Gebroe-Hammer Associates named Joseph Gehler to the role of vice president, according to a Wednesday announcement. Gehler joined the firm six years ago as a broker trainee, and has become an integral member of its Greater Philadelphia MSA/South Jersey Metro market team.
Since embarking on his multifamily investment brokerage career, Gehler has risen through the firm and industry ranks while focusing on suburban Philadelphia’s northern counties. In addition, he also represents client interests in Philadelphia proper, across South Jersey and throughout Central and North Jersey.
Gehler started in the business back in 2016 during the historic run-up in the multifamily industry that lasted for several years.
“An uptick ‘easy-money’ cycle can skew a brand-new salesperson’s perception of what a real estate broker will actually experience in the long term, not having yet lived through the reality of economic cycles,” Gebroe-Hammer President Ken Uranowitz, the 48-year industry veteran and one of Gehler’s mentors, said.
“However, once the pandemic hit and the industry was basically in suspended animation, Joe kept a laser focus on the big picture, patiently followed advice and guidance from his mentors and, as a result, his star began to rise very quickly. He has natural instincts for the business and a very engaging personality, which gets him into quite a few doors.”
In 2022 alone, Gehler was a key contributor toward the firm’s overall annual multifamily-focused sales of $1.47 billion-plus. For the year, the Philadelphia MSA team recorded $732 million-plus in sales spanning 25 deals and 3,929 units — of which 17 deals and 1,170 units with an aggregate value of $214 million-plus were spearheaded by Gehler, as either the sole broker or part of the market team.
Notable transactions included the 125-plus-unit sale of a Cumberland County garden-apartment portfolio. Gehler also had prominent sales in Monmouth County and elsewhere.
“From day one as a novice, I was able to both listen to and learn from the best in the business, participate in the sales lifecycle and experience Gebroe-Hammer’s core values of integrity, persistence and patience,” said Gehler, who earned the firm’s Salesperson of the Year honor in 2019 after just three years in the business.
“All of my accomplishments — from the smallest wins to the multimillion-dollar transactions — are directly tied to Gebroe-Hammer’s training structure, which does not include sitting behind a desk gathering market information for other brokers in the field. I have entrenched myself in the submarkets in which I specialize and cultivated what have proven to be long-term client relationships that will continue to grow and expand throughout what I expect to be a long, exciting and storied career.”
Since 1975, Gebroe-Hammer’s brokerage activities have concentrated on all multifamily types, from high-rise to garden-apartment properties. While initially focusing on New Jersey, the Livingston-based firm has evolved during the past 48 years to also dominate Eastern Pennsylvania and New York state submarkets as well as represent client interests nationally.
