Mann Report May 2023

SHOPTALK 2023: ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE

FIRST AMONG PIERS: HUDSON RIVER PARK DEBUTS CULINARY AND CULTURAL DESTINATION PIER 57

AI IN REAL ESTATE: A PATHWAY TO COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

FRANCES KATZEN:

SOPHISTICATED COUNSEL FOR COMPLEX CONSTRUCTION.

Zetlin & De Chiara LLP, one of the country’s leading law firms, has built a reputation on counseling clients through complex issues. Whether negotiating a contract, resolving a dispute, or providing guidance to navigate the construction process, Zetlin & De Chiara is recognized as a “go-to firm for construction.”

They said it couldn’t

We’ve done hard things before, we do them all the time.

For most cancer patients, the usual options are surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation. So we’re working on ways to get the immune system to deploy billions of cancer-killing cells and help more patients survive.

When some people experienced mysterious COVID symptoms and had nowhere to go, our team created the first Center for Post-COVID Care.

It wasn’t that long ago we had to open up your whole chest for heart surgery. Now we’re pioneering a bypass that goes through a few tiny incisions. With this surgery, we can get you back on your feet in weeks instead of months.

So if anyone ever tells you there’s no other way—don’t listen.

be done.

We didn’t listen.

The future of your work is here

From coworking memberships to turnkey offices, WeWork gives you more flexibility with your workspace. Discover solutions that make hybrid work for you.

President & CEO

Jeff Mann

editorial Editor

Debra Hazel

Associate Editors

Alexandra Baumbusch

Laurie Melchionne

Copy Editor

Geraldine Melchionne

Director of Communications and Marketing

Penelope Herrera

Director of Newsletter Division

Cheri Phillips

Director of Special Events

Mirusha Damiani

art

Art Director

Krystal Peguero

Graphic Designer

Ran Jing

Priyanshi Pareek

Cover Photography

Photo by Leslie Hassler

contributors

Mac Christian

Frank DeLucia

Stephen Gilman

Kris Kiser

Ira Meister

Myles Mellor

Carol A. Sigmond

Adam Wemhaner

business

Technology Consultant

Joshua Fried Distribution

Mitchell’s Delivery Service

digital media

Editors

Alexandra Baumbusch

Debra Hazel

Penelope Herrera

Laurie Melchionne

Cheri Phillips

Web Developer

CS DesignWorks

East Coast Office 450 7th Ave., Suite 2306 New York, NY 10123 212-840-MANN (6266)

West Coast Ofice 110 E. 9th Street CMC, Suite A1169 Los Angeles, CA 90079 866-306-MANN (6266)

The opinions expressed by our columnists are not reflective of the views and opinions of the publisher or editorial staff of Mann Report. Publication of such views and opinions does not constitute endorsement by Mann Report. Any reproduction, including but not limited to internet usage, is prohibited without the express written permission of the publisher. mannpublications.com

When we profiled Frances Katzen, a ballerina turned star broker and founder of The Katzen Team, in 2017, we focused on her rapid rise in residential real estate, her entrepreneurial nature and the support she found at Douglas Elliman.

While a lot has changed in six years, Katzen’s success hasn’t. In fact, it’s only grown, with more than $3 billion in total sales and $350 million-plus in sales each year. That’s why it’s great to catch up with her again in a very different landscape.

Meanwhile, our intrepid editor and retail maven Debra Hazel is once again out and about, reporting on this ever-changing sector after attending ShopTalk. And this month, she’ll be back once again at ICSC’s annual conference in Las Vegas, so look

for her updates on social media during the conference and in our August issue.

And the National Realty Club’s next event is being held on May 17 from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Versa. Our guest speaker will be April’s cover subject, Pam Swidler, chief legal officer, chief compliance office and corporate secretary at WeWork. She’ll elaborate on how this powerhouse is continuing to evolve in the era of hybrid working, while we enjoy great company and great food and drinks. For more information or to register, contact me or the NRC’s Penny Herrera at penny@nationalrealtyclub.org.

It's shaping up to be a busy spring and summer — keep us posted on what you’re doing!!

Self-confidence is the first requisite to great undertakings”

–Samuel Johnson

88 Growing with the Community: Construction Begins on Menifee Union School District Elementary School #15

Editor’s Letter

Just in time for ICSC Las Vegas, welcome to our Retail issue!

Retail, as many of you know, was my entry into writing and editing about real estate and, truth be told, it’s still my favorite sector, largely because it must adapt so quickly to consumers’ changing needs and desires.

That’s why I’m delighted to feature the opening of Pier 57 with its dining hall and more, and the ongoing development of Mountain View Village in Utah, which are showing how new projects must reflect and serve their communities. As you’ll see in By the Numbers, retail has survived the challenges posed by COVID-19 far better than many people predicted.

Also check out our columnists, who share their wisdom as always.

One other note: If you think you’re seeing a lot of content about the environment this month as well, you’re right. Last month’s focus on sustainability drew so many amazing contributions from industry experts that we didn’t have room for them all. So, over the next couple of months, you’ll see these terrific features. After all, we only have one planet, so every day is Earth Day.

Meanwhile, I’ll be roaming the Las Vegas Convention Center and environs from May 21 through 23 at ICSC in search of stories.

Email

Top Execs Host Networking Event

Agroup of top real estate executives across multiple disciplines recently hosted a networking event at the Tiro A Segno private club (the oldest Italian heritage organization in the United States) to dine, laugh and generate new business. Each leader — Frank DeLucia, senior vice president of Hub International; Adelaide Polsinelli, vice chairman of Compass; Bruce Azus, managing partner of Affiliated Adjustment Group Ltd.; Larry Ross, senior director and vice president of Compass Commercial NYC and Laurence Rosenberg, partner at Langdon Title — brought 10 to 15 guests, comprising real estate owners, developers, buyers and bankers to collaborate and generate business.

PHOTOS BY HOWARD WECHSLER

01. Laurence Rosenberg, Langdon Title and Larry Ross, Compass

02. Diana Clemente, Greystone; Frank DeLucia, Hub International; Mark Engel, Langsam Property Services Corp. and Jeffrey Mann, Mann Publications

03. Paul Attinello, Kaled Management; Joseph Mawad, Tekniverse; Adelaide Polsinelli, Compass and Frank DeLucia, Hub International

04. Adelaide Polsinelli, Compass and Whitney Farber, Paramount Vista National Land Services

05. Mark Engel, Langsam Property Services Corp.; Billy Schur, Schur Management and Bill Stanley, Cornell Pace Inc.

06. Jac Zadrima, Genesis Realty Group LLC; Anita Gupta, Chatam Management; Jeffrey Katz, Millbrook Properties and Joseph Mawad, Tekniverse

07. Stephen Wolinetz, Wolinetz Managment; Mark Engel, Langsam Property Services Corp.; Billy Schur, Schur Management; Bill Stanley, Cornell Pace and Charles Hirsch and Jeffrey Katz, Millbrook Properties

08. Christine Monahan, Tri Hill Management; MacKenzie Forsberg, Genesis Realty Group LLC; Bruce Azus, Affiliated Adjustment Group Ltd. and Anita Gupta, Chatam Management

09. Jeffrey Mann, Mann Publications; Adelaide Polsinelli, Compass and Frank DeLucia, Hub Interenational

Otoos Hosts Construction Industry Leaders at New York Build Expo

fessional can tinker with the weighting of these indicators to see what works best for their organizations or individual sites in improving safety metrics,” Martin said.

Team leaders must also take on the responsibility of establishing a culture of holding each other accountable.

“Successful integration of technology in construction safety is only as good as the culture you establish to implement it,” Becker explained.

ership for their own safety, and that of others,” he said.

The panel also agreed on the importance of setting expectations and training employees.

“The first challenge for us is to be aligned with any employee that works with us,” said Netanel.

Proptech company Otoos hosted a panel at New York Build 2023 at the Javits Center. The panel, “Technology in Construction Safety: Finding a Reliable Source of‘ Truth,’’ featured a discussion of how construction safety can be achieved for all projects.

The panel consisted of six speakers: Dr. Linda F. Martin, principal at KLME Martin Associates LLC; Kyle Becker, director-construction at Carmel Construction; Mark Drozdov, OSHA authorized instructor, environmental health and safety university professor at The Cooper Union; Ashraf Omran, P.E., executive director of cranes and derricks at the New York City Department of Buildings; Doron Netanel, CFO at Electra USA, Inc. and CEO and president of Electra’s Captive Insurance Company and Michael Rubin, OSHA defense attorney at Ogletree Deakins.

“We were thrilled to bring together industry leaders for this panel discussion,” said Yaron Goldman, general manager of Otoos.

Moderator Dana Kfir, Otoos director of customer success, noted that in order to even start the discussion around safety data, culture has to be an important aspect of that.

“It’s a delicate combination — you want to instill a safety culture, be transparent and encourage people to speak up, and then you also want to be factual and be sure not to expose your organization to lawsuits,” Kfir said.

Safety is often looked at as a matter of compliance and not given the required weight to protect job sites.

“When it comes to safety, we only think of it when something happens,” said Rubin.

One of the most difficult tasks for a safety professional is to key in on the leading indicators that drive continuous improvement.

“The benefit of having data feeding into one place is that the safety pro-

In the next segment, Drozdov talked about how often the question comes up regarding who is responsible for safety. While people often think one individual is to be held accountable, that is almost never the case.

Also discussed was who is responsible for safety regulations on a job site. Drozdov said he felt this question is almost offensive when asked in the field or by other industry professionals.

“Every person has some level of own-

Most often, technology can help streamline these processes. Omran has implemented technology such as black boxes, which monitor crane activities. He emphasized the importance of having implementing technology to ensure all guidelines are being met.

Goldman said, “I found that the answer to ‘What is more critical? Employee lives or financial profit?’ is only sometimes clear-cut, and there is a constant tendency to treat profit as more important.”

He also pointed out the frequency of the slogan “safety first” but the lack of effort and investment to achieve it.

PHOTOS BY YARON GOLDMAN

The day's panelists

An attentive audience

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6.8.23 AT CHELSEA PIERS, NYC

THE LIGHTHOUSE

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HONORING

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STEPHEN B. SIEGEL

RSVP online at: gala.giftoflife.org

GTIS PARTNERS LAUNCHES BUILD-TO-RENT DEVELOPMENT COMPANY TAVALO

Global real estate investment firm GTIS Partners has launched Tavalo, a dedicated build-to-rent community development company.

Tavalo develops purpose-built communities that provide a variety of product types and an amenitized lifestyle experience, reimagining

EXTRA SPACE STORAGE AND LIFE STORAGE MERGE

renting, GTIS said in the announcement. GTIS remains committed to ESG efforts through Tavalo, utilizing design and product construction to deliver sustainable solutions from energy and water efficiency to smart home technology. Tavalo has already completed its first project, called Tavalo at Cadence in Mesa, Arizona.

Extra Space Storage Inc. and Life Storage Inc. have entered into a merger agreement by which Extra Space will acquire Life Storage in an all-stock transaction. The combined company is expected to have a market capitalization of approximately $36 billion and total enterprise value of approximately $47 billion.

The transaction will increase the size of Extra Space's portfolio by more than 50% by store count with the addition of Life Storage's 1,198 properties.  In total, the transaction adds over 88 million square feet to the portfolio. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2023.

CITY INNOVATIONS COLLABORATIVE SIGNS AT TAYSTEE LAB BUILDING

The Taystee Lab Building in West Harlem has been selected as the new home of the City Innovations Collaborative (CInC), a new regional innovation engine created by the City College of New York and the Foundation for City College Inc. to seed, cultivate and sustain a thriving regional life science ecosystem in

New York City, announced The Janus Property Company.

CinC will provide access to advanced infrastructure, instrumentation and makerspaces, where they can test high-risk commercialization and translational ideas in a low-risk environment.

Photo courtesy of Janus Property Co.

DETOUR GALLERY SIGNS LEASE IN WEST CHELSEA

Detour Gallery LLC signed a 10year, 2,656-square-foot lease at 555 West 23rd St., with an opening scheduled at press time for April 27, said Douglaston Development.

The ground floor retail space will be utilized as an art gallery and events venue with an extensive selection

of carefully curated and handpicked contemporary artwork and exhibitions. Joshua Young of Brown Harris Stevens represented the landlord. The tenant was represented by Sido New York Real Estate.

Shayna Schwartz will serve as Detour’s gallery director.

NELSON WORLDWIDE RELOCATES OFFICE TO DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES

Architecture, design and strategy firm Nelson Worldwide has relocated its Los Angeles office to the historic Pershing Square Building at 448 South Hill St. in downtown. The highly amenitized building has a rooftop bar and restaurant.

Not only does the office act as a hub

for collaboration, relationship building and mentorship opportunities, it provides a way for teammates and clients to physically immerse themselves in the Nelson brand.

The new office is close to the Metro Red Line, freeway entrances and the Civic Center.

PICKLEBALL AMERICA SIGNS FOR 80,000SF AT STAMFORD TOWN CENTER

Houlihan Lawrence Commercial Division negotiated a lease of more than 80,000 square feet of space in the Stamford Town Center to Pickleball America for what will become one of the world’s largest indoor pickleball venues. Mia Schipani of Houlihan Lawrence represented Pickleball America in the transaction.

Pickleball America is taking the former Saks Off 5th retail space at 140 Atlantic St. in downtown Stamford, Connecticut. Pickleball America plans 28 courts in two phases — Phase 1 will begin immediately with the first floor (43,000 square feet), with the second floor (37,000 square feet) opening in the coming months.

