Victor Sozio is one of the Founding Partners of Ariel Property Advisors. His primary responsibility is to originate and execute the sale of commercial real estate transactions across New York City.
Mr. Sozio plays a pivotal role at Ariel, balancing his management responsibilities as a partner overseeing internal strategic initiatives with his consistent top investment sales performance. Impressively, as one of the leading commercial real estate advisors in New York City, he has arranged the sale of more than 1,000 properties valued at over $5.5 billion during his career.
A sought after resource for clients seeking to understand all aspects of their affordable housing portfolios, Mr. Sozio analyzes ways to monetize or reposition these assets, which are subject to various city, state and federal regulatory agreements, while at the same time preserving their affordability. Consequently, he has arranged the sale and put into contract over 300 affordable buildings with 15,000 units, totaling over 15 million SF and valued at more than $3 billion. His expertise in this segment of the market has resulted in Mr. Sozio becoming one of the most prolific brokers of affordable housing in New York City over the past decade.
His accomplishments in the multifamily market have been a contributor to Ariel becoming one of New York City’s most active investment sales brokerages in the multifamily sector, with the firm consistently marketing thousands of multifamily units in all five boroughs. His expertise also extends to the sale of development sites and commercial and retail assets throughout New York City as well.
Internally at Ariel Property Advisors, Mr. Sozio spearheads the majority of the institutional transactions and plays a crucial role in all levels of client management. He provides support to all members of the Ariel team and uses his acute market knowledge to specifically assist the investment research team in improving the accuracy of the company’s data.
Throughout his tenure at Ariel, Mr. Sozio has been recognized by real estate publications for his deal-making skills. Most recently, Commercial Property Executive named him Broker of the Year for 2022 and with his partners, he was honored with Connect CRE’s Top Broker Award in 2023. He was the lead broker on a transaction that was selected by Commercial Property Executive as the Best Investment Transaction for 2022 in the portfolio category. Additionally, Real Estate Alert ranked Ariel as one of the top five multifamily brokerage firms in New York City in 2021 and 2022, and Globest/Real Estate Forum honored Ariel as one of its Multifamily Influencers for 2022.
In recognition of his knowledge and commitment to affordable housing, Mr. Sozio was elected to the Board of Directors of the nation's largest affordable housing trade group, New York State Association for Affordable Housing (NYSAFAH). Additionally, he is an active participant and supporter of the commercial real estate industry and non-profit organizations including the Real Estate Board of New York, Bronx-Manhattan North Association of Realtors, HELP USA and Saint Jude Children's Research Hospital. He is a member of the VFW and American Legion. In his spare time, Mr. Sozio enjoys coaching his sons’ youth sports organizations.
Mr. Sozio began his real estate career at Massey Knakal Realty Services, now Cushman & Wakefield. He is a graduate of Manhattan College, where he received a B.S. with a concentration in marketing. He also is a Veteran of the United States Marine Corps and served in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
He lives in Westchester with his wife and two sons and can be reached at 212.544.9500 ext. 12 or via email at vsozio@arielpa.com.
