HK Group is a full service commercial real estate firm, which concentrates its expertise on Office and Retail Leasing, Investment Sales and Health Care transactions primarily in the tri-state New York metropolitan area.

The company was started in 1988 and has grown steadily from a local Westport business to one which today encompasses an operating area of New York, Connecticut and New Jersey. The firm also follows client led transactions into other states. It has expanded its vision from local leasing to larger and more sophisticated leasing transactions, investment sale transactions, national client retail leasing, and consulting and brokerage services for the health care industry.

Throughout its history, one of HK's most important and most recognizable philosophies is individual attention given to each transaction and each client. Quality over quantity, concentration on details, sophisticated and focused effort for each client. These are the hallmarks of HK's success and its mantra that has enabled the firm to offer superior service to a long list of satisfied clients. The firm's customer list includes many Fortune 500 companies, wealthy families/individuals, domestic capital funds, REITS, foreign governments, and offshore companies.

The company occupies a unique position in the market by offering this focused team approach with performance accountability for any project. Combined with many years of experience and the highest caliber of professionalism this has resulted in over 3.5 million square feet leased and 8.6 million square feet of commercial property sold with a value of over $1 billion dollars.

HK Group's brokers have an average of 20 years experience in the industry and have earned their reputation as the highest quality professionals with exacting standards of integrity. Its employees are experienced, sophisticated personnel who are skilled in handling difficult lease and complicated investment transactions.

Matthew F. Keefe President & Owner

Matthew F. Keefe has been a leading Connecticut real estate broker and consultant since 1980. Mr. Keefe began his real estate career at New England Land Company in Greenwich. As head of the investment division and the most active broker in the company, Mr. Keefe took part in sale and lease transactions with prominent Fortune 500 names.

In 1982, Mr. Keefe was offered a position as Senior Vice President of Durfee & Company in Stamford, Connecticut. This firm was also owned by Peter Malkin of New York and Bruce Warwick of Greenwich, Connecticut. Mr. Keefe immediately established his position as top broker in the company, a position he maintained for the next twelve years. Corporate clients served include General Electric Capital, AMAX, Pittston, National Distributors, Conoco, Cadbury Schwepps, John Brown LTD, Turner Construction, IBM, US Tobacco and many others.

Mr. Keefe has specialized in tenant representation and investment services. He has won and maintained the position as Number One in investment sales in Connecticut over the past ten years. Recent sales included the 35,000 SF Parker Corporate Plaza in White Plains, NY, for 145,000 SF Diamond Building in Valhalla, NY. The 135,000 SF Bank of America Building in Yonkers, NY, the 120,000 SF class A office building at 1111 and 1177 Summer Street in Stamford, CT, the 155,000 SF Harrison Executive Park in Harrison, New York, the 605,000 SF Greenwich-American Centre in Greenwich; the 87,000 SF former Emery Air Freight building in Wilton; and the 285,000 SF multi-tenanted office building at 145 Huguenot Street in New Rochelle, New York.

Mr. Keefe is currently President and Owner of HK Group. He graduated from Georgetown University with a Bachelor of Arts/Science and a major in Finance. Mr. Keefe is active in local athletic and civic activities and serves on various boards. He has four children and resides in Southport, Connecticut.
 

Franco Fellah Executive Vice President

Franco Fellah’s involvement in Manhattan real estate began in 1979. While in Milan, Italy, between 1979 and 1990, Mr. Fellah and his family syndicated acquisitions of prime property in central Manhattan in conjunction with OTIC Corp., a New York-based firm. Property acquired at that time included, among others, 128 Central Park South and a 59-unit residential complex adjoining the Plaza Hotel. While proceeding with syndications of prime Manhattan real estate throughout the 80’s, Mr. Fellah was involved in condo conversions projects in Milan, Italy.