Photo courtesy of Douglaston Development

Photo courtesy of Nelson Worldwide

Photo courtesy of Houlihan Lawrence

SERHANT. BEGINS NATIONAL EXPANSION

Serhant., a multidimensional real estate brokerage, began its first official wave of national expansion with the introduction of six new markets.  Kicking off with the addition of Florida, the firm is also expanding into Pennsylvania, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina and Connecticut.

Headquartered in New York City, the firm expanded into the Hamptons with the opening of Serhant. House Hamptons in 2022. Yasser Ponce will manage and lead operations for the South Florida market. He will be joined by Mariana Niro, formerly of Douglas Elliman and Matt Van Wie from The Keyes Company.

SOTHEBY’S INTERNATIONAL REALTY OPENS IN SAUDI ARABIA

Sotheby’s International Realty has opened Saudi Arabia Sotheby’s International Realty, signifying the brand's seventh affiliated office in the Middle East and its 227th office in the EMEIA region. The company is headquartered in the Al Faisaliah Tower in the city of Riyadh and will service the entire country.

Saudi Arabia Sotheby's International Realty is headed by George Azar, who brings more than 15 years of real estate experience to the company. An international businessman, Azar is also CEO and owner of Luxhabitat Sotheby’s International Realty in Dubai and United Kingdom Sotheby's International Realty.

FEWER REAL ESTATE AGENTS WILLING TO CHANGE BRANDS: COLDWELL BANKER

Recruiters, take note: Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC’s annual "Agent Priority Report" revealed that the majority of agents surveyed say they are planning to stay where they are. Conducted by Quester Research, the report surveyed the Coldwell Banker-affiliated and non-affiliated agents to gauge their feelings about the current market and

on the industry's leading real estate brands.

A significant number of respondents are less willing to change brand affiliation. Compared to 51% in 2019, 75% of agents surveyed in 2023 say they will not change affiliation in the next two years.

“It's no surprise agents are reticent to move,” said Liz Gehringer, president and CEO of Coldwell Banker Real Estate parent Anywhere Franchise Brands and acting president of affiliate business and COO of Coldwell Banker Real Estate. “Agents should remain open to the opportunities a more established brokerage can offer.”

Photo courtesy of Serhant.

Absolute Electrical Contracting of NY services commercial, industrial, residential and retail clients.

Our construction division has the ability to do any task that is required of an electrical contractor.

Our low voltage division provides electronic security, voice & data, fiber solutions and fire alarm installations for any size project. The project management team has over 100 years of experience.

EDEN MULTIFAMILY AND

DERMOT CO. UNVEIL DOWNTOWN MIAMI HIGH-RISE

Eden Multifamily and The Dermot Company plan a Class-A, luxury rental residential tower in downtown Miami’s Park West district. The 44-story, 430-unit high-rise will be designed by architect Kobi Karp.

Plans call for 8,000 square feet of retail space on the tower’s ground

floor. The building will feature more than 25,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor amenity space, including a luxurious pool, fitness center, health-and-wellness areas, club rooms, coworking spaces and more.

It is the first partnership between Eden and Dermot.

THE GOTHAM ORGANIZATION LAUNCHES LEASING AT THE SUFFOLK

The Gotham Organization opened a leasing office at The Suffolk, a luxury rental development located at 55 Suffolk in the Lower East Side. The 30-story tower includes 378 residences with 330,000 square feet of mixed-use space. The residences have been designed by Dattner Architects and JG Neukomm Archi-

tecture. Gotham has engaged The Marketing Directors as its exclusive leasing agent with residences available for immediate occupancy.

The Suffolk will feature studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom residences. In addition, The Suffolk will have three dedicated floors of micro-units.

WOODMONT LIBERTY APARTMENTS OPENS IN INDEPENDENCE, NJ

Woodmont Properties has launched leasing for the first phase of Woodmont Liberty at Independence, consisting of 120 luxury apartments in Warren County, New Jersey.

Located on 11 acres in Independence Township, Woodmont Liberty features one-, two- and two-bed-

room-plus-den apartments, with monthly rents beginning at $2,440.

The interiors feature oversized windows and ceilings as high as 11 feet; custom-designed kitchens; expansive walk-in closets; spa-like bathrooms and full-size, front-loading washer and dryer.

Photo courtesy of Eden Multifamily

Photo by Conway + Partners

Photo courtesy of Woodmont Properties

THE

A proud Legacy is reborn

THE FASTEST GROWING REAL ESTATE ORGANIZATION AND FOUNDATION IN THE CITY

Giving to non-profit organizations to help NYC thrive

$995/YEAR MEMBERSHIP

consists of 5 events with guest speakers

For more information about membership, please contact penny@nationalrealtyclub.org

ABC SUPPLY CO. INC. COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF US LBM DIVISIONS

ABC Supply Co. Inc. has completed the acquisition of the following specialty distribution businesses from US LBM: Feldman Lumber, Richardson Gypsum, Rosen Materials, Wallboard Supply Company and Coastal Roofing Supply. The interior product businesses of Feldman Lumber, Richardson Gypsum, Rosen Materi-

PREA FOUNDATION INVESTS $10.8M IN SEO CAREER

als and Wallboard Supply Company will operate under L&W Supply and Coastal Roofing Supply will operate under ABC Supply.

“We look forward to welcoming the new businesses into the ABC Supply family,” said Dan Piché, L&W Supply president.

Pension Real Estate Association (PREA) Foundation has approved an $8 million investment into Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO) Career over five years to continue developing and placing a pipeline of Black, Hispanic and Native American interns and entry-level candidates at top real estate firms.

The grant will allow SEO Career to expose 2,600 students to education events on-campus with partner schools and real estate-themed training boot camps for freshmen and sophomores in multiple cities, including Chicago, New York, Washington, D.C., Boston, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Philadelphia.

VALET LIVING, BH MANAGEMENT ANNOUNCE NATIONAL PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT

Valet Living, the residential amenities provider to the multifamily housing industry, announced a national partnership agreement with BH Management Services (BH), a property management group with more than 100,000 homes under management. Valet Living provides amenity services for more than half

of BH's portfolio.

The agreement, which extends the longstanding relationship between Valet Living and BH for several years, includes amenities and services such as: Valet Living Doorstep, Torch Fitness and Quick Turns, among others.

Photo courtesy of PRNewswire

BROAD STREET DEVELOPMENT LAUNCHES PARADIGM ADVISORY GROUP

Broad Street Development LLC

(BSD) launched a new consulting arm, Paradigm Advisory Group, founded by BSD Principals Raymond Chalme and Daniel Blanco.

Paradigm protects and enhances the value of distressed real estate assets on behalf of lenders, borrow-

ers and special servicers. It provides value-added asset management, construction, property management and leasing in the office and residential sectors.

Clients will benefit from the handson expertise BSD has developed over the past 30 years.

CROSSCOUNTRY MORTGAGE OFFERS DOWN PAYMENT AID TO FIRST-TIME BUYERS GFP REAL ESTATE LAUNCHES 2023 SUMMER CONCERT TICKET GIVEAWAY

In an effort to make home ownership more accessible in underserved communities, CrossCountry Mortgage (CCM) has launched the Freddie Mac BorrowSmart Access program. The program provides borrowers with up to $3,000 that can be used toward a down payment and/ or closing cost assistance.

BorrowSmart Access is available to qualified first-time homebuyers in Metro Atlanta; greater Chicago; Metro Detroit; El Paso, Texas; Metro Houston; McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas; greater Memphis; greater Miami-Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Metro Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington and St. Louis.

As a means of celebrating — and rewarding — tenants returning to work in person and rebuilding their work community, GFP Real Estate launched a 2023 Summer Concert Giveaway contest available exclusively to its tenants to win tickets to some of the summer’s most sought-after concerts.

Tenants across GFP’s portfolio can enter daily to win one of 238 pairs of tickets to see performers including Beyoncé, Guns N’ Roses and Bruce Springsteen at MetLife Stadium. Winners will receive complimentary food and beverages while enjoying the concert from a VIP suite at MetLife Stadium.

Photo courtesy of GFP Real Estate

Photo courtesy of PRNewswire

Daniel Blanco and Raymond Chalme

Photo courtesy of PRNewswire

HOMMA GROUP AND DIAMOND REALTY INVESTMENTS TO CREATE SMART HOMES

Homma Group Inc., a hybridized technology developer, designer and builder of turnkey smart homes, is partnering with Mitsubishi Corporation's real estate investment subsidiary, Diamond Realty Investments Inc. (DRI). Homma develops proprietary technology for homes — blended with modern architecture

and design, and sourced quality materials — to create harmonious living experiences.

In their first joint development, Homma and DRI are working with Alamo Manhattan on 30 rental units in the Willamette Tower currently under construction in  Portland, Oregon.

RENTSPREE LAUNCHES PRO PLAN DESIGNED TO SUPPORT AGENTS

Rental management software provider RentSpree has introduced RentSpree Pro, a subscription service that bundles transaction and marketing tools for agents to help streamline the rental process.

Pro combines existing transactional capabilities in RentSpree’s offering,

such as RentSpree's online rental application and tenant screening, with brand new tools to ensure RentSpree is a one-stop shop for agents and their rental clients alike, the companies said.

The RentSpree Pro subscription is $19.99 per month.

RESTB.AI LAUNCHES AI-POWERED PROPERTY DESCRIPTIONS FOR U.S. REAL ESTATE

Image recognition and data enrichment solutions provider Restb.ai is launching its AI-powered property descriptions technology for the U.S. and Canadian real estate industry.

The Restb.ai technology uses AI-powered computer vision, natural language processing (NLP) and large

language models (LLM) to generate unique and human-like property descriptions from photos and data provided by agents when listing properties for sale in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS).

It is available to MLSs, MLS vendors, brokerages and portals.

Photo courtesy of PRNewswire

Photo courtesy of Restb.ai

Concierge Medicine from Mount Sinai New York. Here in The Palm Beaches.

Mount Sinai New York–Concierge Care is a membershipbased medical practice that has brought the worldrenowned care of the Mount Sinai Health System in New York City, here to you in The Palm Beaches.

Our new concierge program offers an outstanding patient experience and access around the clock. Our members receive comprehensive primary care, cardiac and dermatology assessments, and nutritional counseling, as well as amenities you would not find in a typical medical practice, such as home visits, urgent care, coordination of specialist care, travel medicine, and much more. Members will also have access to Mount Sinai’s Hudson Yards concierge practice in New York.

Most importantly, you gain access to the full resources of the Mount Sinai Health System, for all of your health care needs. This is the health care experience you have been looking for.

Learn more at mountsinaiconciergecare.org

To inquire about membership, please call 561-328-7112

Mount

625 N. Flagler Drive, Suite 200 West Palm Beach, FL 33401

Sherry Soliman, MD

Anna Krishtul, MD

Paul Skomra, MD Raiza Lopez, MD

CLIMATE ALPHA LAUNCHES HOMES CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT TOOL

Climate Alpha has launched Homes, a free tool pricing the impacts of climate change into the future value of more than 100 million American homes between now and 2040. For the first time, homebuyers and sellers can see and compare the true price of ownership once climate is factored in.

Users enter an address or ZIP code which calculates the projected median home value in that area for a given year. It then calculates the price impact due to climate change both in dollars and as a percentage of the home's total value. Homes also displays vulnerability scores related to poverty and infrastructure.

MEASURABL LAUNCHES INSTANT CLIMATE REPORTS FOR COMMERCIAL PROPERTIES

Measurabl has launched Climate Due Diligence Scan (CDDS), an on-demand environmental, social and governance (ESG) due diligence solution that gives real estate investors, lenders and insurers instant access to accurate and timely property-level data on any real estate transaction globally.

ZILLOW LAUNCHES AFFORDABILITY SEARCH TOOL

Smart home buyers know that it’s not the price that matters; it’s the monthly payment. To help buyers find a home that fits their monthly budget within a rapidly changing market, Zillow will launch a filter that finds homes within a range of all-in monthly costs, instead of list prices. This monthly cost includes principal

CDDS' estimates derive from Measurabl’s database of more than 15 billion square feet.

"Making any kind of real estate decision without upfront visibility into its sustainability risks is not only imprudent, it's unnecessary," said Sara Anziger, director of data products.

and interest, as well as estimates for insurance costs, taxes and HOA fees, clarifying a chief source of confusion for buyers.

A linked calculator estimates monthly payments buyers could afford, based on their down payment, income and monthly debts.

Photo courtesy of Measurabl

Sara Anzinger

Photo courtesy of PRNewswire

Photo courtesy of PRNewswire

Fried Frank

Where major real estate transactions happen

HUDSON YARDS

Counsel to Related Companies and Oxford Properties Group in connection with the development of and all leasing activities at the 26-acre Hudson Yards on the West Side, the largest private development in Manhattan since Rockefeller Center.

CHELSEA MARKET

Counsel to Google in connection with its US$2.4 billion acquisition of Chelsea Market in New York City.

BLACKROCK HEADQUARTERS

Counsel to BlackRock in its 850,000square-foot lease for its planned headquarters relocation to 50 Hudson Yards.

MANHATTAN WEST

Counsel to Brookfield Property Partners on all aspects of the development of Manhattan West in the Hudson Yards District, including its recent lease to the National Hockey League.

PENN STATION

Counsel to Vornado Realty Trust and Related Companies on the redevelopment of Penn Station, including the redevelopment of the James A. Farley building and construction of Moynihan Train Hall.

CENTRAL PARK TOWER

Counsel to J.P. Morgan, as lead lender, in its US$900 million construction loan syndication to Extell Development for the development of Central Park Tower.

