One team
New York
Rich’s vast experience and internal leadership with leading a real estate department for a powerful ensemble of retail brands or consulting for developers, tenants, and landlords is unparalleled in the retail real estate industry. Rich’s expertise has made him a sought-after consultant, partner, guest lecturer, and advisor.
Prior to launching Odyssey Retail Advisors, Rich assisted Crown Acquisitions in the planning, leasing and merchandising of the retail space at the Wynn Las Vegas, wherein the span of 12 months he led the lease up of an 80,000 square foot expansion. Rich has consulted for brands such as Burberry, Stella McCartney, Zimmermann, Away and many others. In addition to the Wynn, Rich has worked with owners and developers including URW, Brookfield, Madison Marquette and WS Development as well as Tishman Speyer for a reimagining of the iconic Rockefeller Center.
Prior to consulting, Rich was recruited by Kering (then known as PPR), for a newly created role as Head of Real Estate – Americas. In this role, he oversaw the group’s portfolio of real estate throughout North and South America, performing all site selection, market research and negotiation for the entire portfolio of brands, including Gucci, Balenciaga, Saint Laurent and Bottega Veneta. In addition to retail, the role included servicing the group’s office and industrial real estate needs, and most importantly, finding savings through oversight and maintenance of the real estate portfolio.
Prior to Kering, Rich was a practicing real estate attorney and then a consultant at a boutique tenant representation firm, assisting a variety of retail clients including Vince, Lacoste, and Crocs, throughout the US and Canada, in a wide variety of formats.
Rich is a member of the New York State Bar, with a J.D. from Hofstra University School of Law and a B.A. in History from the State University of New York at Geneseo. He is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers, has lectured at the NYU Schack Conference on Capital Markets in Real Estate and is a frequent guest lecturer at Fordham School of Law. He lives on Long Island with his wife and three kids and has recently started training Brazilian Jiu-jitsu after a 20+ year hiatus.
Charlie Koniver is a retail real estate specialist with 15+ years of experience who has partnered with some of the world’s leading luxury brands through their real estate strategy and implementation. In 2019, Charlie and Richard Johnson co-founded Odyssey Retail Advisors – a company created to specialize in retail real estate advisory services for landlords, developers, and brands that are specific to the luxury and high-end contemporary space.
Prior to launching Odyssey, Charlie worked at Richemont, one of the world’s leading luxury groups, to create their first ever in house real estate department for North America. The focal point of his role was to oversee all real estate related activity on behalf of the brands in Richemont’s portfolio. Most notably, Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Vacheron Constantin, Panerai, Montblanc, A. Lange & Sohne, IWC, Piaget, Alaia, and Chloe. It was here where Charlie became an industry expert in North America’s most prolific high streets and shopping centers.
Leading up to his experience at Richemont, Charlie and Rich worked together at Kering – another one of the world’s leading luxury groups. While there, Charlie was responsible for overseeing the real estate for the Kering brands such as Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, Tomas Maier, Brioni, Girard Perregaux along with Puma & Volcom in their expansion throughout North America. Charlie’s fluent Spanish helped him successfully complete transactions on behalf of a handful of the brands in hyper challenging South American markets.
Following an NCAA soccer career and attaining his degree from American University, Charlie went on to play professionally in his hometown of Miami. Shortly after, he began his Real Estate career as a broker for Colliers International. Outside of his passion for soccer and fashion, Charlie enjoys listening and dancing to disco music. He is also interested in taking up an instrument and learning to speak French.
Rick Strauss is a retail real estate professional with a 37-year record of leading complex portfolios and executing deals that result in exceptional merchandising and revenue. His career includes the pre-development leasing of 29 shopping centers across the US, Latin America, Europe and Asia, with a deep history in the luxury segment. His leadership has included launching and grooming the careers of over 60 real estate professionals along the way.
Rick joined Odyssey in 2020 as the Managing Partner of Odyssey’s landlord advisory business, wherein he oversees all activities related to our developer clients. Odyssey is rapidly growing the reach of the Landlord work with project visioning, merchandising, and marketing strategies, as well as the day-to-day execution of deals.
Prior to joining Odyssey Retail Advisors, he was the Executive Vice President of Leasing for The Howard Hughes Corporation, where he led the company’s retail leasing efforts across the US. Mr. Strauss directed the execution of leases from the Seaport District, New York City to Ward Village in Hawaii. Mr. Strauss successfully diversified the commercial core of the portfolio, continuously seeking out and acquiring world-renowned tenants creating uniquely desirable shopping destinations.
