Executive Managing Director
212-216-9777 Ext 113
lsiben@jdfrealty.com
When Leslie Siben joined JDF Realty in September 2002 as Director of Restaurant Retail Services, she was looking to expand her already thriving restaurant real estate practice. She couldn’t have made a better choice. JDF Realty may be smaller than other firms she has worked at, “but it’s much more synergetic and communal, and the support I get here is phenomenal.” Since arriving at JDF Realty, Siben has become New York City’s leading restaurant brokerage specialist for high-end, boutique restaurants, and has succeeded in brokering some of the largest restaurant deals in the city, including: Morimoto, Buddakan, Telepan, Japonias, The Smith and Rocco’s ‘The Restaurant’.
Siben began her professional career as a labor Lawyer, but the lure of the commercial real estate world soon drew her in. Her first brokerage position began in 1988 at New Spectrum, where she spent six years working on a variety of retail transactions including restaurants.
In 1993 she joined Winick Realty Group to focus on boutique-style restaurants. At Winick she developed strong relationships with the city’s top chefs and restaurant owners as well as attorneys, contractors and other industry professionals.
After 8 years at Winick, Siben joined JDF Realty. “It’s exciting to work on the big stuff, and gratifying that I can complete deals with really experienced operators. No deal ever runs smoothly, that’s just the nature of this business; but at JDF, there’s a strong capability to work out the problems And none of the superfluous politics one is forced to waste time with at the larger firms.”
Siben is a lifelong Manhattan resident and she constantly taps into her knowledge of the city to help restaurateurs discover the ideal location. She is a member of the Real Estate Board of New York since 1988, a member of the Real Estate Board of New York Stores Committee since 1994 and a regular contributor to the local real estate coverage by the NY Post and NY Times real estate press.
