investment's mortgage unit. She returned to school at New York University for a master's degree in real estate investments and development. Next, she took a job at Julien J. Studley to learn the basics of brokers' work and get to know the industry players. She set up her own office-leasing shop and quickly began tapping into two underserved markets, African-Americans and women. The strategy worked. To date, her firm's clients have included Sean "Puffy" Combs, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the Rev. Al Sharpton and the Abyssinian Development Corp. In the process, Ms. Martin has become adept at persuading landlords to rent space to hip-hop record labels despite the perception that they're disruptive tenants. She also managed to find an inexpensive office for Ms. Magazine after Gloria Steinem led a buyout of the publication.

• Specialties
  Investment Sales Broker, Tenant Rep
• Languages
  English
• Markets
  Long Island (New York), New York City, Westchester/So Connecticut
• Property Types
  Industrial, Land, Office, Retail, Specialty, Multifamily
• Awards
  2000 - 40 Under 40 - Crain's New York Business
• Education
  New York University (MA) Yale University