Mr. Strauss’s successful track record includes time at the Westfield Corporation, having managed leasing for the Eastern half of the US portfolio and all luxury leasing throughout their worldwide portfolio. Rick worked on projects including Westfield World Trade Center, Garden State Plaza, Valley Fair, Century City, and the pre-development of Westfield Milano.
The largest and arguably most impactful portion of Rick’s career was at The Taubman Company and their portfolio of super regional shopping centers for twenty years, bringing luxury pre-leasing to an entirely new level. At the Crystals at City Center in Las Vegas, he successfully pre-leased space to dozens of luxury brands including Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada, Hermes, Christian Dior, and many, many others. In addition, and concurrently to his work in the US, Rick was integral in creating luxury shopping venues globally including Studio City, Macau China; IFC Mall, Seoul South Korea and The Mall of San Juan, Puerto Rico. He is an active member of the International Council of Shopping Centers.
Aside from his passion for deal-making, Rick is known amongst his family and friends as an Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll. He was a competitive Alpine ski racer, and he and his wife of 32 years continue to love, rescue, and foster dogs from Best Friends, SocialTees, and Animalkind.
Daniel has been with Odyssey Retail since its inception, playing a leading role in both tenant and landlord representation across North America. Supporting retailers in all stages of growth, Daniel has helped brands such as Scotch & Soda, AWAY Travel, Feature, Pink Chicken, and others grow real estate portfolios as well as lead the retail launch of Adam Lippes, TYR, Rowan, and Pepper Boxing. Daniel has helped landlords in various stages of re-developments, re-positioning, and the lease up of ground-up developments such as The Battery Atlanta with The Atlanta Braves and Atlantic Park in the ViBe Arts District of VA Beach with Pharrell Williams.
Prior to joining Odyssey Retail Advisors, Daniel focused on tenant and landlord leasing representation for GLA Real Estate. Daniel helped secure multiple deals across the soft goods, food and beverage, and entertainment categories, as well as assist the retail launch of Garden & Gun Magazine and the Mizuno Experience Center. Prior to GLA Real Estate, Daniel worked for Michael Kors across the North American, European, and Japanese offices and runway, full-rice, and outlet divisions as the company grew from 40 to 400+ global retail locations.
With a B.S. in Psychology and B.A. in Business Administration from Furman University as well as attending the Consortium Institute of Management and Business Analysis in Italy, Daniel is a retail nerd with a passion for sustainability, drawn to competitive sports, and a sucker for a great history documentary.
Jaclyn Gottesman is a retail leasing specialist with over eleven years of experience in the industry. Throughout her career, Jaclyn has been instrumental in merchandising notable developments and redevelopments across the country.
Prior to joining Odyssey Retail Advisors, Jaclyn was a Director of Leasing at WS Development where she focused on Boston Seaport, a 7.6 million square foot mixed use development. In addition to her permanent leasing responsibilities, Jaclyn oversaw the leasing of The Current, Seaport’s rotating pop-up village.
Before joining WS Development, Jaclyn worked at the Howard Hughes Corporation where she lead the retail leasing for Seaport District NYC and 110 N. Wacker Drive in Chicago. Jaclyn introduced new tenants to the market at the Seaport District including Malibu Farm and SJP by Sarah Jessica Parker. At 110 N. Wacker Drive, Jaclyn completed a 17,600 square foot restaurant lease with Gibsons Restaurant Group and ThinkFoodGroup’s Bazaar Meat as a joint venture.
Prior to her time at Howard Hughes, Jaclyn joined Westfield where she pre-leased the $1 billion redevelopment of Westfield Century City. During her time at Westfield, Jaclyn did over 35 new deals; 24 of them signed leases with Westfield for the first time.
Jaclyn began her real estate career at Taubman, where she spent three years learning leasing and center merchandising at properties including Beverly Center, The Gardens on El Paseo & El Paseo Village, and Westfarms Mall.
Aside from Jaclyn’s passion for fashion and real estate, she is an expert on the most coveted beauty brands and treatments in the market. She also loves taking her dog, Billie, to the dog park. Jaclyn is a licensed real estate salesperson in Michigan, a licensed real estate broker in New York, and an active member of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC). Jaclyn graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.A. in Linguistics.
Lauren joins Odyssey Retail Advisors with over fifteen years of commercial real estate experience in high street retail leasing. Most recently, Gausden transitioned from her previous trajectory of working in-house on the Landlord side of the business to establish an LA flag to OC-based Ukropina Sabaugh, splitting her focus between agency work and the national growth of brands. Prior to Ukropina Sabaugh, Lauren was the Vice President of Retail Leasing at DJM Capital Partners, overseeing the merchandising and deal-making of DJM’s most prominent collection of lifestyle assets, including notable projects Lido Marina Village, Pacific City, Runway Playa Vista and the recent acquisition of the iconic Hollywood & Highland project.