ONE VANDERBILT

Counsel to SL Green Realty Corp., including all zoning approvals, in connection with the development and leasing of One Vanderbilt Avenue, an iconic 1,401-foot tall, 1.7 million square foot office tower being constructed on the full block to the west of Grand Central Terminal.

20 TIMES SQUARE

Counsel to Maefield Development in its approximately US$1.5 billion acquisition of the EDITION hotel, retail, and signage project known as 20 Times Square.

JP MORGAN CHASE HEADQUARTERS

Counsel to JP Morgan Chase in connection with various aspects of its planned 2.5-million-square-foot headquarters redevelopment at its 270 Park Avenue location.

“An extremely talented real estate group with an impressively deep bench: the team is ideal for handling the most complex matters.”

— Chambers USA

CROWLEY TO LEAD BUILDING TRADES EMPLOYERS ASSOCIATION

Elizabeth Crowley, a former New York City Council Member, will succeed Lou Coletti as president and CEO of the Building Trades Employers Association (BTEA). She is the first woman to lead the organization.

As a member of the New York City Council, Crowley successfully fought

for record funding for construction of schools and passed resolutions that strengthened construction safety standards, expanded opportunities for minority- and women-owned business enterprises and funded programs that provided industry training including nontraditional employment for women.

RAISE COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE SIGNS FOR 4,000SF IN MIDTOWN SOUTH

Raise, a real estate technology and brokerage firm that delivers workplace solutions to global clients, signed a three-year, 4,000-squarefoot lease at 184 Fifth Ave. for its New York City headquarters. The company will locate from Chelsea.

The new headquarters will support

the day-to-day operations of Raise’s New York City-based team as well as allow for the firm to continue its growth. Raise was represented by its NYC team of Jamie Katcher, Doug Regal, Sebastian Infante, Emilie Goldman and Henry Korzec. The landlord was represented by Ben Waller at ABS Partners Real Estate.

TURNBRIDGE EQUITIES BRINGS RETAIL AND OFFICE DEVELOPMENT TO NASHVILLE

Turnbridge Equities has broken ground on Ashwood 12 South, a 116,500-square-foot, mixed-use retail and office development in Nashville’s 12 South neighborhood. Located at 2212 12th Ave. South in a major shopping, dining and entertainment corridor, the 1.92-acre development is anticipated for com-

pletion in Q4 2024.

Ashwood 12 South will bring 44,500 square feet of retail and restaurant space and 72,000 square feet of Class-A, small-format office suites to the cultural hub. It also includes a pedestrian-friendly streetscape and landscaped outdoor common areas.

Photo courtesy of BTEA

Photo courtesy of Raise Commercial Real Estate

Elizabeth Crowley

Photo courtesy of Turnbridge Equities

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FREEDOM PLAZA INTRODUCES MOMENTUM PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM

New York City. The New York State Restaurant Association, a nonprofit organization that provides resources and support services to hospitality members, joined Mohegan and Soloviev Group in announcing the economic development initiative.

restaurants, retail stores and other businesses.

To support local busineses, Mohegan, the gaming developer and operating partner for Manhattan’s proposed East River cultural and community destination Freedom Plaza, has introduced the Mohegan Momentum Partnership Program for

Mohegan is offering local businesses the opportunity to participate in its Momentum Partnership Program, which would provide millions of dollars annually in flexible gaming-based rewards, incentivizing its hotel and gaming venue guests to visit and support local, New York City and Greater New York City area

Restaurants that have joined the program include Il Monello, Tuscany Steakhouse and the two Midtown Manhattan locations of Il Tinello, among others. Participating businesses will have the choice of accepting either the cash equivalent of gaming and hospitality complex rewards via reimbursement or providing guests with special discounts and unique offers. Reimbursement will be provided by Mohegan and determined based on the partnership agreement.

SCHELIN ULDRICKS & CO. ARRANGES $63M FOR ROHNERT PARK MIXED-USE

in the project to fund construction of a residential development on unencumbered land adjacent to the site.

Schelin Uldricks & Co. arranged a $63 million loan to refinance Somo Village, a 593,645-square-foot, mixed-use real estate project in Rohnert Park, California. The financing enabled the property owners to recapitalize and access some of the equity

“We marketed this financing opportunity across a wide spectrum of lenders including regional banks, CMBS lenders, life companies and money center banks. We went through a three-round bidding process before selecting a national lender,” said Ethan Schelin, managing partner at Schelin Uldricks.

“Some real estate sponsors are sensing that the real estate market is heading toward price correction,

so they are interested in bolstering liquidity ahead of any disruptions,” remarked Derek Uldricks, managing partner at Schelin Uldricks. “Many investors look back and wish they had more cash to invest in real estate when it was an out-of-favor asset.”

Somo Village serves as a hub of both national and local business in the area as well as a model for economic and environmental sustainability. The project generates 4 megawatts of energy across the vast array of solar panels affixed to the roof of the project, drastically reducing reliance on the California energy grid.

Photo courtesy of Soloviev Group

Photo courtesy of PRNewswire

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Frances Katzen

From Prima B allerina To New Yorĸ City’s Top Power Broker

Spanning New York City to Miami and the Kennedy Center, her 21-year career as a professional ballerina took a final bow to major injury, leading Frances Katzen to turn her innate creativity, instincts and pure grit into a real estate career — ultimately propelling herself to the upper echelon of New York City real estate.

“I had no comfortable landing, no clear next steps. I was terrified,” Katzen said. “Fear creates an uncomfortable mindset because there’s no time to deliberate. Despite my uncertainty, I knew I had a passion for architecture and enjoyed working with people, and I was determined to move forward and try something new.”

Today, Katzen leads The Katzen Team at Douglas Elliman, ranked No. 5 nationwide and recognized across the industry for getting even the most complicated deals done. With well over $3 billion in total sales volume, Katzen has consistently landed on Douglas Elliman’s prestigious Top 10 list

for highest grossing production in both sales volume and total transactions for the past decade.

The powerhouse didn’t always prowl the concrete jungle. Born in Cape Town, South Africa, her business acumen developed while growing up in Sydney, Australia, where the family moved when she was five years old because of the oppressive apartheid regime in her hometown.

“My father contemplated moving to Europe or America but landed on Australia because the country was seeking skilled physicians of his caliber at the time and it had a backdrop of nature similar to Cape Town,” Katzen recalled. “We embarked on a new journey there, and he started his practice all over, eventually establishing himself as a highly regarded physician. There’s something to be said about growing up and watching your parent really work to further their career.”

During her formative years, a

ballet interest developed via the Royal Academy of Dance Syllabus, but before starting that program, Katzen was placed in a modern dance class, where a terrible teacher drove her to go forward with a ballet class instead. The mandatory exams consisted of a series of exercises paired with a creative dance — both of which she thought she failed miserably.

“At my exams, I couldn’t remember the dance, and I will never forget that my examiner, Mrs. Turnbull, gave me honors. I left the exam a crying mess, expecting the worst, but I actually received the highest award, which is when I realized I had the potential to be good,” she recalled.

She joined the McDonald College School, which was a theatre school into the Australian Ballet, at age 14 and just one year later left home for New York City to join the School of American Ballet. She maintained her high school education concurrent with her work and was self-supporting,

finding a roommate through an agency and sharing an apartment on the Upper West Side.

Katzen’s determination pushed her to join the American Ballet Theatre when she was 21, becoming a soloist, before moving on to the Hartford Ballet, Suzanne Farrell’s company at the Kennedy Center and Edward Villella’s Miami City Ballet. Retirement came early in 2005, when a severe foot injury forced Katzen away from her profession of 21 years.

“I had quite an unconventional career, but it was very fulfilling,” Katzen said. “The injury steered my life down a completely different path.”

Armed with a real estate license she earned from New York University while she was still working, Katzen set out for an assistant job, calling every brokerage in the city. She landed at Corcoran in 2006 and was quickly dubbed “the worst assistant ever,” though was told she would make a great broker.

“I had my license for a bit at that time and thought, ‘It is now or never.’ I also knew I wanted to move on from dance and do something I was in control of — running and creating something meaningful — and not acquiescing to the opinion of others,” Katzen said.

Facing her new career with what she calls a “dancer mentality” of diligence, drive and endless thirst to do better, Katzen started navigating the world of real estate.

“Within the first six months of starting, I hit $30,000 in debt and was beginning to doubt whether I could make real estate work,” Katzen said. “I tried to picture a new life in Australia where I would have a bakery or teach ballet. It was a tense time.”

A listing came along that changed everything. Another broker was struggling to sell a three-bedroom, and Katzen pleaded for a chance at the property — and went on to sell it in six weeks at the full price of $2 million.

The commission was double her income as a dancer and allowed her to pay off all the debt.

“That was the catalyst,” Katzen said. “It was game on after that deal.”

After 17 years, she is unrelenting, registering $340 million in total sales volume during the turbulent 2022 market while gracefully leading her eponymous team. Katzen’s decades of market knowledge, from her days as a ballerina living in the Upper West Side to currently residing with her two children on Central Park West, has proven a boon to her success, among other honed skills and discipline.

“From the start of my career to where I am now, I’ve weathered a landscape of tough markets, which has really solidified the expertise I offer clients and what I pass down to my team,” Katzen said. “Leading a team, and a growing one at that, requires a lot of business acumen. You must have systems in place to ensure cohesive growth

LOCATED ON A COBBLESTONE BLOCK IN SOHO, 20 GREENE ST.’S 2B OFFERS PRIVACY WITH STYLE.

FRANCES KATZEN

PHOTO BY MELANIE GREENE

among the team, and that everything runs efficiently and effectively.”

Katzen’s years of success have launched her to the top of the industry and made her a go-to expert, with features in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, New York Observer and The Real Deal, and broadcast interviews on NBC’s Today Show, Bloomberg and Yahoo! Finance.

Over the past several years, the market has experienced unprecedented shifts, making expert brokers like Katzen even more in demand, as buyers and sellers alike look for accurate guidance on everything from pricing

and negotiating to current market conditions.

With all data pointing to a retreat from the “sugar highs” as Katzen calls them, the current low inventory and pricing standoff is validating her viewpoint from the beginning of the year — negotiability is in the air.

“People will always want a stake in the New York City real estate market. It’s not just a domestic hub; it’s an international one and is designed to make assets perform,” Katzen said. “There is always opportunity.”

And with those opportunities, Katzen has been creatively advising clients

on how best to accomplish their goals, be it staying within a budget, making one work or selling for a target price or better. The powerhouse handles many aspects of her business, though knows how to stay on a personal level with clients while handling a high volume.

“Maintaining relationships is one of the most important aspects of real estate, and I’ve organized the team in a way where the business operations can run autonomously,” Katzen said. “Serving more clients is only possible when your structure can ensure everyone receives the same whiteglove service.”

Her established group, The Katzen Team, consists of a chief of operations, agents and a marketing team, working in step to manage everything from rentals and residential listings to new development projects and relocation assistance.

“One of the things that differentiates our team is that no matter how big we get, we keep it real, meaning in our own communication and with our clients,” Katzen said. “We believe in helping clients at every price point and that requires market knowledge, accuracy and keeping expectations in check with our understanding of the first two. You have to take your ego out of the equation.”

PENTHOUSE C AT 140 FRANKLIN STREET OFFERS TWO LEVELS AND OUTDOOR SPACE IN A RARE PRE-WAR CONDOMINIUM.

Katzen has remained humble, graciously commanding projects including the Jean Nouvel-designed 53 West 53 above the MoMA and Isay Weinfeld's first residential project in the city, Jardim in West Chelsea, among her other star-studded deals. She’s earned the loyalties of financiers, celebrities, real estate investors, developers and the art culture of New York City over the years.

Her sophisticated Rolodex spans the States, Europe, the Middle East and her beloved Australia, with all clients appreciating her understanding of premium service with discretion and efficiency. This efficiency is fueled by an honest, straightforward approach to real estate, investment analysis and creative financial

consultation, where Katzen’s “dancer mentality” shines through.

“I am highly motivated, but my drive doesn't stem from arrogance — it comes from a desire to take care of those who have given me a chance. When I started out, I had no connections and had to build my career from scratch by relying on hard work and delivering on promises,” Katzen said. “It’s about doing more than what is expected of you. I find this approach to be most effective in building trust and longterm relationships.”

Her grounded, genuine approach is paired with research and metrics-driven deliveries for clients, like her monthly newsletter, “The Katzen Report.” She even finds time to host a highly regarded industry podcast, “The World of Real Estate with Frances Katzen,” where she lifts the veil on the industry for an inside, in-depth look and candid discussions with some of the most affluent and respected leaders across the real estate world.

Katzen keeps up with the fast pace of New York City and its endless

energy, enjoying its constantly changing scene, evolving real estate and effervescent populace — she can interact with clients ranging from entertainment and fashion to sports and business tycoons.

“Being in real estate isn’t rare. I gritted my teeth, did the work, and gradually grew my career to where I’m running a team today,” she said. “Looking back at all the experiences and interactions, it’s very humbling and a reminder that there is always more to come.”

260 PARK AVE. SOUTH’S UNIT 9C OFFERS SPECTACULAR VIEWS OF GRAMERCY PARK, HIGH CEILINGS AND LUXURIOUS APPOINTMENTS.

BUILDING PHOTOS BY TIM WALTMAN FOR EVAN JOSEPH

April brought more than just spring to Hudson River Park, as public officials and developers celebrated the grand opening of a new food hall and community spaces at Pier 57.

The latest phase of a conversion of a former maritime industrial building at 25 11th Ave., the space includes Market 57, a new food hall anchored by the James Beard Foundation (JBF), as well as a series of community and open spaces with programming to foster learning and discovery.

