Cushman & Wakefield’s Paul J. Massey, co-founder and former CEO of Massey Knakal, announced he intends to file paperwork to run as a Republican candidate for mayor of New York City in 2017.

Cushman & Wakefield’s Paul J. Massey, co-founder and former CEO of Massey Knakal, announced he intends to file paperwork to run as a republican candidate for mayor of New York City in 2017.

After months of consulting with potential donors and supporters, Massey said he will file documents with the New York City Campaign Finance Board to create a committee, Massey for Mayor 2017. In a news release, Massey said he will not accept matching funds from New York City and that his campaign will be funded by private donors, “including himself.”

According to published reports, Massey has tapped David Amsterdam, director of leasing for SL Green Realty, to serve as his campaign manager.

Current NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced his intention to run for re-election, and at least two others, including NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer, who has filed paperwork; and Obama Administration Budget Director Shaun Donovan, have reportedly expressed interest.

On his Massey for Mayor web page, the veteran commercial real estate executive describes himself as a “non-politician who built his business from the ground up in the neighborhoods of New York City’s five boroughs.”

Along with Robert A. Knakal, Massey co-founded Massey Knakal Realty Services in 1988 and helped grow it into one of the nation’s largest privately owned commercial property brokerage firms, with more than $2 billion in annual sales.

As CEO of Massey Knakal, Massey oversaw the firm’s expansion into all five of the city’s boroughs. He became president of New York investment sales when Cushman acquired Massey Knakal in 2014, beating out several rival bidders.

According to his Cushman & Wakefield biography, Massey was born in Boston where he attended Roxbury Latin School. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Colgate University in 1982 and moved to New York City in the spring of 1983, beginning a career with Coldwell Banker Commercial Real Estate Services in Midtown Manhattan, beginning as head of market research and eventually becoming an investment sales broker.

Massey and Robert Knakal met at Coldwell Banker Commercial and launched their namesake firm, building it into a full-service brokerage with 250 employees. In 2014, before Cushman acquired the firm, Massey completed transactions totaling more than $690 million.

“I firmly believe New York City’s best days are ahead. This is not a tale of two cities, this is the world’s greatest city and diversity is our strength,” Massey said in a statement on his Massey for Mayor web page.