But according to Sam Himmelstein, a Manhattan lawyer specializing in tenant representation, your landlord's request might not be off base.

For decades, tenant representation has been a substantial part of the brokerage business.

Newmark, which today gets more than half its revenues from tenant representation, owned six million square feet of space when it started its brokerage operation.

Williams Real Estate owned buildings and offered third-party management services before it went into tenant representation.

Tishman Real Estate, too, branched from development into construction and management before it embraced tenant representation.

They question whether the owners now entering the field ever plan to develop the requisite skills and data needed for tenant representation.

There are other firms that specialize in tenant representation, industry officials said.

In 1982, he bought out his partner and began focusing the company on tenant representation.

Studley, Inc. is a privately held commercial real estate services firm specializing in tenant representation.

The bride owns Flynn Associates, which provides tenant representation and other real estate services in New York.