Power Young Professionals: Carson Shahrabani, Senior Associate at Meridian Capital Group

Carson Shahrabani and his colleagues brought the buzzy frozen yogurt chain Go Greek to its first-ever New York City location this year at 683 Broadway. The Meridian brokers worked long hours to secure the tenant and the space, which today attracts regular lines out the door. 

“It was definitely a great feeling to take my friends there and know it’s a deal that I did,” Shahrabani said.

The Livingston, N.J., native studied business administration at Ohio State University. He got his first taste for deal-making at Leverage Companies, a real estate private equity firm headquartered in Newark, where he interned during school and worked after graduation as senior lead manager. 

When Shahrabani joined Meridian nearly two years ago, he had almost no familiarity with Manhattan or its commercial leasing market.  “Today it’s the complete opposite, where my job is to essentially know the ins and outs and every nook and cranny of every part of Manhattan, especially below 97th Street, which I focus on,” Shahrabani said.

In his first full year at Meridian, Shahrabani completed nearly 30 retail lease transactions. Today, he works with a mix of tenants and landlords, managing over 70 active listings in Manhattan and Brooklyn. He’s been particularly successful in tenant-side deals for the food and beverage industry. With colleagues Noam Aziz and Max Freudenberger, Shahrabani recently brought pizzeria group NYC Thin Crust Pizza to 261 Bowery and Thai restaurant Varith to 13 East 13th Street.

The team habitually works long hours canvassing neighborhoods, positioning spaces and negotiating leases. There are days Shahrabani doesn’t get to the office until 5 p.m., having ping-ponged across the city to his appointments. This dogged approach to work helps Shahrabani stay ahead of the market, finding opportunities before they come widely available.

“When you try to pick up a listing, you know you’re competing with other brokerages. We’re always the youngest, but we’re always the hungriest,” he said. 

Attending the ICSC conference last month in Las Vegas was the highlight of his year so far, Shahrabani said, but he still finds time to bike around the city he’s come to know so well, and cheer on the Knicks and the Yankees.