Colorado Real Estate Journal -
While it may be said that retail runs in her blood, it is Susan Karsh’s passion for her clients that gets her heart pumping. And in 28 years as a broker in Denver’s retail market, it’s something that’s never changed. “Early on in this business you learn it’s all about relationships, being patient and making sure you aren’t pushing the deal for your own personal needs,” explained Karsh, managing director at Newmark Knight Frank Frederick Ross, who specializes in retail leasing, sales and tenant representation with a focus on downtown Denver and Cherry Creek North. “It’s about getting results for our clients, not ourselves,” she added. Karsh’s determination to meet her clients objectives – be they tenants or landlords – was fostered at a young age, thanks to her family’s formal wear business in her native California. “My father was the person who gave me the emotional fortitude to work in this business. His emphasis on hard work and integrity is the foundation to my career,” said Karsh. “He taught me that your word is your bond, to be on time, and to keep it simple.” Following graduation from UCLA with a political science degree, Karsh opted to take her own path in retail rather than with the family’s chain (Selix Formal Wear) of 15 retail stores in the San Francisco Bay Area. Yet Karsh found it difficult to get a foothold in her hometown retail market because of her last name. “I was promised advancement, a career, but it already seemed predetermined what I was going to do and how far I could go, and it was because of my last name. It was then I decided to grow up,” she explained. Karsh’s “growing up” included a move to Colorado in 1974, where less than a year later she married, started a family and left a career in retail on hold. But retail wasn’t completely out of mind for Karsh, who in 1984 sought to get back into the business. “It seemed natural for me to be a retail broker,” said Karsh, who, after earning her license, interviewed for numerous jobs only to be turned away because she didn’t have sales experience, didn’t work for Xerox, etc. “But finally, Van Schaack hired me.” The firm didn’t have a retail department or any listings, but that didn’t dissuade Karsh, who learned the Denver market by visiting every single center and knowing every tenant located there. Her diligence paid off. Karsh earned the assignment to find Subway’s first 30 locations in Colorado as well as locations for Penguin’s Frozen Yogurt in Colorado – two assignments she noted were key to her development as a broker in the Colorado market. “When I got these two accounts, it really forced me to work hard to be known by landlords in the market,” said Karsh, who spent several years at Van Schaack before working several years for Kroh Brothers. At Kroh, she focused on leasing for 11 of its Colorado centers, which she noted enabled her to really learn what was important to landlords and the property management perspective. Karsh worked at Kroh until it went out of business and spent several years with the Eisenberg Co. before receiving a call from Frederick Ross asking if she’d like to join the firm. She did. And since September 1991, Karsh has been with the company she calls home. Admittedly, Karsh said she tries too often to paint a Picasso with the centers and tenants she works with – as in trying to find the perfect synergy between everyone at the center. But she sees the fruits of such labor decades later. “It is great to see a project I was a part of, a ground-up development where I helped create a vision for the types of tenants there and 10, 15 years later many of those same tenants and tenant mix is still there. It means I’ve done well for my clients,” said Karsh. “It is what I love most about this business – the relationships. I’ve had some clients for decades and I love that fact. The client relationship is the most important thing to me.” Karsh’s belief in the success of her clients extends so far that she doesn’t track her biggest deals or transaction volume. “I just want them to be happy,” she added. Keeping her clients happy continues to drive Karsh toward her third decade in the industry she sees evolving rapidly with technological advancements. However, Karsh believes there is no substitute for getting a hands-on feel of a center, its tenant mix and overall health, especially when it comes to finding space for a tenant.“I love retail. I love shopping and I love going to a place and being able to feel that it is healthy. It is how I believe my job should be done. “I love the work,” continued Karsh. “It’s hard work, I’m busy but I just love what I do. It’s very creative, very competitive and very mentally challenging.” Karsh also relishes the growing excitement in retail, particularly among national retailers and New York restaurants seeing the city’s growth and wanting to be a part of it, she added. Karsh’s passionate nature extends to her personal endeavors as well. She is fervent about politics and sits on the Global Down Syndrome Foundation as well as enjoys bridge, creative writing, baking, weightlifting and, especially, baseball. Since her childhood, Karsh has been an avid baseball fan of the San Francisco Giants and Willie Mays. So much so, the poem she wrote him caught the eye of the slugger, impressed by the love of the sport by a 12-year-old girl, who invited Karsh to lunch with him at the Fairmont hotel. Today, she still cheers for the Giants but also the Colorado Rockies with her husband, Randy. Karsh has two grown children and three grandsons.