New York City, NY (Downtown)

Commercial Real Estate

G. E. Grace & Company

George E. Grace:

Real estate solutions for companies are a result of understanding our clients’ goals, long-term experience and insight into real estate markets, and rigorous analysis.  For the last 34 years, George has applied these skills in acquiring and disposing of office, industrial and retail space, and more recently, in site acquisitions for senior housing and low-income housing developers in the New York tri-state area. 

George started his career as a civil engineer working for Ebasco Environmental Services, after graduating from Cooper Union in New York City.  To round out his education, George earned a law degree from Fordham University and an MBA from The University of Chicago. 

He has represented commercial tenants such as: an insurance company in Parsippany, NJ for 35,000 sf; a nonprofit in Midtown Manhattan for 30,000 sf; in Valhalla, NY for 20,000 sf and in the Bronx, NY 35,000 sf for a nonprofit; an industrial warehouse facility of 500,000 sf in NJ). 

George’s expertise extends to acquisitions.  He represented a senior housing developer’s acquisition site in Westchester and another in Staten Island, NY.  George was also the lead consultant in the sale, for a nonprofit, in their disposition of 28 acres of parkland to the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.  In addition to the above, George often consults with clients with regard to their lease versus purchase analyses and hard to source specialty site-acquisitions. 

George is personally active in the nonprofit sphere including being the Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Cardinal McCloskey Community Charter School; Board Member to Business Improvement Corporation of New York, a 504 SBA lender; and Board Member to The National Gianna Center, a Catholic woman’s health initiative.

Lewis Cowan:

In joining G.E. Grace in 2011, Lew Cowan continues to build upon his 36-year career representing law firms in planning, acquiring and disposing of office space as required by growth, merger, and the changing market environment.  In keeping with his specialty, he recently closed a 30,000 square feet lease with a renowned New York City law practice.  Lew has served as a guest instructor for the CLA real estate course of the Association of Legal Administrators and contributed the real estate chapter to Best Practices in Legal Management published by the New York State Bar Association. 

Lew’s experience includes four years in the corporate real estate department of AIG.  In addition, for seven years he worked for Silverstein Properties, one of New York City’s preeminent owners and developers.  At Silverstein he was responsible for leasing over 3 million square feet in lower Manhattan.  He was an integral part of the due diligence team that led to the successful acquisition of the World Trade Center.

Prior to joining Silverstein, Lew was part of the team that successfully leased and sold the 1.2 million square feet former Union Carbide headquarters building in Danbury, CT.

In his current position as a leader at G.E. Grace he sold Adecco USA’s 175,000 sf former US headquarters building in Melville, Long Island. 

Edward R. Pezzaro:

With thirty years of experience in commercial real estate, Edward R. Pezzaro is super focused on performing the transactions and contractual obligations that an active commercial real estate office produces. As a licensed real estate broker and an attorney, Ed brings a steady hand and supports the entire G.E. Grace team.  He began his career at Cross & Brown Company as the exclusive leasing agent for several portfolio accounts.

Ed’s initiative and experience soon advanced him to Senior Vice President, General Counsel and broker of record for Cross & Brown and its six subsidiaries. Following Cross & Brown’s affiliation with MetLife, Ed became liaison for the management and leasing of MetLife’s New York City commercial properties. Prior to joining GE Grace & Company, Ed broadened his experience through special projects at two world-wide real estate firms and as “of counsel” to a Manhattan real estate law firm.

Ed earned a BA, magna cum laude in English Literature from Fordham University and holds a JD from Fordham University School of Law. He is admitted in good standing before the bars of the states of New York and New Jersey, and is a sworn member of the United States Supreme Court.

As a licensed New York State Associate Broker, Ed’s experience makes him well-suited for the relocation of law firms and other professionals who readily trust him and benefit from his knowledge, experience, and sincere commitment to responsible service.