Bradford Allen was founded in 2003 and is led by two seasoned commercial real estate professionals, Jeffrey A. Bernstein and Laurence B. Elbaum. With 38 years of combined experience, they bring to Chicago their unique perspective and skills honed in the New York City market.

Their partnership was created in 1992 at the venerable Manhattan firm of Walter & Samuels where they jointly ran the commercial leasing department and were two of the most active brokers in the Midtown South market. In 1993 they were recruited by the Edward S. Gordon Company (which eventually became Insignia/ESG), the premiere commercial firm and acknowledged market leader in the New York metropolitan area. The mandate: gain a foothold in the emerging Midtown South market.

They were incredibly successful. In their ten-year career at Insignia/ESG they rose to the level of Senior Managing Directors (Mr. Elbaum being the youngest person to achieve that title in the firm’s history). With foresight, energy, and a tireless work ethic representing both landlords and tenants they completed over seven million square feet of transactions. Their efforts helped Midtown South become the location of choice for many of today’s creative firms in New York City .

Known for their market knowledge and deal making savvy, Messrs. Bernstein and Elbaum built an extremely active tenant representation practice. In particular, they specialized in representing not-for-profits, businesses in and serving the creative community, apparel, technology and new media firms.

Through their work on behalf of numerous preeminent landlords, they helped popularize the concept of the adaptive re-use of vintage properties and conversion of “loft-style” buildings for use by office tenants in Midtown South. With a proven track record of identifying, evaluating and securing appropriate tenants — regardless of the existing market conditions — the team significantly increased the value of the assets they represented.