“The reactivation of Pier 57 marks the start of a bright, new chapter along the New York waterfront and serves as a reminder of what makes our state so great,” said New York Governor Kathy Hochul. “From its world-class eateries showcasing the talents of emerging chefs and entrepreneurs to its vibrant classrooms, galleries and community spaces, the new Pier 57 promises to be a destination that serves New Yorkers and visitors alike.”

Under a lease with the Hudson River Park Trust, a development team led by RXR, Youngwoo and The Baupost Group invested approximately $410 million to restore the building and adapt it for new uses while retaining its historic features. Jamestown was brought in to develop, curate and deliver the food hall.

Visitors today find a waterfront food market that celebrates

NYC’s independent food culture, City Winery, community spaces and an interactive gallery and classroom focused on local wildlife and waterways. This pier is one of several locations in Hudson River Park where limited commercial uses are permitted to support the Park’s care and operations.

A nearly two-acre rooftop park (which opened in April 2022) and around the perimeter of Pier 57 offer views of Hudson River Park, the New York City skyline, the New York Harbor and a gathering place for picnics and other meetings.

Indoors, a 7,400-square-foot public gathering place called the “Living Room” provides seating and tables with views of Little Island and Lower Manhattan.

Technology wends throughout the development. The Discovery Tank is an interactive technology-powered gallery and classroom that is free for the public to enjoy. Visitors can explore beneath the surface of the Hudson River with interactive games to learn about the wildlife that call local waterways home.

Tech-enabled, bookable spaces are available for hosting educational, recreational and cultural experiences in an accessible environment, provided to community organizations and nonprofits free of charge with the support of Google. Community classrooms are free to book and

FIRST AMONG PIERS: HUDSON RIVER PARK DEBUTS CULINARY AND CULTURAL DESTINATION

PIER 57

open year-round.

Food and beverage predominate, however. The redevelopment includes the relocated City Winery, a new food market and two future full-service restaurants.

City Winery offers a culinary and cultural experience for urban wine enthusiasts and anyone passionate about music. The performance venue includes a restaurant and tasting room as well as a wine production facility.

Curated under the guidance and mentorship of the JBF the new Market 57 features some 15 vendors that showcase the culinary and cultural diversity of New York City’s local, independent food culture.

In addition, the JBF brings its mission of “Good Food for Good” to life with Platform by JBF at Market 57. Through rotating chefs-in-residence, this educational space and modern show kitchen offers culinary arts programming, cooking demonstrations, expert-led classes

and more.

“Pier 57 is a symbol of New York's resilience and innovation,” said Michael Phillips, president of Jamestown. “It’s a testament to our collective commitment to preserving our history, while forging a brighter future that celebrates the richness of our community and the power of entrepreneurship. Through Market 57, Google and the JBF have created an equitable engagement platform that showcases the incredibly diverse American culinary culture. The Pier’s ample community and open spaces amplify and expand the power of that platform, creating a new community gathering place for the neighborhood and city.”

The new development modernizes and restores a facility that had long served the city in a very different way. Built first of wood as shipping terminal in 1907 and reconstructed in 1952, Pier 57 is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, in large part because of the innovative engineering techniques that keep it afloat.

Just below the water, three large concrete caissons, rather than traditional piles, support the main structure. These underwater containers serve as unique basement spaces, unlike any other pier.

The Pier first opened in 1954 as the terminal for Grace Line, and then in 1969, it became the Hudson Pier Depot for the New York City Transit Authority, housing municipal buses.

When the depot closed in 2003, Hudson River Park re-imagined the space as a mixed-use pier that could help support the Park financially while also increasing public amenities, including new open space. Youngwoo & Associates was selected to develop the property in 2013, and then entered into a joint venture with RXR the next year.

"I am thrilled to see the transformation of Pier 57 from a historic shipping terminal to a vibrant cultural destination for all New Yorkers and visitors. The opening of Market 57 and community spaces will not only provide a platform for emerging chefs and entrepreneurs, but also foster learning and discovery for our community,” said Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine.

The redevelopment plans were approved unanimously by Community Board 4, the Manhattan Borough President, the City Planning Commission and ultimately, the New York City Council through New York City’s Uniform Land Use Review Process (ULURP) that culminated in April 2013.

The project also hosts offices for Google, its anchor tenant.

“We’re thrilled to add Pier 57 to Google’s New York campus, but we’re even more excited about the community spaces we’ve created with our partners for New Yorkers and visitors alike,” said Ellen West, site lead at Google NYC. “At Pier 57, you can engage with New York’s vibrant food scene, diverse culture and storied public spaces, all in an amazing landmark that honors the city’s heritage.”

The redevelopment process of the Pier has been sensitive to the historic nature of the structure every step of the way, with designs approved by the New York State Historic Preservation Office and the National Park Service, the developers said.

"The opening of the ground floor of Pier 57 marks an exciting milestone as we celebrate the transformation of this historic maritime facility into a year-round culinary and community destination," said Noreen Doyle, president and CEO, Hudson River Park Trust. "From the enormous sunlit Living Room to the environmental tech games in the Discovery Tank, not to mention the rooftop park and array of diverse food offerings and experiences from City Winery, the James Beard Foundation and local vendors, Pier 57 continues to deliver on the Park’s longstanding commitments to the community. Pier 57 offers something for everyone to enjoy, from native New Yorkers to tourists and will be a wonderful addition to our waterfront park."

PHOTOS COURTESY OF PIER 57

A ROOFTOP PARK

MARKET 57

THE LIVING ROOM

SHOPTALK 2023:

ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE

BY DEBRA HAZEL

COURTESY OF SHOPTALK

PHOTOS

CHRIS BERGH

DAVE KIMBELL

MARY DILLON

Whether a retailer or brand is more than 100 years old, or an experience is brand new, adaptability is key to retail survival, said several brands and companies at Shoptalk, held in Las Vegas in March.

Names as storied as Levi’s, Foot Locker and more discussed the challenges of connecting with consumers in an ever-changing global environment.

Levi’s has been doing so for more than a century, noted Chip Bergh, president and CEO.

“Part of the key to the success of the brand is keeping one foot in tradition and history while the other is stepping into innovation,” he said in a keynote talk.

The company is celebrating the 150th anniversary of its 501 jeans, widely credited with launching the category. When Bergh joined the company 12 years ago, however, the brand was struggling and had lost its relevance, focused largely on menswear and wholesale.

Bergh began a branding campaign that focused on youth and diversified into other businesses, including women’s jeans, and other apparel such as chinos and tops. Today, women’s apparel constitutes more than one-third of Levi’s business, up from less than 20% when Bergh joined the company, with a goal of 50%.

It also began to sell its wares directly to consumers through its own stores and online.

“Direct-to-consumer is now approaching 40% of our business,

and the total revenues are much bigger,” he said. “That’s really important. We’re in control of that consumer experience and can romance the product.”

Similarly, Tapestry has been focused on building its brands — Coach, Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman — through selling directly to consumers.

“We’re a company that is 90% direct to consumer,” said Joanne Crevoiserat, CEO of Tapestry. “We can see trends as they’re happening.”

COVID-19 changed the way people shop and what they bought, she observed. With stores closed, the focus shifted to online purchases, and from dressier styles to more casual goods. When restrictions were lifted, they once again looked at more formal designs.

“Now we’re seeing a mix,” Crevoiserat said. “Customers are going to restaurants more, traveling more and using our product in their travels. They like versatility in dressing. They like a product that lasts.”

And brick-and-mortar remains a huge part of that. The company shifted away from department stores to its own boutiques to get closer to the consumer.

“We made that pivot to own the experience with the customer. It enables our brands to work quickly,” she said. “Stores are still important.”

What products will succeed can be surprising, said Ulta CEO Dave Kimbell in his keynote interview.

“When the pandemic struck

in 2020, we thought fragrance would struggle. No one was going out,” he said. “In fact, it took off. … They weren’t wearing fragrance for others; they were wearing it for themselves. It was part of their self-care routine. That will drive the category for years to come.”

Its 350 standalone stores and in-store Target locations are also driving the company.

“It comes to life in a physical environment, and we work hard to create an environment that is fun, accepting, creating,” he said. “Beauty can be intimidating, so we’re training our team to deliver fun.”

The digital experience complements that, he continued. Sales from in-store consumers who begin shopping online increase their spending two and a half times.

And look for more expansion in products and categories. Ulta continues to look for new lines and is pursuing what Kimbell called “the expanded definition of beauty, that it’s connected to wellness. We will need new products and introduce new categories that will allow us to expand our assortment. In many ways, we’re just getting started.”

Foot Locker is closing some 400 stores as it reinvents its real estate portfolio, said Mary Dillon, president and CEO.

In preparation for its 50th anniversary next year, the company is “simplifying our business and expanding it.”

Stores are becoming more experiential, and more will be located off-mall, she said.

“That’s been a macro trend for a while,” she observed. “We have plenty of stores in malls, and we’re a traffic driver. But with C and D malls, it’s the plan to move.”

Community center stores are among the top performers, so those will expand. Off-mall stores will eventually become 50% of the portfolio.

“We’re reshaping the portfolio to focus on the types of store formats and geographies so we’ll see what succeeds. Square footage will be up slightly over the next three to four years,” she said.

Tech companies also are looking at the customer experience, said several exhibitors. In an increasingly cashless society, and one in which shoppers often leave items in their online carts because they can’t remember a credit card number or the card has expired, easing online transactions is critical.

Early Warning Services, an organization owned by top U.S. banks, has formed Bank Wallet, a digital wallet to address online payment approvals. The subscription service is free to merchants in its introductory period.

“We’ll take the data and build the wallet for the consumer,” said James Anderson, managing director of Bank Wallet. “It’s not a Bank A wallet or a Bank B wallet, it’s their wallet.”

In addition, consumers won’t have to remember a 16-digit credit card number, which will be replaced by a secure token.

“You’ll never have to get another card,” he said.

EVERY SOLUTION YOU NEED RIGHT AT YOUR FINGERTIPS

Wednesday, May 10, 2023 from 9:00AM to 4:30PM

New York Hilton Midtown New York, NY

A MUST ATTEND FOR ALL PROPERTY MANAGERS, BOARD MEMBERS, CO-OP & CONDO DECISION MAKERS.

WHO Property managers, board members, co-op & condo decision makers

WHAT New York’s biggest co-op & condo expo

WHEN

Wednesday, May 10 9:00AM-4:30PM

WHY Learn from industry pros, find new products & services, attend free seminars, & network with peers

HOW

WHERE New York Hilton Midtown 53rd St & Avenue of the Americas Register for free at coopexpo.com

AI In Real Estate: A Pathway to Competitive Advantage

BY MAC CHRISTIAN, CHEF MARKETING OFFICER, NATIONAL LAND REALTY

Real estate agents, hold onto your hats! The industry is on the cusp of a technological revolution, and it's being led by none other than artificial intelligence. From lead acquisition to property valuation, paperwork to property search, AI is set to shake up how things have been done for decades. The impact of AI on the real estate industry promises to streamline operations, personalize the customer journey and, ultimately, make businesses more efficient and profitable. In this article, we explore some of the ways AI is already changing the game and how it will shape the future of the real estate industry. For the past 20 years, proptech has been developing fast, and AI is something no one can afford to ignore.

AI's Impact on Lead Acquisition

Leads drive the real estate industry. Those leads may decide to buy real estate, sell real estate or even join a brokerage as an agent. Leads are influenced by economics, legislation, life events, relationships, employment, communication and sometimes, the weather. The red-hot market we saw in 2020 and 2021 led to the creation of countless technologies designed to measure, influence, funnel, sort, categorize, inform and eventually sell to those leads. The introduction of AI may disrupt all of it.

Lead acquisition is often the most focused-on activity for any brokerage or agent. AI promises to change what this looks like for nearly every business with a digital presence. First, ads are about to get much more advanced. Behavioral learning engaged in by AI technologies will begin mapping and filtering micro behaviors and qualifying leads. Finally, we may be headed to a place where we can guarantee the quality of a lead based on the measurement of micro behaviors.

We are going to see much less effort required to create effective ads. Give AI access to sales and

MAC CHRISTIAN

communications data, and you have a system capable of delivering new leads and their likelihood of purchase based on past results. AI can create communications along the customer journey to maximize these possible purchases. It is a close step from here to imagine AI making the entire customer journey individualized for each lead and communications fulfilling that individual lead's needs. What could happen here is automated and individualized customer experience from top to bottom of the sales funnel. These leads won’t need to be categorized, they just need to be plugged in.

AI’s Effect on Property Valuation

Real estate valuation might be one of the most heavily impacted parts of the industry. Knowing how to evaluate real estate is very much an art. Agents who have honed their ability to price real estate accurately are in high demand. Their listings sell faster and they negotiate much better terms on behalf of their clients.

As most real estate professionals know, Zillow estimates can be very far from accurate. It is not a far stretch of the imagination to see AI creating more accurate property assessments than anything currently on the market. Real estate's value can be subjective when considering home improvements like granite countertops or land improvements such as timber stands. AI is already creating unique art by referencing and recognizing existing images. It is not very far down the road that the unique and subjective becomes identifiable and quantifiable by an AI system. Identifying countertop material, flooring, paint, roof quality and even cabinet design could be quantified against desirability and past sales to create highly accurate

assessments. Satellite imagery can be scanned to show crown spacing in trees, combined with current weather patterns and soil samples, past sales and harvest data, and pulled together into increasingly accurate pricing for timber or farm crops.