In 1994, Mr. Fellah was offered a position of Senior Vice President at a Westport, CT commercial real estate firm. During the five years with that firm, Mr. Fellah handled, among other projects, assignments including a 130,000 SF Sears anchored shopping center in Texas, the sale of a 50,000 SF Class A office complex in New London, CT , currently 100% leased to Pfizer, the sale of an entire mixed-use block of downtown Main Street Ridgefield, CT to a Connecticut-based Real Estate Investment Trust, the sale of a 31-unit luxury condo building in New York and the sale of over 210 apartments in two buildings in Waterbury, CT.

Mr. Fellah has represented the US Government - Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation - in the disposition of several of its prime commercial real estate assets in Connecticut, Stew Leonard’s supermarkets, Mid-South Investment in Longview, Texas, the Morelli family in Ridgefield and a number of partnerships and individuals, servicing their real estate needs.

In 1999, Mr. Fellah joined HK Group where he is Executive Vice President: his focus with the firm has been investment property sales such as shopping centers, office buildings and apartment complexes.

A sample of real estate transactions completed while at HK Group include the sale of the 200,000 SF Price Chopper anchored Torrington Fair shopping center in Torrington, CT, the sale of a 90,000 Shaw’s anchored shopping center in Tilton, NH, the sale of a 50,000 SF office building at One Greenwich Place in Shelton, CT and two long-term retail store leases to CVS in Norwalk, CT with an aggregate value in excess of $23 million.

For the third year in a row, following 2005, Mr. Fellah is the broker with the highest number of completed real estate transactions at HK Group.

Mr. Fellah, a resident of Westport, Connecticut is a licensed real estate broker in the states of Connecticut and New York.

Mr. Fellah graduated with top grades from the Universitá degli Studi in Milan, Italy and holds a degree in Political Sciences with a major in International Studies.

Harden L. Crawford IV Executive Vice President

Harden L. Crawford IV has been a highly innovative business leader in Manhattan for the last eighteen years. As the sole owner of Lexington Professional Management, LLC., Harden developed and executed a marketing plan that provided medical tenants with an option to the high cost and long leases associated with Manhattan commercial real estate. LPM, LLC consistently generated over $2.3 million annual sales with significantly high net returns. Harden sold the business in November of 2007 for a significant premium.

Prior to the sale of his business Harden was a partner of Facilities Inc. a Manhattan real estate holding company that owned and managed over 33,000 square feet of office and retail space on the Upper Eastside. Harden handled the management of this property which included all office and retail leasing, bank financing, tax, permit and legal issues as well as overseeing all maintenance, renovations and construction. Harden acted as the selling broker in the negotiations of the final disposition of the property that resulted in a near record per square foot price.

Harden has been involved in commercial real estate for over 23 years. He started his career in Boston, MA with the SPT, Corporation as a leasing agent focused on office space along the Route 128 high-tech corridor. In 1987 he moved to New York City and took a position with Coldwell Banker Commercial Realty Services, now known as CB Richard Ellis, in their investment building sales division. Harden listed, marketed and sold commercial real estate buildings focused in the Kips Bay section of Manhattan.

Mr. Crawford graduated from Boston University with a Bachelor of Science and holds real estate brokerage licenses in CT and NY. Harden is an active real estate investor and is on the board of Accell Systems Inc. He resides in Greens Farms, CT with his wife and three daughters.

Mal Jacobson Senior Vice President & Chief Operating Officer

Prior to his entry into real estate, he had been involved in the retail and financial world, most recently as a marketing executive for a large hedge fund.

Born in South Africa, he emigrated to the United States in 1977 with his wife and three sons. He became an American citizen in 1983 and has lived in Westport since 1977.

In South Africa, he was the Chief Financial Officer and a Director and Co-founder of what became the largest supermarket group in Southern Africa.

He is a graduate of the University of Witwatersrand in Johnnesburg, South Africa with a Chartered Accountant's degree which is equivalent to a Certified Public Accountant degree.

Mal has been actively involved in many charitable organizations including Rotary and PAWS.
 