Lauren brings unrivaled energy, coupled with rich perspective and expertise into property evaluations and negotiations, coupled with an incredible pulse on the market and rolodex- Southern California and beyond.
Prior to joining DJM, Lauren was a critical change agent at Brookfield Properties Retail Group (BPRG), personally responsible for the strategic redevelopment and leasing of over 1.5M square feet of retail. Beyond Brookfield, Gausden also held key roles in-house for Macerich, CIM Group and RED Development, with particular emphasis on restaurant leasing. Kick-starting her focus on the all-sides-win approach, Gausden gained critical credibility while with LJK Advisors in Chicago, a highly specialized consulting firm focused on the casual dining space.
Lauren is a graduate of University of Colorado, Boulder with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. She is an active member of ICSC and most recently invited to join Chief, a premier leadership development organization that identifies female leaders and brings them together from all industries to collaborate and support growth in one another.
Lauren lives in Venice and is typically found at the beach playing volleyball or cruising around on her bike exploring new restaurants and shops with friends. Her curiosity in experiencing new cultures motivates her to passion for international travel to explore a new spot-with regular visits to her favorite town in Costa Rica where she can enjoy yoga in the jungle.
Gabriel was born and raised in Paris, France before moving to the United States in 2010 to attend University of Miami.
Prior to joining Odyssey Retail Advisors, Gabriel focused on Tenant Representation at Crown Retail Services. During his time am Crown, Gabriel successfully represented A Bathing Ape in with their Upper East Side flagship, Christian Louboutin in New York & Daniel Crémieux at Hudson Yards. Since joining Odyssey Retail Advisors in 2019, Gabriel has worked both locally & nationally with various retailers including Evisu, Salvatore Ferragamo, Veja, Leica as well as Philipp Plein in his national expansion efforts.
Prior to working at Crown, Gabriel spent six months alongside the developers of the Marin Country Mart in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he was exposed to the development facet of the industry. Gabriel has also worked in various roles at Christian Louboutin in their New York City and Paris offices, assisting in Press, Wholesale and Retail Operations.
Gabriel’s biculturalism has proven to be an asset in advising European retailers wishing to enter the North American retail landscape.
Estefania grew up in Mexico and moved to the United States when she was 7 years old, where she was then raised in La Jolla, California.
Prior to joining Odyssey Retail Advisors, Estefania was living in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico managing all operations and creative direction for Mexican swimwear brand Diosa Mar, including the opening of their first flagship store.
Estefania’s real estate path began at Westfield World Trade Center. She was the executive coordinator to EVP of Leasing where she played an integral role assisting in the World Trade Center and Fulton Street development projects seeing them through from conception to opening day.
Estefania’s work experience also includes supporting the President, CIO, and EVP of Acquisitions at the Witkoff group in New York. She also worked for Entravision Communications where Estefania collaborated with on- air talent, appearing in local and national commercials for major television networks such as Univision and Telemundo. In addition, recording voiceovers for utmost national and international brands.
Estefania is bilingual in English and Spanish. She holds a B.S. in Print Journalism with a minor in Political Science from the University of Miami. Estefania has a passion for creative writing and spirituality. She has been published for major online publications and worked as copyeditor and creative copywriter for a major Random House author. She spends her free time traveling to Mexico. There in the jungle, you can find Estefania participating in sweat lodges deep in prayer.
Sally moved from South Korea to Jacksonville, FL when she was 12.
Prior to joining Odyssey Retail Advisors, Sally worked as a real estate equity analyst for a private equity firm focusing on real estate development and sales, assisting the investment team in prioritizing target markets and submarkets for future investments, and performing due diligence to supply input for strategic development and acquisition opportunities.
Her real estate path started when she worked as a secretary for Seoho Investment LLC, a family-owned real estate company back in Jacksonville Florida. She found interest in fix and flip of single-family home business and bought first fixer upper when she was 18. Thinking it was not enough, she decided to pursue the industry further and recently graduated New York University with a bachelor’s degree in real estate business.
Currently she is the founder and the owner of Silver Paragon, where she acquires and renovates distressed single-family homes for sale and rent in Jacksonville, FL. She has two properties under her name.
She is bilingual and can speak both Korean and English fluently. She also likes to play golf but only uses left-handed golf clubs and enjoys playing the flute in her free time.