AI’s Impact on Paperwork

Paperwork has always been burdensome, especially for unique real estate. Forms have to be created according to legal specifications and each individual is different. The paperwork must work for everybody, so there are increasingly more complex options to fit all circumstances. Sometimes there are no suitable options. AI will be able to create simple and individualized legal documents to purchase and sell any good or service. This might be as simple as answering questions on a recording, the system recognizing vocal answers and the automated generation of a signed document. This system might even be equipped to answer any questions regarding the contract. Advanced AI models may be able to participate in negotiations with a table of participants, auto-generating new conditions for the contract in real-time as they are agreed to.

AI's Effect on Property Search

Property search is one of the most valuable pieces of the real estate market. Zillow, realtor.com and Redfin are the most well-known sites dedicated to real estate search and we are all aware of the significance of these companies. Hundreds of sites are devoted to real estate search with varying amounts of success. Imagine if one of them is beating the industry to the punch with AI support. These sites sometimes limit what real estate is being shown based on how much realtors pay them to show it, which does not benefit

the consumer. One of these companies will invest in AI that pulls in every available option and allows unlimited enhancements to the search based on the user's inputs. These inputs might be as simple as saying, “I don’t like that property, but I like the house color and the horse stables at the neighbor's place.”

Linking MLS feeds to your website can take a lot of work. MLS feeds vary greatly; some haven’t been updated since the early 2000s. AI is now generating custom code from scratch based on the language used between two communicating sites. We can anticipate technology emerging quickly that can link up two pieces of software with minimal error.

The Future of AI in the Real Estate Industry

The real estate industry is poised for a significant transformation with the introduction of AI, which promises to streamline lead acquisition, personalize the customer journey and improve the accuracy of property assessments. It can also simplify paperwork and enhance property search capabilities. While some may be apprehensive about the impact of AI on the industry, it is clear that AI technology has the potential to revolutionize the way the real estate industry operates. Real estate businesses that embrace and integrate AI into their operations will likely benefit from increased efficiency, accuracy and profitability, ultimately leading to a more dynamic and competitive business.

These are only a few ways AI may impact the real estate industry. Most of this is low-hanging fruit that is likely in the works as you’re reading this. Over the next 10 years, AI will become second nature to our existence and we will take this wonder for granted as we fear its evolution.

UNITS HAVE HIGH-END FINISHES

TF CORNERSTONE DEBUTS 595 DEAN ST. IN PROSPECT HEIGHTS

In a major New York City example of adaptive reuse, a former baking plant in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, has been converted into a two-tower, mixed-use residential community at 595 Dean St.

Part of the master-planned Pacific Park development near Grand Army Plaza, 595 Dean St. offers 798 studio, onebedroom and two-bedroom rentals with 30% (240 apartments) at 130 Area Median Income (AMI), available through the lottery program on Housing Connect. Designed by Handel Architects. 595 Dean St. also adds 469 vehicle parking garage spots to the neighborhood and 3,412 square feet of ground-floor retail space.

“Like all of our projects, 595 Dean St. was developed with a focus on enlivening and catering to the local community,” said Zoe Elghanayan, principal and senior vice president at TF Cornerstone (TFC), the developer. This is TFC’s second and largest ground-up residential development in Brooklyn after the 2017 opening of 33 Bond St., a 714-unit rental building in

Downtown Brooklyn.

The project incorporates a 60,000-square-foot public plaza and 28,750 square feet of resident-exclusive outdoor amenity spaces designed by landscape architecture firm MNLA, the designer behind New York projects including Governors Island Park and Public Space and Little Island. The public outdoor green spaces include a picnic grove, shaded woodland gardens, a fountain and a landscaped central lawn surrounded by walkways. Beside the East Tower, wood-cladded steps will offer seating, and a series of water jets will spray from the ground so locals can cool off during the warmer months.

Beside the West Tower, there is a colorful playground and a dog run. Between the two towers, the public and residents can enjoy a grassy field surrounded by a variety of colorful, native plantings and benches. As a homage to the Ward Baking Company Building, which occupied the site starting in 1911, a monument is sited near the former

NATURAL LIGHT ABOUNDS

PHOTOS BY ERIN WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY

RENDERING COURTESY OF TF CORNERSTONE

storefront, featuring artifacts from the original industrial baking plant.

“This project far exceeds public amenity offerings in typical contemporary multifamily housing and goes above and beyond by providing a large public park,” said Signe Nielsen, founding principal, MNLA. “The park is easily accessible from the street and leads visitors to a variety of spaces with facilities for all ages all within a lushly planted and performative landscape that contributes to biodiversity and stormwater management.”

Inside the complex, residents have access to a rooftop swimming pool, sundeck, barbecue grills, lounges for play and TFC’s Homework coworking lounges for study, as well as private conference rooms, a screening room, an arcade-style game room, a children’s playroom, a cardio fitness room, a dog grooming space with third-party concierge services offered by Throw Me A Bone and a new Chelsea Piers Fitness and Chelsea Piers Field House. Residents of 595 Dean St. will also have their own entrance to Chelsea Piers Fitness through the East Tower lobby

lounge as well as a 50% membership discount to Chelsea Piers Fitness.

Interior common areas were designed by Handel Architects. The units feature stainless steel appliances and high-end finishes, with select units featuring in-unit washers and dryers, windowed kitchens, natural light and forever unobstructed southern views.

“595 Dean will be incredible. The building prioritizes the pedestrian and the street experience and has a big park just outside your front door. The interiors draw inspiration from the park through a gallery filled with natural light, plants and amenities under a wood trellis ceiling,” said Frank Fusaro, AIA, partner at Handel Architects.

The building’s elevated interior design is also evident within its common spaces, the product of multiple collaborations with Brooklyn-based designers, showcasing TFC’s commitment to the city and neighborhood.

For a studio and one-bedroom model unit, TFC partnered with fast-growing design and project management firm Brownstone Boys,

featured numerous times on HGTV and The Magnolia Network. Specializing in the complete restoration and remodeling of historic Brooklyn brownstone properties, 595 Dean St. is the Brownstone Boys’ first foray in the multifamily rental space. Led by Barry Bordelon and Jordan Slocum, the Brownstone Boys bring historical style and trendy new-world charm to the project by recreating characteristics original to Brooklyn townhomes, to the clean, sleek space of a brandnew modern rental.

Numerous furnishings throughout the amenities were designed by a contemporary mirror, furniture and product design studio, Bower Studios, located in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Brought on early during the design development phase of planning, Bower Studios created numerous custom mirrors and furnishings in the main lobby and through the gallery walkway. Bower Studios designed a custom take on 25 signature mirrors including a large marble and glass mirror in the lobby and an experiential configuration of mirrors lining the corridor connecting the two towers. Focused on mixed materials

with a cohesive feel, Bower Studios also designed numerous accent and coffee tables as well as lounge seating to coincide with their signature custom mirror designs.

TFC also collaborated with long-time partner Mark Jupiter, a custom furniture design/build company in Dumbo, to handcraft signature pieces for the amenity lounge spaces. Using reclaimed wood from trees originally grown in Brooklyn over 400 years ago, Jupiter paid tribute to the history of the neighborhood through curated pieces including conference, cafe and meeting tables. TFC’s seven-year relationship with Jupiter has spanned several projects including the Carnegie Hall Tower in Midtown Manhattan, 95 Horatio in the West Village, 33 Bond St. in Downtown Brooklyn and all of the tables in the amenities and lobby of The Max at 606 West 57th St.

595 Dean St. opens with market-rate net effective rents starting at $2,998 for studios, $3,800 for one-bedrooms, $5,486 for two-bedroom one-bath layouts and $6,036 for two-bedroom, two-bath layouts.

EAST PLAZA ENTRANCE DESIGNED BY MNLA

The Right Materials Right When You Need Them

EXPERIENCE

Feldman Lumber has been a leading supplier to contractors and industrial companies in New York since 1912.

KNOWLEDGE

Our sales representatives, yard and delivery personnel create the perfect team for you and your business.

DEDICATION

We take exceptional pride in getting orders to our customers — when and where they need them.

Professional contractors, remodelers, manufacturing and industrial companies throughout the New York Metropolitan Area know that when it comes to building materials, Feldman Lumber is the right choice.

HOW PRE-PROJECT PLANNING WILL DETERMINE SUCCESS MORE THAN EVER IN 2023

The role of project planning is difficult to overstate, especially when the traditional ways of working have been upended in recent years. Fluctuating material costs and supply chain shortages are leading to protracted schedules and unpredictable budgets, and this is not changing in the near term. It has become apparent that for a project to be completed successfully, all pieces must be placed together as early into a project’s lifespan as possible.

Projects today require a level of proactivity and preparedness from all project teams that owners and project stakeholders are unaccustomed to. With supply chain constraints affecting everything from budgets and lead times, having a detailed plan in place can be the deciding factor between a project running optimally and one that will be difficult to navigate throughout each stage of its lifecycle, with the potential for financial exposure.

Getting ahead of issues such as unrealistic constraints or expectations, workforce issues, budgets and schedule timelines is imperative, and planning ahead will help mitigate and alleviate the impact of these challenges on the project.

Working through this pre-planning is a great way to establish trust and credibility with the client team. This trusting relationship is important from project onset, particularly as it pertains to those clients who have a specific budget or pro forma in mind. Invariably, there will be an issue or item that will impact the initial budget, which will require skillful communication to convey effectively.

According to a January report from the Association of General Contractors, construction material supplies alone were up 20% from the previous year, and the prior year saw incredible spikes in lumber

and then variability across several other raw materials that impacted construction costs across multiple trades.

When working with construction budgets, every line item is up for scrutiny. An experienced project manager will be able to identify what aspects of the project may be high-risk and whether the budgeting is adequate, and then continue and refine the analysis as the design develops.

For owners, having effective financial processes and administrative skills is crucial. This includes all of the key projectrelated items, but also frequently includes a working knowledge of bank operations, the filing of paperwork, requesting jurisdictional approvals and organizing items so that they will be readily accessible and available to the project team. One mistake in paperwork, for example, can cost projects thousands of dollars.

One strategy for mitigating supply chain issues is to plan for the early procurement or pre-ordering of various materials and equipment for the project. This should be identified from the beginning to meet and stay ahead of deadlines. Working with a client’s standards or with the design team on new, custom projects, the more we can identify the at-risk items and work towards a specification as early as possible will help to mitigate these exposures.

Regardless of one’s history or relationship with a contractor or subcontractor doing this type of procurement, it can no longer be taken for granted that all materials will be available within four to six weeks as the industry became accustomed in prior years. To have materials and equipment ready when they will be needed now requires that procurement happen several months earlier than folks are accustomed to. This is by no means a reflection of

anyone’s own merit or abilities; the unpredictability miring the post-pandemic supply chain will often catch them by surprise as well.

Taking advantage of this process does require planning on contracts and defining these activities upfront. This impacts how the design team, contractors and sub-contractors are engaged. Mapping out these strategies is part of the pre-planning and validation of the budget, schedule and delivery approach to ensure the entire team is positioned for success.

The benefits that can be reaped by preparing a project in this way, however, are that all materials will be ready when they are needed and that there will be a significantly reduced chance for last-minute changes. While this admittedly could require storage capabilities — in addition to the costs associated with it — the peace

By Adam Wemhaner Senior Vice President at MGAC

of mind and potential capital savings greatly outweigh these costs, particularly as this storage space can be used across multiple projects.

Virtually all sectors of today’s real estate industry either meet or exceed their pre-pandemic figures, so it is far more financially unviable for multimillion-dollar projects to be held up by items as small as doors.

As the construction industry adapts to new ways of working, it is an opportune time to introduce some improvements in delivery strategies and new methodologies to avoid the linear thinking and legacy approach to material procurement. By implementing additional levels of preplanning, it will set a new precedent, process and expectations, therefore creating standards from which the industry will only benefit in the future.

ASK THE EXPERT: BREANA WHEELER

Breana Wheeler became BRE's director of operations in the United States in June 2016. BRE is a 100-year-old building science research organization focused on making buildings better for people and for the environment. BRE developed BREEAM, the world’s first and leading science-based suite of validation and certification systems for a sustainable built environment.

Wheeler oversees the deployment of the BREEAM family of standards in the U.S. Additionally, she supports technical work on resilience and social impact in BREEAM. Prior to joining BRE, she worked for 10 years as an internal advisor on environmental and sustainability risk management for large, multinational corporations. She discusses the importance of and differences between the certifications.

BREANA WHEELER

What's the difference between BREEAM and other programs?

BW: As a science-driven platform, BREEAM has set itself apart from other certification standards with a more holistic and impact-based assessment that emphasizes addressing environmental impacts, occupant health and well-being and the growth and protection of asset value. We understand the value and importance of a robust certification process, and BREEAM utilizes third-party, on-site verification to ensure validity, credibility and, ultimately, accountability. At BREEAM, we believe that certification is a starting point — a tool for providing transparency to stakeholders about risk and opportunity — rather than an end goal. As such, we continuously work with clients to utilize BREEAM to identify liabilities and capture emerging opportunities, building out holistic effective solutions and a meaningful pathway toward sustainable building improvement across the global commercial real estate sector.

Why expand in the U.S.?

The asset-level risks and overall industry threat that the climate crisis poses on commercial real estate are not limited by any geographical bounds, yet countries vary in their proactive response to the issue. The United States has the largest real estate market in the world, which means that it also has the most buildings that need help to address this crisis. The importance of following the science to solve problems has never been more apparent. We’re providing the only science-based standard in the U.S. for understanding holistic sustainability performance in buildings.

