The traditional volume-driven brokerage model is becoming obsolete, according to Bob Knakal, whose career includes the sale of 2,391 properties totaling approximately $24.1 billion in transaction volume.
Knakal, founder of BKREA, says the industry’s long-standing formula (more calls, more listings, more activity) no longer delivers the strategic clarity that modern property owners and institutional investors demand.
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“For decades, brokerage has been built around volume,” Bob Knakal said. “More pitches. More listings. More transactions. But today, data wins. Intelligence wins. Precision wins. The firms that survive will be the ones that understand that.”
BKREA was built around that premise. Rather than operating as a broad generalist platform, the firm emphasizes hyper-specialization within defined geographies and asset classes, supported by proprietary analytics and artificial intelligence tools.
Central to the strategy is the Knakal Land Index, a proprietary research initiative that tracks land pricing trends, development velocity, and valuation shifts across submarkets. The Index analyzes over 2,444 development site sales in Manhattan going back to 1984. By integrating historical transaction data with zoning intelligence and forward-looking analytics, BKREA aims to provide timing strategy, not just transaction execution.
As capital markets tighten and investors demand greater transparency, advisory expectations are shifting. Clients increasingly expect brokers to provide structured data insight, regulatory analysis, and predictive modeling rather than relying solely on comparable sales and relationship-driven negotiations.
“The difference today is that owners have access to information,” Knakal said. “What they need is interpretation. Where is policy shifting? Where is capital flowing? Where is the value about to move? That’s the advisory role.”
BKREA has also implemented specialized teams focused on zoning, policy, and development feasibility, internally referred to as the “BKREA Policy & Zoning SWAT Team”, which is designed to uncover hidden value and strategic leverage points before assets reach the market. This puts them in a position to make more informed decisions which leads to maximized values.
Industry observers note that while brokerage has historically been slow to adopt technological innovation, firms that integrate AI-driven research and structured market analytics are gaining competitive advantages, particularly in high-density urban markets.
With more than 40 years of experience in investment sales, Knakal says the goal is not to replace brokerage relationships, but to elevate them.
“Technology doesn’t eliminate brokerage,” he said. “It sharpens it. The future of brokerage isn’t about who makes the most calls. It’s about who understands the market the deepest.”
As institutional and private capital becomes more selective and development cycles grow more complex, BKREA’s data-forward model reflects a broader evolution in how investment sales advisory services are delivered.