Colleen moved to Manhattan from her hometown, Baltimore, Maryland, in the Fall of 2020. She graduated from Bucknell University with a double major in Economics and Art History. After a summer internship at Christie’s working on auctions including handbags, jewelry, and watches, she became fascinated with luxury markets. She spent her first 2 years post-college working in information sales, directly engaging with leading consulting firms and private equity firms to help enhance their market analysis efforts. Colleen is a Licensed Real Estate Salesperson in New York State.
Beyond professional experience, she also studied in Florence, Italy for a semester, loves to play tennis, and checking out the latest restaurants and museum exhibitions in Manhattan.
Sam Masters interned at Odyssey Retail Advisors in 2021 and officially joined the team as an Associate in 2022. Sam graduated from Binghamton University with a degree in Economics. While Sam was studying at Binghamton University, he served as Finance Team Lead to the Binghamton Motorsports Formula SAE team and led efforts resulting in over $20,000 worth of monetary and parts donations to the program and an 80% increase in social media followers.
Sam also gained experience in Business Development while conducting top-of-funnel sales on behalf of a SaaS company.
Sam is passionate about bringing parties together to help businesses achieve their long-term objectives and works on the leasing team at Odyssey Retail Advisors.
Outside of work, Sam enjoys all things automotive including repairing and modifying his personal vehicle. He loves keeping up with the latest professional motor sports races.
Miami
Bruce Koniver is a well-respected veteran who has an outstanding record in securing and negotiating leases for some of the country’s leading retailers. He was with Saks Fifth Avenue for 14 years in senior management positions in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Palm Springs and Washington, DC. Bruce’s dynamic and positive philosophy has earned him a solid reputation in the retail/real estate community.
Bruce has exclusively represented several prominent retailers on an exclusive basis nationally and regionally including Montblanc, Alfred Dunhill, Louis Vuitton, Pucci, Willliams-Sonoma brands, Wolford, Harmont & Blaine and Tesla. He currently represents Allbirds, Adidas, Shake Shack, Rivian, Lyft, Sportsaction, Rosenbaum Gallery, Chevre Miami, SportClips, 511 Tactical, and Heyday.
He has been responsible for leasing 4.5 million square feet of space representing large developers nationally, some of the centers include Old Hyde Park Village, Avenue East Cobb, Forum on Peachtree Parkway, Avalon, Forum at Carlsbad, Sunnyvale Town Center, World Golf Village and The Avenue at Palos Verdes. He is actively leasing Fenton, a mixed-use project in Cary, NC owned by Hines.
Bruce continues to be a moderator, and panelist at numerous industry events, and is a board member of First Serve Miami. His biggest passions in life are his family, tennis, being a wine enthusiast, and European / muscle cars.
Lee Koniver is a commercial real estate professional that focuses on several facets within the retail and restaurant components of the industry. Lee’s experience spans various service lines where he continues to provide his clients with the highest level of service. As a native of Miami, his understanding of South Florida provides him with deep knowledge base that is relayed to his clients throughout the entire deal process.
Lee exclusively represents several Tenants such as Shake Shack, King Street Food, Heyday Skincare, Big Blue Swim School, Veja, Glossier, Scratch Restaurant Group, and Scenthound, to name a few.
Lee began his career with NAI Miami and later worked at JLL where he was focused on landlord and tenant representation for South Florida retail, office and industrial clients. Growing up in the South Florida commercial real estate industry, Lee has been able to learn the nuances of the industry and the market from an early age. This allows him to better assist clients in achieving their business and financial objectives with their commercial real estate portfolios within the forever changing market of South Florida.
Lee is a licensed Real Estate Broker in the state of Florida and a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC). His passions outside of real estate include spending time with his family and boxer mix, Jax, playing the banjo, and golf with friends.
Growing up in the suburban neighborhood of Coral Gables, Miami, Cristian has been a South Florida resident all his life with deep personal and professional ties to the local community.
Cristian started his professional career as a finance & accounting analyst for Watsco, Inc. In his tenure there he managed over 150+ client accounts in the Caribbean and LATAM. He ventured into Real Estate starting in the summer of 2022 when he joined the Koniver Stern Group where he focused on Landlord and Tenant representation.
Cristian has a passion for the outdoors. He spends his free time skiing and hiking, playing sports with friends such as soccer, pickleball, tennis, and fishing or simply soaking up some sun on the water.
Having dual citizenship between the US and the UK as well as coming from a multi-national family, Cristian has traveled extensively throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa. In doing so he garnered an appreciation for the art and cuisine of different cultures which has helped him provide the best of Real Estate services to clients from all around the world.