Additionally, real estate is a global asset class, and we work with many of the most active investors

in the U.S. market on a global scale. These investors are requiring that BREEAM be used in the U.S. market to provide them with consistency across their portfolios and the confidence that BREEAM’s certification provides for assets anywhere in the world. In places like Europe, regulations are far more rigorous than those here. For owners in the U.S. looking to strengthen asset value and attain international capital, utilizing BREEAM gives them a leg up by achieving a standard that meets more stringent international requirements.

Our goal is to provide developers, owners and operators with a science-based definition of what a true sustainable building looks like — taking into account all relevant considerations, from social impact through the long-term financial health of an asset — and the ESG and sustainability efforts that BRE has shepherded in the U.K. have paved the way for us to take lessons learned and apply them to the U.S. market to begin seeing immediate improvements.

How bad is it?

Over the past few decades — and most prominently in the past few years — the climate crisis has shifted from an abstract, theoretical risk, to a clear imminent threat at a global scale that is happening in real time. It’s a widely quoted statistic that the building and construction sector accounts for 40% of global emissions; as such, in the real estate industry, we have a responsibility to mitigate climate risks and the industry’s contribution to this issue, working to drive a positive impact.

We already have the necessary tools to start making meaningful improvements and effecting change through thoughtful,

strategic efforts and best practices. Shifting to building and operating sustainable and resilient assets is critical to the long-term survival of the value of the real estate sector — but it’s important to remember that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and if we take the time to work together with intention, we won’t be operating out of a state of crisis forever.

You discuss "progress over perfection." What is that?

The concept of “progress over perfection” addresses a certain stigma within the industry that often encourages the promotion of assets already achieving high performance (a small percentage of the building stock) without acknowledging areas for improvement and weaknesses within a portfolio. Greenwashing has been a prominent concern across various stakeholder communities, and this concept centers on accountability and transparency for whole portfolio performance, not just the best performers.

With a “progress over perfection” mindset, BREEAM encourages building owners to avoid falling into a pattern of submitting only their strongest performing assets for certification to put on display — instead, BREEAM calls on users to consider the value of submitting all assets within their portfolio to gain better insights into where the gaps in performance are and how to bridge those gaps.

With an eye on 2050 as the very latest that all assets will need to fully decarbonize along with the rest of the economy to avoid catastrophic impacts from climate change, many assets will need time to get the necessary capital allocated and make the changes necessary. That means moving

deliberately with a clear plan to achieve that goal. That plan has to be informed by understanding the starting point. Realistically, we don’t have enough time to not take this approach.

What are the financial implications of not maximizing sustainability?

On the one hand, as catastrophic climate events increase both in terms of frequency and in the magnitude of damage done, building owners and operators must address the billions of dollars in losses these events amount to across the market annually. That’s just related to the physical damage these events cause — the economic fallout in an area damaged can cause property values to drop over the long term. While the former might be insurable, the latter is not. At the same time, pending regulations continue to include a mixed bag of carrots and sticks to be enforced across underperforming assets, while offering some credits and benefits to those assets which demonstrate strong performance and recognized improvements.

On a final note, as investor demands strengthen and concerns around greenwashing remain, forward-thinking companies that are implementing strategies to measure performance; holding themselves and their vendors accountable and accurately reporting ESG data will have a leg up in efforts to attain capital from investors both domestically and abroad.

Ultimately, to evade the risk of asset stranding and maintain value in the short- and long-term, players throughout the sector must understand the direct, growing link between climate and financial risks and take the relevant measures to mitigate these risks.

WHY MAINTENANCE

PLAYS A MAJOR ROLE IN GHG EMISSIONS

BY CORENET NEW YORK CITY SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE

Facilities management should work hand in hand with sustainability to influence GHG emissions. Developing a GHG Carbon Reduction program, complete with a vision, measurable goals, strategies and tactics is critical. Understanding baselines is also key. The facility manager’s impact is typically most notable in the areas of electricity, natural gas and water.

There are many incentives and resources available to help companies reduce their GHG emissions. Since Scope 3 (indirect emissions generated by a company not under Scope 2) emissions are often greater than Scope 1 (direct emissions from an organization's owned operations) and 2 (indirect emissions from purchased

electricity, steam, heating and cooling) combined, supply chain vendor partners must be closely evaluated. The communication of a GHG reduction program is just as important as the program itself.

Sustainability is a core pillar of facilities management. Following best practices, the two work directly in parallel rather than as independent priorities. During the holding period, the facility manager has a significant opportunity to influence carbon emissions/ reduction as well as general employee health and wellbeing related to sustainable best practices.

The built environment emits a significant amount of GHG emissions. As direct operators

of the built environment, Scope 1 and 2 emissions are in the facility manager’s direct control; however, Scope 3 emissions are also well within their influence.

The facility manager’s involvement in sustainability and the reduction of GHG emissions is paramount. The facility manager oversees building operations, engages with the landlord, partners with many stakeholders day-to-day and has high interaction with the employee population. Due to this, the facility manager is often the catalyst for driving impactful, scalable initiatives and ensuring their success. The facility manager must conduct continuous monitoring that provides actionable insights on how to improve building operational efficiency; an effective building management system is paramount in this effort.

Strategic Planning

Sustainable practices are often done by optimizing what already exists, rather than starting from scratch.

Developing a GHG carbon reduction program’s structure is critical. Often, program development is best suited to begin with defining direction and vision first and goal setting second. Like anything else, a SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound) goal cannot be set without a true understanding of current baselines and the outcome in mind. This allows for a clear understanding of what qualitative outcomes are expected, without setting possibly unachievable quantitative metrics. This also enables global programs the flexibility required given the vast differences of building operation, employee culture and local regulations.

Any initiatives or programs must first be aligned with a company’s mission and vision to develop appropriate goals. Once goals are set, a strategic framework must be developed to clearly define the strategic approach and tactical actions to achieve it. This framework should identify areas of focus, key initiatives and metrics to allow for measurement and prioritization. If a portfolio consists of multiple sites, it may be most prudent to select a few to begin with. These sites should be selected with measurable criteria in mind, such as energy use intensity, lease length and type, facility size

and any notable technical requirements.

A GHG carbon reduction program is most notably a smart business. In addition to providing a benefit to the environment, it provides benefits to corporations, oftentimes where initiatives will pay for themselves. Strong business cases must be made to articulate these benefits to senior management.

Incentive and Resource Opportunities

As aggressive sustainability and carbon reduction strategies are pushed throughout New York City and State, resources are provided to support building owners, operators and tenants in their journeys. Although sustainable best practices and a GHG carbon reduction program will typically pay for themselves, they do sometimes come at a large upfront cost. The below programs offer opportunities for significant rebates and no-cost scopes of work to help owners, operators and tenants the resources and funding to succeed. Please note, this list is not exhaustive.

• Con Edison Instant Lighting Incentive Program: Offers reimbursements to replace inefficient lighting with LEDs as a discount on invoices.

• NY Power Authority Incentives and Grants: The New York Power Authority (NYPA) provides clean energy solutions, incentives, grants, and special programs to support energy efficiency projects. Contact the NYPA Incentives and Grants team for more information.

• NYSERDA: The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) offers a multitude of resources to support energy efficiency.

• Real-Time Management (RTEM) Program. NYSERDA can potentially cover up to 33% of all eligible costs including hardware, installation and three years of ongoing support from energy experts.

• Strategic Energy Management Program. Training your facilities management team may prove to be beneficial. NYSERDA provides you with the tools to manage energy in a coordinated and strategic way across your organization. Two training options are offered that teach businesses how to establish and implement best practices that empower and motivate workforces to contribute to energy strategy and goals.

THOUGHTS ON THE 2023 CONSTRUCTION SUPPLY CHAIN

Beginning with the first COVID-19 shutdown in Wuhan, China, the supply chain for construction materials has been rather unpredictable, and prices for construction supplies have continued to increase. At the commencement of the pandemic, China was the leading supplier of many construction materials. That changed as the impacts of China’s zero COVID-19 policy resulted in periodic shutdowns throughout the country. Between February 2020 and the present, the U.S. construction industry has developed alternative materials while opening new supply lines domestically, as well as internationally.

Carol A. Sigmond Partner

Greenspoon Marder LLP

590 Madison Avenue, Suite 1800 New York, NY 10022

carol.sigmond@gmlaw.com

(212)524-5074

For boards of cooperative and condominium buildings, residents and even managing agents, 2023 shows signs of presenting fewer supply chain issues for basic construction materials. However, issues arising out of the overall labor shortage may continue in 2023.

The shortage of skilled labor in ports and transportation will continue to result in distribution issues. Similarly, there is a continuing shortage of skilled construction workers. Many skilled workers left the construction labor market during the pandemic and have not returned. Approximately 22% of truck drivers and construction workers are baby boomers (birth years 1946-1964). Immigrants alone make up about 25% of the construction labor force. Young Americans, meanwhile, are more attracted to the technology industry than construction, suggesting that the labor shortages in construction and trucking may continue or

perhaps even worsen.

On a more positive note, there are alternative materials in greater supply, such as ByBlock or fly ash for concrete, steel insulated panels or engineered wood for lumber, or mineral wool or various foams for insulation. Pre-cast concrete panels, prefabricated assemblies and lightweight self-anchoring concrete panels are building options. Flexibility as to material choices, colors and decorative finishes is key to overcoming supply chain issues. One aspect of the supply chain issue that has had a potentially positive impact: pushing forward alternative products that are also green.

Other strategies in place to address supply chain issues include early ordering of materials. The industry has responded with tighter scheduling and more accurate and frequent schedule updates. The industry has also been using more three-dimensional modeling in design, to allow for more precise ordering of materials, which has led to less waste.

Inflation is easing a bit as well. Economists seem to be anticipating only a 6% increase in construction material costs in 2023, which is approximately 2% less than in 2022. Prices for some products, like semiconductors, are stabilizing. Others, like mechanical and electrical parts, remain in demand.

This column presents a general discussion. This column does not provide legal advice. Please consult your attorney for legal advice.

PRESENTING YOUR BUSINESS AS A BEST-IN-CLASS

RISK TO THE INSURANCE MARKETPLACE

Recent events have been unkind to the real estate industry’s insurance rates — but that doesn’t mean owners and operators should give up hope of getting affordable coverage. Because of losses, insurance carriers have pulled back the amount of insurance they’ll offer and have significantly raised rates. It’s the very definition of a “hard market.” The capacity issue is especially acute in catastrophe-prone areas, where real estate owners and operators need creative solutions to find insurance.

Frank DeLucia

Senior Vice President

Hub International Northeast

frank.delucia@

hubinternational.com

(212)338-2395

Several factors are causing the persistent hard market in real estate coverage, from catastrophe-related claims to inflation, supply chain challenges and outdated property valuations causing rebuilding costs to rise beyond what insurers priced policies to cover.

On the property insurance side, water damage and catastrophic weather events have been costly for insurers while on the liability side, increasing claims for slips and falls have led to expensive lawsuits. Lower interest rates push premiums higher.

Despite the hard market, businesses still can control and manage losses. Strategies include:

• Preventative maintenance. This improves building safety and can reduce the likelihood of claims. Test fire pumps monthly, fix broken handrails immediately and replace old electrical panels.

• Water damage mitigation plans. Losses from water damage are the most common cause of insurance claims in real estate. It’s essential to have water damage

prevention and mitigation plans.

• Emergency planning. Every property in a portfolio should have an “all hazards” emergency plan that applies to possible crisis scenarios including fire, earthquake, flood, windstorm, workplace violence, terrorism and other location-specific risks. Identify ways to mobilize building occupants in the event of an emergency and emphasize communicating the emergency plan to building occupants.

• Enhanced safety and security. Property managers and owners should develop a comprehensive safety and audit program to ensure the physical safety of building occupants. The plan should include employee training on identifying hazards or risks before they cause losses. It should also ensure building security with cameras and access control or with a third-party security team where needed. Common areas like parking lots or high-traffic spaces should be kept clear.

• Vet all contractors. All vendors should provide a certificate of insurance before performing work. Review the vendor’s insurance policy to ensure there are no exclusions to prohibit them from assuming risk. The property owner should also request to be added as an additional insured to their policy.

Now more than ever, it is imperative to work with your insurance advisor to review your coverages and to understand what your P&C policies cover, what they don’t and the best ways to mitigate the individual and unique risks of your properties.

A MODERN APPROACH TO COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE, POWERED BY A CENTURY'S WORTH

OF

EXPERIENCE.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the following people:

Our team & staff for their endless dedication and support

Our tenants for their cooperation to keep our buildings safe

Our partners for their trust and confidence in these challenging times

All New Yorkers working tirelessly to keep our city moving

We hope everyone continues to be healthy and safe in 2021.

MASTER BACKYARDING: TAKING OUTDOOR LIVING TO THE NEXT LEVEL

You’ve heard of a master gardener? How about master backyarding? Backyarding, the art of living, working and enjoying our yards, parks and community green spaces, became a way of life in the last few years. Now that life is turning to somewhat “normal,” the TurfMutt Foundation, which advocates for the care for and use of managed landscapes, has found people are finding ways to continue the backyarding trend by taking it to a new level. Enter master backyarding.

Kris Kiser

President and CEO Outdoor Power Equipment Institute

1605 King Street

Alexandria, VA 22314

turfmutt.com

(703)549-7600

Master backyarders have taken this idea to a new level. Their backyarding skills are elevated and inspirational. The TurfMutt Foundation says that the three key characteristics of master backyarders are:

Planting and planning with purpose. Master backyarders know that putting the right plant in the right place is good for the environment and eases maintenance. They recognize the value of their outdoor space to the overall eco corridors and plant with pollinators and other wildlife in mind. Most of all, they know that if they work in the yard it will work for them, their family and the environment.

