Fluent on both sides of the deal.
Tamis Co. exists because the best hospitality and retail deals work in two worlds at once — the real estate and the operation — and the sharpest advice comes from having lived in both. The firm advises from inside that intersection, bringing the operator's judgment to the real estate and the dealmaker's discipline to the operation. The name is a chef's tamis — the fine sieve that takes something complex and refines it to what's sound.
It is built to do this work the way it's best done: as a small, senior firm that assembles the right team for each deal rather than carrying a platform's overhead. Without layers between the client and the principal, decisions move faster, advice stays candid, and the same people who win the assignment are the ones accountable through opening day — the depth of a large firm, with the focus and agility only an independent one can offer.
The people behind the work.
Spencer came up in restaurants, front of house through management, trained at the Culinary Institute of America, and ran the kitchens of established Manhattan rooms as executive chef — Delmonico's and the Monkey Bar among them — leading brigades of twenty-five and more. In 1999 he opened his own 65-seat fine-dining restaurant in Gramercy, building every part of it, from concept and construction to service and the P&L, and later sold the business through an asset purchase and lease assignment.
He went on to direct operations for a 46,000-square-foot resort restaurant and entertainment complex in St. Maarten — a staff of thirty, and the property's entire book of standard operating procedures written in his hand. A chance meeting with Robert Futterman then brought him into real estate, and he joined RKF in January 2004. Over the fourteen years that followed he rose to Senior Managing Director, and most recently served as Senior Vice President in CBRE's New York Retail Advisory & Transaction Services group — building a practice across owner advisory, landlord representation, and brand representation, with several client relationships spanning more than a decade. He founded Tamis Co. to bring that experience to bear on his own terms.
He holds a B.S. in Psychology and Business Administration from SUNY Oneonta and a high-honors Associate's in Culinary Arts from the Culinary Institute of America. When he's not in the office, he can be found exploring new restaurants with good friends, or cooking for his wife, son, and their two dogs.
What clients say about working with him.
I was blown away by his knowledge in every area — real estate, restaurants, engineering, construction, design. The best lease we have ever signed, and the best negotiator I have ever encountered.
He's very attached to the deals he does. He wants them to work out. He has a lot of integrity at that level.
There's a lot of capital, infrastructure, technical things you have to solve. He's one of the few in the industry that gets it. His background is as a chef — great insight for the real-world problems they have.
He speaks the language of the restaurant business as well as a restaurant owner — fluently on both sides of the equation.
Quoted from Commercial Observer, 2018. Additional references available on request.