Debrah Lee Charatan

Debrah Charatan found her calling in commercial real estate while she was a recent high school graduate and secretary at a property management firm in the mid-70s. Before long, she moved up to property manager, yet remained just as dedicated to her job as she was to her long-term ambitions. While managing more than a thousand apartments, Charatan attended undergraduate courses at Baruch College, ultimately completing her BS in 1980. Later that year, Charatan founded a Manhattan-based real estate brokerage, Bach Realty, and quickly proved that some conventions deserved to be flouted.

With an all-woman staff and a consistent, impressive sales record, Bach Realty became a standard-bearer both for New York real estate and female entrepreneurs under Charatan's leadership. As a testament to her success on these fronts, Debrah Charatan earned such honors as Outstanding Working Woman (Glamour), Up-and-Coming Entrepreneurial Woman of the Year (Women Business Owners of New York), Working Achiever (YWCA Academy of Working Achievers) and the Cross Award for Sales Achievement (National Association of Professional Saleswomen). Alongside her responsibilities at Bach Realty and, later, Debrah Lee Charatan Realty, Debrah taught real estate courses at Queens College, New York University and other institutions, as well as contributed numerous articles to Real Estate Weekly, Real Estate Forum and the New York Law Journal. Throughout the 80s and 90s, Charatan was also profiled and interviewed in USA Today, Fortune, Cosmopolitan, Forbes, Money, Harper’s Bazaar and elsewhere.

Today, Debrah Charatan enjoys continued success in the New York real estate economy. The president of BCB Property Management since 2008, Debrah acquires, develops and sells multifamily and mixed-use buildings in some of Manhattan and Brooklyn’s most popular neighborhoods. Debrah and BCB have thus far worked on more than 60 buildings, 1,000 residential units and 70 commercial units – nearly one million square feet altogether.