Taking all aspects of life outside. For master backyarders, the yard is not just beautiful, it is an integral part of their everyday lives. They use their yards for everything; it’s hard to tell where the indoor living shifts to the outdoors for master backyarders.

Inspiring others about backyarding. If you have a master backyarder in your life, you have no doubt heard them tout the many

benefits of backyarding. Not to mention the joy they get out of cultivating their backyard space and using it. Master backyarders are backyarding advocates and they share their knowledge with others, including their kids — the next generation of backyarders.

So how do you know if you are a master backyarder? Ask yourself these questions:

1. Do you use your yard for recreation?

2. Do you take work outside?

3. Have you created an outdoor fun zone in your backyard for your kids and pets?

4. Do you use your yard to de-stress?

5. Have you staged a “staycation” for your family in your own backyard?

6. Do you recognize your backyard as an urban habitat that is an important part of the connected ecosystem?

7. Do you plant with pollinators and other backyard wildlife in mind?

8. Have you added a mix of trees, shrubs, grass and flowering plants to your yard?

9. Have you used your backyard or community park as a living science lab to teach kids hands-on STEM lessons?

10. Are you an outdoor evangelist who shares with friends and family about the benefits of getting outside, starting in your own backyard?

If you answered yes to most of the above, congratulations! You are mastering outdoor life. Master backyarders are inspirational, and we should all strive to level up our outdoor living to this status. Now is the perfect time to take the next step to living life more outdoors.

LANGSAM PROPERTY SERVICES CORP., AMO

Langsam Property Services Corp. is a Bronx-based real estate management company. These buildings are located in the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, and lower Westchester County.

Langsam is designated as an Accredited Management Organization (AMO), a standard of excellence in management conferred by the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM).

1601 Bronxdale Avenue

Bronx, New York 10462

Tel: 718. 518. 8000

Fax: 718.518. 8585

Mark Engel, CEO President

DEB’S RETAIL DISH AND DEALS: A POSITIVE REPORT

It’s always a highlight to receive Marcus & Millichap’s annual Retail Investment Forecast, and the 2023 edition was no exception, especially for its optimistic tone.

Debra Hazel President

Debra Hazel Communications

North Las Vegas, NV

(201)618-5247

I’ve often said that the retail real estate crisis of the past three years was a rare one in that the industry had no part in creating it: no overbuilding, no overleveraging and no wacky financing schemes in other sectors. Instead, COVID-19 came at a time when developers were being disciplined in construction and creative in finding re-leasing solutions as retailers went through the e-commerce revolution. Now, those owners/managers are reaping the benefits, the report said.

Nationally, the retail sector is expected to record the smallest vacancy fluctuation among major commercial real estate property types in 2023, the report said. With relatively little new space coming on line (pardon the pun), the sector remains a solid investment, with a diverse mix of private and institutional investors remaining active, especially in tertiary markets including San Antonio, Texas; Salt Lake City, Utah and Raleigh, North Carolina.

“Tight conditions are supported by a moderate construction pipeline, which will limit options for expanding retailers and tenants with upcoming lease expirations, a boon for retail property owners,” the report said. “Among the nation’s largest markets, more than half will record inventory growth of less than 0.5% this year, with Texas and Florida's metros collectively accounting for 40% of near-term supply additions.”

However, do expect that the sales growth of previous years will moderate as the stimulus monies are a memory, supply chain issues linger and the resulting inflation persists. With operations back to normal, the sector looks good to weather this tempest, especially for owners of necessity retail as consumers cut back on discretionary purchases.

The firm’s National Retail Index was led this year by Southeast Florida, as West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale claimed the top and second spots, respectively, due to healthy household formation. Jacksonville, Florida, ranked third with Tampa-St. Petersburg, Florida at No. 7 because of similar demographics. Atlanta ranked fourth. While fifth-ranked Austin, Texas also faces new supply pressure, a positive employment outlook relative to the rest of the country helps the market rank above the other major Southwestern metros of Las Vegas (16th), Phoenix (17th) and Dallas-Fort Worth (18th).

New York City came 33rd, as the very slow return of workers to offices continue to plague area retailers and vacancy ticked up 20 basis points. But tourism has bounced back and should be at pre-pandemic levels by the end of the year, the report said. The outer boroughs also continue to strengthen long-term, with leasing activity outside Manhattan at an all-time high in the last quarter of 2022.

Overall, it seems, retail has weathered COVID-19 and its ancillary crises well, good news as we gather for ICSC Las Vegas later this month. See you there!

BANQUET AWARDS

31

GUASTAVINO’S - NEW YORK, NY

Please join us for the presentation of the Conrad B. Duberstein Memorial Award, and the Leadership in Credit Education Awards. We look forward to seeing you for cocktails, networking and a presentation you won’t want to miss! The presentations will begin promptly at 7:00 PM.

CHIEF JUDGE MARTIN GLENN PAUL SCHULDINER PAUL SHUR

NEW ENERGY TAX CREDITS UNDER THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) expanded the investment tax credits (ITC) available for production and conservation of energy and natural resources. The amount of the credit for a taxable year equals the applicable percentage multiplied by the basis of the energy property placed in service during the year.

The IRA created a two-tier rate structure. The base rate is between 2% and 6% for facilities placed in service after 2021, and the enhanced rate is 10% to 30% for facilities placed in service after 2021.

Stephen M. Gilman Tax Partner Marcum LLP Boston, MA

stephen.gilman@marcumllp.com

To qualify for the enhanced or bonus energy percentage (five times the base rate), the energy project must be: one with a maximum net output of less than 1 megawatt of electrical or thermal energy; one that begins construction before January 29, 2023 or one that satisfies the prevailing wage requirements and apprenticeship requirements (PWAR).

Prevailing Wage Requirements

The taxpayer must ensure that laborers and mechanics employed are paid at rates that are at least the prevailing rates for similar work pursuant to local guidelines as most recently determined by the Secretary of Labor.

Apprenticeship Requirements

To satisfy the apprenticeship requirements, the taxpayer must do all of the following:

1. Satisfy the Apprenticeship Labor Hour Requirements, subject to any applicable Apprenticeship Ratio Requirements,

2. Satisfy the Apprenticeship Participation Requirements and

3. Comply with general recordkeeping requirements under section 6001 and reg. 1.6001-1.

Additional Increase to Energy Credit

Two additional increases to the energy credit are also available: Domestic Content Requirement (DCR) and Energy Community (EC). Both of these allow for an additional credit of 10% for projects that satisfy the prevailing wage requirements and apprenticeship requirements, or 2% for projects that do not.

Domestic Content Rules

The domestic content rules are satisfied with respect to a qualified facility if the taxpayer certifies that any steel, iron or manufactured product that is a component of such facility was produced in the United States. There are several special rules regarding specific materials used, manufacturing processes and applicable percentages of domestic content.

Energy Community Rules

The federal government is providing additional incentives for investment in communities challenged by the transition to clean energy. These include brownfield sites, metropolitan statistical areas or nonmetropolitan statistical areas that meet employment or tax revenue thresholds related to extraction, processing or storage of coal, oil or natural gas and other employment rate requirements.

There are several beginning-of-construction and placed-in-service constraints, as well as others that should be reviewed with regard to energy property.

Itinerary

8:30 AM

Arrival and Registration

9:00 AM

Breakfast/Brunch

11:00 AM

Call to Carts

11:15 AM (SHARP)

Shotgun Start

5:00-6:00 PM

Hors D’oeuvres and Cocktails

6:00-7:00 PM

Dinner and Presentation of Golf Winners and Honorees

Tickets

GOLF

$750 per person

$3,000 per foursome

DINNER & COCKTAILS ONLY

$250 per person

ANNUAL GOLF OUTING

OCTOBER 2, 2023

HONOREES

Join us for the National Realty Club Foundation golf outing at the lovely Fresh Meadow Country Club in Lake Success, New York for a great day of golf, food, and networking. The National Realty Club was founded 76 years ago by Harry Helmsley. Currently leading the charge has been Jeffrey Mann with the help of Robert Romanoff, Jonathan Stern, Bob Knakal, Ed Wilkin, Jamiee Nardiello, Gregg Schenker, Orin Wilf, Dean Palin, Jay Neveloff, Pam Swidler, Lou Switzer and others. We are unifying individuals who can gain from one another as well as having a charitable arm to raise money to support NYC in areas that need help.

For more information, please contact penny@nationalrealtyclub.org

Michael Kerr Chairman M&R Management Co., Inc

Zachary Kerr President M&R Management Co., Inc

HANDLING DEFAULTS OF MONTHLY PAYMENTS

In the past, severe financial turmoil, such as in the early 1990s, the dotcom bust and the 2008 financial crisis, has led to an increase in residents of condos and co-ops falling behind in their monthly charges.

Ira Meister

President and CEO

Matthew Adam Properties Inc.

375 Pearl Street – 14th Floor

New York, NY 10038

imeister@matthewadam.com

(212)699-8900

This puts pressure on boards, particularly of co-ops, to be vigilant in approving new purchasers and aggressive when a resident is in arrears in maintenance charges. In both co-ops and condos, residents’ failure to pay burdens the property as well as other unit owners or shareholders who must cover the reduced cash flow. This is a heavier burden in co-ops, where real estate taxes are included in the monthly payments. In condos, the unit owner pays directly to the city.

Richard Montanye, CPA, managing partner at Marin & Montanye LLP, said that boards work on tight budgets with little room for cuts as most expenses are fixed. It’s estimated that about 90% of costs fall into this category. Montanye recommends that boards closely monitor expenses and determine maintenance increases that cover costs. This is especially true in the past year with eye-opening upticks in energy, labor and taxes.

What steps should a board take? Montanye advised boards to closely vet the finances of the prospective buyer, adding that banks are less stringent in looking at the applicant’s information and permit higher levels of financing. He also warned against applicants who have a variable mortgage rate. As we have seen in the past year, rates can skyrocket in a short period.

For applicants with borderline finances, Attorney Aaron Shmulewitz of Belkin Burden Goldman LLP, said boards could obtain a year’s worth of maintenance charges as security to be held in escrow. However, Shmulewitz noted, boards must refrain from imposing requirements so stringent that many buyers would not qualify and current shareholders could not sell.

So, what is a board to do when a resident starts to fall behind? Both agree the board should commence legal action after the second month of non-payment. One effective tactic Montanye has seen is denying the parking space or gym use to delinquent payers. Shmulewitz suggested that boards can loosen their rules on subleasing.

Besides a non-payment eviction procedure in Housing Court, another option for boards is to take what is called a plenary action in the Supreme Court where the cooperative sues for the amount due. Co-op boards should also notify a delinquent shareholder’s secured lender of the shareholder’s maintenance payment default, and demand that the lender pay the arrears under its recognition agreement with the cooperative. Lenders typically do so, and then start loan foreclosure proceedings against the shareholders.

The economic outlook is cloudy, but we have learned from experience that boards and property managers need to be ready to act quickly and aggressively if residents withhold monthly payments. Now is the time to establish action policies.

LAURENT

MICHAEL MINTZ

A retail and office core is continuing to be built 30 miles south of Salt Lake City, with the development of Mountain View Village, a mixed-use, open-air lifestyle development in Riverton, Utah.

Developed by CenterCal Properties on land acquired from Suburban Land Reserve Inc. (a real estate arm of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), and designed by architecture firm AO, the one million-square-foot project offers shopping, dining, office space and recreation to visitors and residents of the quickly developing neighborhoods nearby.

The 85-acre mixed-use lifestyle destination will eventually feature more than 30 dining options, a 14-screen Cinemark Theater complex, 177,000 square feet of Class A office space and retail including health, beauty and apparel boutiques, home furnishings and electronics.

The development will honor the area’s deep-rooted history with its architecture,

MIXING USES IN THE UTAH MOUNTAINS

A CHILDREN'S PLAY AREA ON THE LAWN

SOME OF 177,000 SQUARE FEET OF RETAIL

mature landscaping and Americana sculptures, creating a gathering place for the greater community.

The village center includes a plaza with a state-of-the-art fountain near an airy, glass-walled covered pavilion highlighting the local food scene with indoor and outdoor dining. The open space will serve as an intimate gathering spot with diverse entertainment, lounge, and action zones for all ages. The public lawn features space for games and a children’s play area, which includes a slide and apparatus mimicking a biplane.

AO also incorporated a built-in stadium-stair area with a communal firepit fixture for visitors to relax and enjoy in the gathering space, which surrounds a dramatic, three-story architectural micro-LED glass display. The 38-foot-wide, 42-foot-tall G-Glass display (the largest of its kind in the United States) projects images and videos from a micro-LED embedded glass building material, adding a unique attraction.

Mountain View Village buildings emulate the experience of a well-preserved, classic American town center with modern

touches. Building facades are reminiscent of a city hall, firehouse and library, and surround the central lawn with its LED light show fountain.

The landscape will include thousands of plants and 1,700 new trees throughout the property. Patriotic sculptures designed by artist Brian Keith will add to the ambiance. These large bronze pieces include a revolutionary Minuteman; Betsy Ross sewing the American flag; a young boy with his grandfather, hands over hearts and a sculpture titled “Majestic,” which features a 10-foot-tall eagle.

A FOUNTAIN WILL BE A GATHERING PLACE

PHOTOS COURTESY OF AO

PLAZA CONSTRUCTION COMPLETES

PARK LANE REIMAGINING

PHOTOS COURTESY OF MACIOCE PHOTOGRAPHY

LOBBY BAR

NORTH-FACING TOP FLOORS ARE PRESIDENTIAL SUITES

ROOFTOP LOUNGE

Central Park South’s Park Lane Hotel has recently completed its modernization, bringing new life and events to the venue.

