Our Team

• Philip A. Metzidakis, Principal
• Michelle McDonald
• Drunell Levinson
• Robert (”Bob”) Egan
• Alice Waldman

Philip A. Metzidakis, Principal
(212) 406-8500 Extension 212

Philip A. Metzidakis has been a commercial real estate broker in Manhattan since 1985. In 1999 he founded the Jansizian Group, Ltd. a commercial brokerage.

At the Jansizian Group Mr. Metzidakis has represented a wide variety of customers including public and privately held firms, not-for-profits, State agencies, (notably headquarters offices for the NYS Lottery and the NYS Counsel of the Arts) various retail tenants, (notably Coliseum Books relocation to 42nd Street between 5th and 6th Avenues) various landlords and coops looking to rent their retail space.

Prior to founding the Jansizian Group, Mr. Metzidakis was the Director of Tishman Interiors, the interior construction division of Tishman Construction. Unlike the vast majority of real estate brokers Mr. Metzidakis has both built and leased space. Accordingly, he has been involved in all aspects of property development and is therefore particularly well qualified to take on a redevelopment project from conception, through financing, programming and design, to construction and lease-up.

Before joining Tishman Mr. Metzidakis was a commercial real estate broker at both Julien J. Studley and at the now defunct Furst and Company. At the latter company he brokered the sale of a 96,000 square foot building-40-46 West 20th Street-to the Natural Resources Defense Counsel. The building remains NRDC’s world headquarters to this day.

Mr. Metzidakis has a BA degree from Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Besides his career in real estate he has been a speechwriter for senior executives at various firms including Roche Pharmaceuticals, Merck, and Pfizer. He is also a skilled photographer and has shot two features (in Greece and Cuba) for National Geographic.

He is bilingual in English and Spanish, and has a working knowledge of French, Italian and Greek.

After graduating SUNY Purchase Michelle returned to the city and found work as a textile designer. Her real interest then was costume design & fashion styling. She set about starting her own business. Over the course of five years she worked two jobs: designing textiles, and the rest of her time pursuing free-lance styling work. After five years she concentrated full-time on styling.

As her career progressed she became a very well known Manhattan stylist. For a NIKE commercial she once dressed both the New York Yankees and New York Mets for a stick-ball game played on a Harlem street. Notable clients include many professional sports figures Patrick Ewing, Derrick Jeter and Alex Rodriguez are examples. As well as multiple reporters on ABC & CNN news, actors such as Dan Ackroyd, Richard Gere, Tyra Banks, musicians like Willie Nelson, Joshua Bell and many, many others.

After 18 years in styling Michelle had “maxed-out” in her industry. Also, while she had become a name in the business, she was finding the work itself less fulfilling and she looked around for a suitable industry for her talents.

In 2002 she saw that many of the essential skills of a stylist—working well with high-powered people with diverse world views and approaches, listening to the needs of clients and then providing them the product they need, and being able to finish jobs with short deadlines and defined budgets—all translated well to commercial real estate. It turned out that having a “great eye” for what someone should wear was very similar to having a great eye for what real estate would suit a given principal.

Michelle has been an associate broker with the Jansizian Group since 2004. In that time she has negotiated transactions with an aggregate value over $40 million dollars. Clients include several fashion concerns thrilled to find a broker who understood their needs, architects, photographers, publicists, developers and commercial and residential condo owners.

Drunell Levinson specializes in commercial and investment building and land sales in and around New York City. She is an East Village resident and has lived in Manhattan for 30+ years. Drunell has worked as a communications consultant acquiring nationwide rooftop rights and licenses for communications companies. She curated and produced the September 11 Quilts Memorial Exhibition, which traveled around the world. This project and documentary film that came out of it (“September 11 Quilts: Mending A Diverse Community of Artists”), have been acquired by the World Trade Center Memorial Museum and are a cornerstone of the Museum’s collection. Additionally, Drunell’s artwork has been included in numerous national and international exhibitions and is in the permanent collection of the American Folk Art Museum. Drunell is a Ph.D. graduate of New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development.

Bob specializes in retail tenant representation, connecting clients looking for large or small retail spaces with stores for rent. Visit Bob’s website SpacefinderNYC.com for more information on how he can find you a retail space.

Alice is a genuine New York woman, born and raised in Manhattan. She attended local schools and went on to the Bronx High School of Science when it was one of very few specialized schools open to women.

She got her B.S in Mathematics from William Smith College, where she served several semesters on the weekly college newspaper – as Features Editor, News Editor, and Editor-in-Chief. She has fond memories of Friday afternoons spent with the editorial staff and the printers, putting the paper to bed and then relaxing at one of the many New York State wineries, enjoying wine, cheese hors d’oeuvres and good company.

After college, she landed her first job by answering an ad in the Sunday New York Times, listed under “Help Wanted – Male”. She went to work as a computer programmer for Columbia University’s Electrical Engineering Department, supporting scientific research projects commissioned by the Department of Defense.

After seven years with Columbia, she took some time off to raise her two children and run a household.

When she decided to re-enter the workforce, she took a job with Salomon Brothers, working in the technology department under the guidance of Mike Bloomberg. Her responsibilities moved from a programmer/analyst position, supporting the bond and equity trading desks, to project manager of the research graphics department, and then to vice president in charge of the design and implementation of an enterprise-wide data model of the organization.

After 11 years with Salomon Bros., she joined forces with a good friend to found Flynn Waldman and Associates, a management consulting firm that brought a creative-thinking program to the technology departments of Fortune 500 companies.

12 years ago, she and her business partner founded Shakti Yoga Center in Staten Island. It now offers 23 yoga classes per week, has a dedicated staff of 19 teachers, sponsors semi-annual yoga retreats and has grown into a highly respected center for yoga and personal development.

Before joining the Jansizian Group as Director of the residential division she had dabbled in New York real estate, buying and selling both apartments and buildings for her own account. She brings both a very broad business background and an intimate knowledge of the workings of this city to her real estate practice.

She has recently found herself in a new role as the proud grandmother of two darling little boys.

She has traveled extensively in Europe, Central America, and Africa. Best loved trips were a safari in East Africa and an archeological dig in Majorca.

Favorite things, in no particular order, are yoga, family, the Statue of Liberty, crossword puzzles, dogs, reading, classical music, jazz, cooking, and the ocean.