Cristian graduated from the Florida State University with a degree in Finance and Business Administration and is a licensed salesperson in Florida.
Janessa was born and raised in Miami, Florida where she remains with her husband and two young children.
Prior to joining Odyssey Retail Advisors, Janessa was the Operations Lead at A Bathing Ape, where her extensive retail operations and technical experience helped her spearhead the opening of their first Miami flagship store in the luxurious Design District. Janessa also worked for Apple for nearly a decade as an Operations team member.
Janessa’s embarked on her real estate path working with Doma title (formally North American Title) as an Escrow Title Closer.
In addition to real estate Janessa founded her own company in 2016 called PinsBRO, a lapel pin company that set out to represent Miami and her Latino culture. Janessa has had the pleasure to collaborate with companies like GoPro, Café La Llave, Panther Coffee and Flanigan’s just to name is few.
Janessa is a proud mother of two, preschooler Elena and toddler Damian, there is never a dull moment in her household. She has a passion for photography (mainly film), music, and looks forward to passing those onto her children one day.
She is bilingual in English and Spanish.
Chicago
Sharon Kahan has nearly 30 years of experience focusing her efforts on urban retail, mixed-use, lifestyle, and luxury brand leasing property within the city of Chicago, including the Loop, Michigan Avenue, Gold Coast, River North, and Lincoln Park, as well as some of the Chicago area’s more exclusive suburban communities. Sharon provides real estate and consulting services to landlords as well as to regional and national retailers seeking specialized representation in the Chicago market and elsewhere in the United States. Sharon’s strategic approach to real estate has proven invaluable in procuring tenants for retail assets and successfully analyzing sites and negotiating lease transactions for tenants.
Prior to joining Odyssey Retail Advisors, Sharon was a member of the CBRE Urban Retail Group and the CBRE Global High Streets/International Retail Council, a national team for retail specialists who focus on downtowns, urban environments, and specialty retail centers, both nationally and internationally. She held a spot as one of the top 10 retail producers in Chicago every year at CBRE since 2000.
Sharon’s notable recent transactions include Cartier at 15 E. Oak, Van Cleef & Arpels at 63 E. Oak, Le Colonial at 57 E. Oak, Lalique at 49 E. Oak, Peter Millar at 875 N. Rush, Marc Jacobs at 34 E. Oak and Montblanc at 900 N. Michigan. She was the team leader in the rollout of Chase Bank in Chicago completing over 60 deals in a 30-month period.
Mrs. Kahan has twice been named Chicago’s ‘Retail Broker of the Year’ by the Chicago Food Depository, the most prestigious award in the city’s real estate sector.
Mrs. Kahan and her husband Alan Miretzky co-founded the non-profit organization Maggie’s Place in 2017. Maggie's Place has become a model for 501C3 organizations designed to combat mental health issues.
Sharon loves traveling to New York to spend time with her daughter Molly in Brooklyn. "Our family's favorite form of recreation is creating extraordinary travel and restaurant experiences both nationally and internationally. It's a research requirement for my job-at least that's what we tell ourselves."
Amy Sider is a seasoned retail specialist covering both Landlord and Tenant representation. She has experience leasing a multitude of retail real estate properties including ground up developments, free-standing urban storefronts/high street, and shopping centers. She has advised and represented multiple brands on their expansion strategy, site selection, and transaction management including new deals, renewals, relocations, extensions, renegotiations, and dispositions. She currently represents a variety of regional, national, and international retailers across a range of categories including fashion, home, beauty/fitness and entertainment. Recent notable deals include Anine Bing, Ksubi, Marc Jacobs, Burrow House, and Five Iron Golf.
Over the past two decades, Amy has worked on retail leasing with an emphasis on in Chicago’s urban and high street neighborhoods, including Oak Street, Gold Coast, Michigan Avenue, West Loop, River North, Lincoln Park, and Bucktown as well as the Chicago area’s more exclusive suburbs. Her extensive knowledge, strong and detailed work ethic, and ability to understand and communicate the client’s goals leads to successful results and long-standing relationships.
Amy has previously worked at CBRE’s Retail Services Group, Cushman & Wakefield, Centrum Partners in Chicago, and Westfield Corporation in Chicago and Los Angeles.
When Amy isn’t working, her number one priority is time with her daughter and family. She is a Pilates enthusiast and loves to combine her interest in health and wellness with keeping an eye on the retail scenes by walking endlessly throughout the city neighborhoods. She's a great audience for your jokes and is always up for a cup of coffee.