Plaza Construction was selected to provide preconstruction and construction management services for the renovation of the hotel, located between Fifth and Sixth Avenues in midtown Manhattan overlooking Central Park. The hotel was designed by Emery Roth and Sons and constructed in 1971 by Harry Helmsley.

"The Park Lane Hotel is an iconic hotel in New York City,” said Peter J. Hulbert, Plaza’s executive in charge of Plaza Construction. “We were honored to work on this project and our talented team did an incredible job.”

PBDW Architect and Yabu

Pushelberg Design collaborated to create a new rooftop events venue, lobby bar, canopy-covered lounge space on roof setbacks and at grade in Rose Lane along with a complete refurbishment of 610 guestrooms,

ballrooms, gym, The Park Room and a restaurant. The north-facing top floors were renovated into presidential suites and a media room with views of Central Park.

The rooftop of the 47-story hotel is a brand-new vantage point, Darling, billed as the only rooftop lounge on Billionaires' Row — a garden oasis serving seafood towers and wine.

Inside the hotel, seven different room categories offer everything from studio suites

with plush seating areas and one-bedroom suites with freestanding soaking tubs to the Belvedere Suite, a two-bedroom penthouse on the 45th floor.

Outside of Darling, new dining locations include Harry’s New York Bar, an intimate space with a decidedly New York theme that serves up a mean martini, oysters, Mediterranean-style octopus and more. Additionally, Rose Lane, an all-day cafe and coffee bar, brings a Parisian flair to its guests.

THE HOTEL IS A FIXTURE ON CENTRAL PARK SOUTH

GROWING WITH THE COMMUNITY:

CONSTRUCTION BEGINS ON MENIFEE UNION SCHOOL DISTRICT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL #15

with student pickup and drop-off areas. The project scope will also require various off-site improvements, including street improvements to Wickerd Road.

“This is the second school we’ve worked on for Menifee Union School District, with Menifee Valley Middle School being the first,” said Andy Feth, project executive at C.W. Driver Companies, the contractor building the property. The architect is DLR Group|BakerNowicki.  “In that instance, it was an intricate expansion of an existing campus, while this is a completely new build from the ground up.”

Founded in the 1800s, the Menifee Union School District has experienced steady growth over more than a century, with an acceleration in the past 40 years. The Menifee Union School District is growing rapidly. In 1981, there were 301 students registered in the District. By 1985, the number had increased to 700, and today the District: serves over 11,440 students from preschool through grade 8 at one preschool, 11 elementary schools, one K-8

The Menifee Union School District continues to expand, as construction has begun on the $54.5 million K-5 Elementary School #15, which will serve approximately 600 students when it is completed in July 2024. Located in Riverside County, California, the planned campus will be spread across 46 acres and incorporate ample outdoor areas for physical activity and social gatherings.

The 75,000-square-foot new construction will include 23 classrooms, a kindergarten building, an administration building, a library, a food service kitchen and a multipurpose room, with the various buildings laid out in a horseshoe configuration. Plans include a modern multipurpose room with a state-of-the-art audio-visual system, play and track fields, and playgrounds for children's recreation. There will also be a 106-stall parking lot

school, a K-8 Virtual School, three middle schools and a robust Independent Study program. In addition to Menifee Elementary #15, C.W. Driver’s portfolio of K-12 work includes projects for San Diego USD’s Nipaquay Elementary School and multiple project modernizations, Grossmont UHSD’s El Capitan High School Events Center and multiple new and modernizations, San Dieguito UHSD’s Torrey Pines HS Modernization and New Digital Arts Building and Pacific Trails Middle School, Chino Valley USD’s New K-8 The Preserve II School and multiple project modernizations, Granada Hills Charter’s New TK-8 School Facility, Irvine USD’s New Solis Park K-8 School and Irvine HS Performing Arts Complex in addition to multiple new and modernization projects, Flintridge Preparatory School Bachmann Collaboration Building and Brentwood School Saltair West Annex and Parking Garage.

GROUND-UP BUILDING

LOEB & LOEB ADDS

LAROCHE TO REAL ESTATE DEPARTMENT

Loeb & Loeb has welcomed Chrystal Dyer LaRoche to the firm’s New York office as a partner in the real estate department. LaRoche works with real estate investment firms as well as Fortune 500 and midmarket companies on matters ranging from complex leasing transactions and the purchase and sale of real properties to mortgage portfolios, joint ventures, mergers, acquisitions and related financings.

“Chrystal’s broad-based real estate experience complements our diverse and robust real estate capabilities. Her addition will help us deepen the range of services we offer to our clients and further boost the strength of our market-leading real estate leasing practice,” said Raymond Sanseverino, chair of Loeb & Loeb’s real estate department.

LaRoche represents clients on matters involving commercial leasing, sponsored private real estate investment funds, distressed investments and lender negotiations, among other types of complex transactions. She has advised several high-profile real estate investment firms and banks on a range of matters involving all core real estate asset classes.

She earned her B.A. from the University of Virginia and her J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law. She joins Loeb & Loeb from law firm Ropes & Gray.

RETAIL REAL ESTATE VETERANS MALONEY AND ROSE JOIN WOODCLIFF REALTY ADVISORS

Veteran shopping center industry executives Gregory T. Maloney and Bill Rose have joined Woodcliff Realty Advisors LLC, announced Rudolph E. Milian president and CEO of the Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey-based commercial real estate consulting group.

Maloney retired earlier this year from his post as president and CEO of JLL Americas Retail and is now the retail advisor of GTM Associates LLC, based in Lauderdale-bythe-Sea, Florida. Rose is currently senior managing director of Institutional Property Advisors (IPA), a division of Marcus & Millichap, Inc. They will maintain their individual practices in addition to serving Woodcliff Realty clients.

For 25 years, Maloney delivered management, leasing, marketing, development, tenant representation and strategic consulting services to clients of JLL. Additionally, he took on the role of receiver for foreclosed properties and directed more than 15 company acquisitions. Rose is known for executing strategies relating to selling, buying and financing commercial real estate. Utilizing the strength of the Marcus & Millichap network of more than 80 offices across North America, Rose will assist Woodcliff clients in maximizing value from selling or acquiring shopping centers and mixed-use properties.

Chrystal Dyer LaRoche

Gregory Maloney (left) and Bill Rose (right)

JLL NAMES VALLIS HEAD OF COMMUNNICATIONS

Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated has appointed Laura Vallis to the role of head of communications. She will be responsible for leading the globally integrated strategy, implementation and delivery of communications to employees, partners and external audiences. She will report to Chief Marketing Officer Siddharth Taparia and will be based in New York.

“As JLL tells the story of our renewed brand promise – 'See a Brighter Way' –Laura’s more than 20 years of communications experience will be integral in guiding how we shape our narrative,” said Taparia. “Her proven forwardlooking thinking will support us in differentiating the JLL story in the market.”

Vallis was most recently the first chief communications officer at Manulife, where she established an integrated global communications function for the company. Previously, she was managing director and global head of corporate communications for Barclays’ Corporate and Investment Bank. She also served as chief of staff to the president of Dow Jones and has extensive consumer packaged goods experience, having spent much of her early career in corporate affairs leadership roles with AB InBev.

She holds an MBA from London Business School and an Honors BA from Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada.

TURTON BOND PROMOTES FLOOD TO PARTNER

Turton Bond, a construction consultancy company based in New York City, has named Darren Flood as the newest partner to the business. Flood joins existing Partners Will Turton, Chris Bond and Joe Stevens as a member of the business leadership team.

“We are thrilled to welcome Darren to Turton Bond and can’t wait to see him excel in his new position as partner,” Bond said.

Since joining Turton Bond in January 2021, Flood has been key to Turton Bond’s expansion and growth, especially on the West Coast. Flood’s goal was to mirror the growth and trajectory of the Turton Bond New York office, and in doing so, he has also been able to grow the team, diversify the client and sector portfolio, while also expanding Turton Bond’s presence in numerous locations on the West Coast, the company said.

Laura Vallis

Darren Flood

Gang Green

By Myles Mellor

Solution can be found online at: bit.ly/May23Crossword

Across

1 Mixed-use development project created by GID, that recently earned the Well Health Safety Rating, _____ Square

6 Fund provided to investors under the Act that created Opportunity Zones, abbr.

8 Innovative 9 Zip

10 Gets together with 11 Shady garden alcove

12 Statistical ups and downs

35 Green building certification letters, abbr.

Down

1 Source of green power

2 One World Trade Center, e.g.

3 Malicious software designed to block access to a computer system until a sum of money is paid

4 Capri or Elba

5 Moujan Vahdat's real estate company working to alleviate the homeless problem in NYC, two words

6 "We are the champions" singers

7 Joins together

13 Slip up

14 Jean fabric

15 Construction company that completed St. Johnland Assisted Living in Kings Park, NY, two words

18 Fiduciary

20 Stronghold

22 Big building

23 Transfers real estate, for example

29 Lawn material

31 Got hitched

32 Realtors’ org. 34 Circle ratio

Breath of Life Breath of Life

Monday, June 12, 2023

Old Oaks Country Club | Purchase, New York

Funds raised will help support groundbreaking medical research and treatment for patients with lung, heart, immune and related conditions, including asthma.

We Are Pleased to Welcome TOURNAMENT CHAIR

Roger A. Silverstein* Silverstein Properties, Inc.

CHAIRS EMERITI

Robert E. Helpern* Tannenbaum Helpern Syracuse & Hirschtritt LLP

Samuel B. Lewis* SBL Property Consultants, LLC

Stephen B. Siegel** CBRE, Inc.

*National Jewish Health Trustee | **Co-Chair, National Jewish Health Council of National Trustees

Christopher Stout

Amultifamily real estate investor for over a decade and a master operator, Christopher Stout oversees and leads all operations at StoutCap. With over 20 years of experience in the residential construction industry, Stout used his knowledge and expertise to transition his career from construction to real estate investing, a move that ultimately led to the creation of StoutCap.

Under his leadership and direction, StoutCap grew from $10 million to $33 million in assets under management in just 12 months. To date, StoutCap’s most recent and largest acquisition is a $10.25 million building with 117 units.

Stout is a certified contractor who attended Baruch College for business administration and management.

How long have you been in the industry?  I have been in the real estate investment industry for 12 years.

What brought you into the business?  I've always watched people who I wanted to

be like and emulate. Starting in my early 20s, I admired people who were successful in real estate investing, and wanted to pursue that myself. I watched the freedom and growth that was possible, and I was always attracted to the passive income it provided along with the ability to own hard assets.

What spurred your change from construction to investing?

In construction, when a project is finished, you have nothing but liability. When a project is over, that project will never pay you again. However, when the switch is made toward investing, the hardest part is the acquisition. After the acquisition, the property or asset will produce income for as long as you own the property, as long as it is operated properly.

Who influences you?

Barry Sternlicht, Grant Cardone, Steve Schwarzman, Warren Buffet and other great investors of our time.

Is investment still possible/profitable given rising interest rates?

Yes, totally. There are opportunities in every

market, despite rising interest rates. The position we are in right now is a little more difficult due to the newness of the current interest rate environment, with buyers and sellers being so far apart. While finding deals is more difficult in the current climate, it is still possible.

What investments are smart right now?

I think it is very important to wait for the right deal to come your way. If you don’t have the patience or the time to wait, it’s important to find someone who will. All of the opportunities today are in the retirement population: people looking to retire and who have “had enough.” Whether it be a multifamily building, another real estate asset class or an operating business, there is a ton of opportunity laying among people who are looking to retire.

What keeps you up at night?

If I can't sleep at night, it means I know I have to take action about something — it rarely means that I'm unsure of what to do. But, if anything is my main concern, it is the security of other people's money. They trust me with their capital, and it's up to me to make sure that it's protected.

Christopher Stout Principal of StoutCap

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RETAIL: STEADY AS SHE GOES

The reports of death of the mall — and of retail real estate overall — have been greatly exaggerated for the past 40 years or so, as various pundits cited urbanization, catalogs, TV shopping and e-commerce as challengers. But what could have been a real death blow, the COVID-19 pandemic, has merely been a blip, as shoppers have returned and new development has been disciplined. The result is an industry that has returned to health, as we can see by the numbers

102.8

Estimated retail square feet per capita in the U.S. in 2023, down slightly from 103.2 square feet in 2022 (CBRE U.S. Real Estate Market Outlook 2023)

$2,000

Annual rent per square foot in 2022 for Fifth Avenue between 49th and 60th Streets, the most expensive retail district in the world (Cushman & Wakefield, Main Streets 2022)

76 Million

The amount of space absorbed by U.S. retail tenants in 2022, the highest level since 2017 (JLL: United States Retail Outlook Q4 2022)

5%

The delinquency rate as a percentage of sales for CMS retail loans (excluding malls) in 2022, down from a peak of 9.4% in July 2020 (Marcus & Millichap, 2023 Retail Investment Forecast)

91.3%

Shopping center occupancy rate in 2022 (NCREIF, ICSC Research)

85%

The percentage of retail sales that take place in brick-and-mortar stores (Statista)

A new perspective opens a world of possibility.

Many of the biggest names in New York trust Kramer Levin for real estate and land use counsel. The reason is simple: We have the experience to view matters from all sides

key roles in many iconic projects, including Hudson Yards, Central Park Tower and the Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station. Let us show you how results-oriented counsel can make your next project a reality.

www.kramerlevin.com