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The Secret Brokers Society Podcast

The Secret Brokers Society Podcast

By: Joseph Aquino
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 The Secret Brokers Society Podcast is a global conversation about the real estate business as it truly happens—on the streets, across negotiating tables, and behind the scenes of the world's most important deals. Hosted by Joseph A. Aquino, a 40-year commercial real estate veteran and author of Memoirs of a Watch Salesman: A New York Real Estate Story, the podcast brings together retailers, restauranteurs, landlords, developers, investors, and brokers from major cities around the world. Each episode features candid, unscripted conversations with industry leaders who have shaped major markets, built brands, repositioned properties, and survived multiple real estate cycles. Guests will share deal stories, lessons learned, market insights, and the strategies that helped them succeed. From the world's great luxury retail corridors—New York, London, Paris, Milan, and other major European capitals—to the fast-growing markets of Canada, Mexico City, and key cities across Asia, the podcast travels through the streets where brands are built and deals are made. It also explores the dynamic restaurant and lifestyle districts of Miami, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and other vibrant urban centers across the United States and beyond. Each episode offers a rare, insider's view of the personalities, negotiations, and pivotal turning points that shape commercial real estate markets around the globe. Listeners will hear firsthand accounts from the retailers, restauranteurs, landlords, investors, and brokers who bring these districts to life—revealing how deals are structured, how brands choose their locations, and how neighborhoods evolve into world-class destinations. The Secret Brokers Society is not about theory—it's about experience. It's about the deals that almost died, the landlords who took chances, the retailers who changed neighborhoods, and the brokers who made it all happen.2026
Episodes
  • Welcome to the Secret Broker Society

    Welcome to the Secret Broker Society
    Apr 1 2026

    What really drives commercial real estate?

    It's not the headlines.
    Not the reports.
    Not the analysts.

    It's the people in the trenches.

    In this debut episode, Joseph Aquino—President of J Crest Commercial Real Estate—pulls back the curtain on a global, unofficial network of brokers who know their markets street by street, building by building, landlord by landlord.

    He calls it the Secret Broker Society.

    From Madison Avenue to Mayfair…
    SoHo to Beverly Hills…
    Miami to Hong Kong…

    This podcast takes you inside the real conversations shaping the world's most iconic markets.

    Each week, we sit down with the brokers, developers, retailers, and insiders who are actually doing the deals—unpacking where rents are going, which streets are heating up, and where the next big opportunities lie.

    Because in this business, it's not just about buildings.

    It's about relationships. Timing. And knowing what others don't.

    If you live in real estate—or just love great cities—you're in the right place.

    About Your Host:

    Joseph Aquino is the President of JAACRES, with over 40 years of experience advising retailers, restaurateurs, office tenants, and property owners across the world's most competitive markets. From Madison Avenue and SoHo to Beverly Hills, Miami, and London, he has negotiated deals at the highest level—working with global brands like Cartier and leading major projects including the transformation of Times Square's 42nd Street corridor.

    He began his career selling watches door-to-door in New York City—an experience that shaped his instincts for relationships, timing, and deal-making. That foundation led to a decades-long career in commercial real estate, where he became known for his deep market knowledge and global network.

    Joseph is also the author of Memoirs of a Watch Salesman: A New York Real Estate Story. Through the Secret Broker Society Podcast, he brings listeners inside the real conversations, insights, and relationships that drive the world's most iconic markets.
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    4 mins
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