People

PRINCIPAL & CO-FOUNDER

JEFFREY A. BERNSTEIN

During his forty-year career, Jeff has acted as a broker, leasing representative, and advisor to institutional and entrepreneurial owners of commercial office buildings of all asset classes in New York City, Chicago, and other office markets across the country. A recent list of owner-clients include: The Farbman Group, KBS, UBS, Ameriprise Financial, Equis, and First Winthrop Properties.

In 2003, Jeff and his business partner, Laurence B. Elbaum, started Bradford Allen Realty Services, a Chicago-based real estate firm providing commercial real estate brokerage services both locally and nationally. Since then, the firm has grown considerably and is recognized as one of Chicagoland’s most active and preeminent locally-based, private commercial real estate firms.

Prior to starting Bradford Allen, Jeff began his career in New York City in 1981 at Newmark and Company where he leased and managed commercial properties. He oversaw the conversion of over fifteen properties from manufacturing/showroom use to creative, loft-office properties and played an integral role in the transformation of the Midtown South market from light manufacturing to one of Manhattan’s premiere creative-office districts. Beginning in 1993, Jeff served as a senior managing director for Insignia/ESG where he represented tenants and landlords both nationally and throughout Manhattan. During his ten years with the firm, Jeffrey and his partner Laurence completed over 7,000,000 square feet of transactions.

Jeff’s innovative, proactive leasing and marketing strategies are built on the proper positioning of each property within their respective market segments; the gathering of street-level reconnaissance, which is synthesized with macro market trends; insistence on direct prospecting from his brokerage teams; opportunistic and cost effective transaction structures; and savvy deal making. Together, these methods have consistently created value and a strong financial performance for his clients’ assets.

PRINCIPAL & CO-FOUNDER

LAURENCE B. ELBAUM

Laurence leads the firm’s Tenant Representation practice. Since opening the firm in 2003 with his partner, Jeffrey A. Bernstein, he has rapidly grown the business, and earned a reputation for aggressively pursuing clients’ interests and achieving superior results.

Prior to starting Bradford Allen, Larry served as a Senior Managing Director for Insignia/ESG, representing tenants and landlords throughout Manhattan. The youngest person to achieve this title in the firm’s history, he completed over seven million square feet of transactions during his ten years with the firm. Additionally, he served on the Secondary Buildings Committee of the Real Estate Board of New York.

In 2004, Bradford Allen was invited to join TCN Worldwide, an affiliate network of commercial brokerage firms. Larry was elected to the Board of Directors in 2006, named Vice Chairman in 2008 and since 2010, has served two consecutive terms as Chairman of the Board.

As an active volunteer and contributor for the Lymphoma Research Foundation, Larry was recently honored with the LRF Chicago Tribute Award. He is also an active member of COLBA, and was recently inducted into Midwest Real Estate News’ Commercial Real Estate Hall of Fame.

Larry graduated from Franklin & Marshall College with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, and lives in Highland Park, Illinois, with his wife, Jennifer, and three children. His personal interests include playing golf and ice hockey.