Noam Aziz, 20

Noam Aziz was born to hustle. 

The Long Island native spends most of his waking hours thinking about retail leases from the time he wakes at 6 a.m. to answer emails and texts, to the time before he goes to bed at midnight scanning real estate publications for the latest intel on transactions.

In between, Aziz frequently follows up with clients and schedules site tours. He’s found the best time to reach landlords and tenants is between noon and 2 p.m.

“Those times are the busiest hours, so if you call someone at noon, this guy is thinking, ‘It’s important,’ ” he said. “Rather than calling after hours, I’m calling in the middle of the day. It means something for them.” 

No one in Aziz’s family in Great Neck, Long Island, where he grew up, had any background in real estate, but buying and selling came naturally to him. Aziz started flipping electronics and video games on eBay before he was a teenager and read constantly. He enrolled in Queens College, took classes in the summers so he could graduate in two years, and got his real estate license. 

He joined Avenue Real Estate Advisors and got a lease out within three weeks, but wanted to be around people with more experience, so he jumped to Meridian in 2023. “You want to be in an environment where people are more knowledgeable because you can learn from them. How else are you going to grow?” he said.

Aziz has mostly been focused on helping restaurant groups find space in the Flatiron District and the West Village. He recently brought an upscale vegan restaurant into a 5,000-square-foot space at 37 West 19th Street. Now he’s scouting sites occupied by illegal cannabis stores.

“This business is like a marriage,” he said. “Tenants and landlords are supposed to get together for 10 to 15 years. You shouldn’t just get a smoke shop and get the keys back within a year or two.”