David A. Flayhan Senior Vice President

David Flayhan has been in the Commercial Real Estate field for seven years.  In those seven years, he has proved to be an aggressive producer in both investment sales as well as office leasing.  In August of 2002, Mr. Flayhan joined forces with the well-established and highly recognized HK Group in Westport, CT where he has now earned the title of Senior Vice President.  In the past five years, Mr. Flayhan has leased more than 350,000 square feet of space consisting of office, retail, industrial and R & D.  Concurrently, Mr. Flayhan has been very aggressive in the marketing and sales of many investment Real Estate and development projects with an aggregate sale value at present, exceeding $58,000,000.

Recently Mr. Flayhan has been increasingly involved in the handling of financial transactions for regional and national banks. A specialist in 1031 transactions, Mr. Flayhan has single handedly made a market for tax deffered property exchanges for HK's clients.

Before joining HK Group, Mr. Flayhan held his real estate license with Preferred Properties Commercial Inc. in Greenwich, CT where he proved to be the top producer in both sales and leasing.

A graduate of the University of Connecticut, Mr. Flayhan studied business management and the field of horticulture where he earned his Bachelors degree.

Ralph Michel Vice President

Ralph Michel was Vice President – CFO of Omega Engineering, Inc. for over 20 years. As a key member of its management team, he was responsible for financial management and the conduct of the company’s external acquisition program. In 1985, Omega formed a real estate subsidiary to develop an office park known as The River Bend Center. Mr. Michel assumed responsibility for River Bend’s real estate activities. He coordinated the development, financing and leasing of the 40-acre office park, consisting of 12 buildings and over 600,000 square feet.

Mr. Michel’s real estate experience with River Bend included numerous other property acquisitions. For example, working closely with UK economic development officials, he was responsible for the redevelopment of a 20-acre former British Steel “brownfield” site into a manufacturing center in the north of England. The project was supported by the negotiation of a grant worth in excess of $5,000,000. Another project entailed the acquisition, renovation, financing and leasing of over 100,000 square feet of medical and professional office space in Stamford.

Mr. Michel has extensive experience in the development process having presented before countless Boards and Commissions throughout Connecticut.

Mr. Michel has a BA degree with a major in economics and an MBA degree with a concentration in professional accounting, both from Cornell University. Following graduation, he worked for seven years as an accountant with Price Waterhouse and is a CPA.

Ralph Michel is married with three children and one granddaughter and resides in Easton, Connecticut.

William (Bill) W. Simson Vice President

Bill Simson joins the HK Group with over 30 years of high technology business experience. He successfully held a wide variety positions at IBM for over 27 years in sales and sales management, business and product development, customer business planning, market research/planning and financial and personnel management. Included in his experiences were lease and fit-up negotiations while managing a large systems sales branch in Portland, Maine.

Prior to working for IBM and McDonnell Douglass Automation, Mr. Simson served in the US Navy as a Naval Officer inNorfolk/Portsmouth, VA. He managed large government construction projects and was a Public Works Officer managing a 100 person staff in support of a 1,000 bed naval hospital. He also directed a three-shift computer operation that tracked Soviet submarines in the Atlantic Ocean.

Mr. Simson is a graduate of Union College, Schenectady, NY receiving a B.S. in Civil Engineering and has a M.S. in Engineering Management from the George Washington University, Washington, DC.

Mr. Simson lives in Fairfield.

Greg Romano Senior Vice President

Greg Romano joined HK Group in April 2006. He works in our Stamford, Connecticut office as a Sales Associate. His recent successes in consummating difficult and intricate investment transactions in lower Fairfield County have earned Mr. Romano top honors at HK Group and his promotion to Vice President. Currently the most active producer of transactions in the company, his integrity, and acumen are rapidly becoming a watch around in the industry.

Mr. Romano worked in the financial services industry before coming to HK Group. Most recently, he was an investment advisor with Advest Inc. At Advest, Mr. Romano was part of a team of advisors that managed in excess of $200 million.

Mr. Romano is graduate of the University of Notre Dame. He received a Bachelor's degree in Finance from Notre Dame.

Involved with youth sports, Greg is a coach with Stamford Youth Hockey Association.

Greg lives in Stamford, his hometown.