NYC State of the Market

Hank Jonap is Head of Real Estate at Breather, where he oversees the New York City portfolio, the company’s largest operating market. Since joining Breather in 2016, Hank has overseen the acquisition of more than 150 locations. Hank is responsible for the company’s location expansion strategy and new space acquisitions from site selection and diligence review through design and construction. Previously, Hank served as an Assistant Vice President in the Operations and Construction division at SL Green Realty Corp. In his seven years with the company, Hank underwrote and evaluated over 100 million square feet of Manhattan commercial office space and oversaw 2 million square feet of property.

Peter Boritz is the CEO of RDM, an online CRE leasing and building analytics platform. Peter is the visionary behind RDM’s product and platform strategy. With extensive real estate and entrepreneurial experience, he leads the company in its mission to transform the way people manage real estate using technology. He is currently focused on expanding the RDM platform globally.

Richard is a construction veteran with over 25 years in commercial and high-end residential real estate. Richard’s management experience includes spearheading complex and mission critical projects, from pre-lease through the construction process. At UA, Richard oversee’s the day-today operations of the Virtual Design & Construction Department: which includes building design, construction, occupancy and space management. Education & Certifications Registered Architect University of Michigan Masters of Architecture BS, Architecture Relevant Experience: • 2 Greenway Plaza, Houston, TX 77046 • 1111 Bagby St, Houston, TX 77002 • 8400 Kirby Dr, Houston, TX 77054 • 2800 N Terminal Rd, Houston, TX 77032 • 1400 Smith St, Houston, TX 77002

With more than 15 years’ experience in architectural design – 10 of which have focused on building information modelling (BIM) – Vincent heads up Unispace’s Design Technology. He provides direction and strategic leadership to BIM across the firm and is skilled in developing execution plans as well as establishing methodologies and best practices for design-technology integration.

Kenneth Horn founded Alchemy Properties in 1990 and has been actively involved in development and other aspects of real estate in the metro area for over 30 years. Since founding Alchemy, Kenneth has been directly responsible for the acquisition, strategic development, financing, construction, renovation, marketing and conversion of over 3,000 apartments, including the ground-up or rehabilitation development of more than 25 residential and retail buildings in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. Kenneth has personally overseen the sale of over $2 Billion of real estate. Kenneth's most notable acquisition to date is the conversion of the tower floors of the National Landmark Woolworth Building. He has lectured at the Yale University School of Architecture, the University of Pennsylvania, the Wharton Graduate School of Business and is a former Professor at New York University's Master's Program in Real Estate. A graduate of Brandeis University and the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, Kenneth is a member of the New York State Bar. He is also a Board Member and former President of The Catalog for Giving, a non-profit organization that distributes funds for after school programs to New York City school children.

Stephen founded Anbau in 1998 based on the vision that “good design makes good business”. He currently oversees finance and construction for all Anbau projects. He has been active in real estate development in Manhattan for 25 years. Prior to Anbau, Steve was Senior Development Officer of Continuum Company. He was responsible for the development of the 101-unit Richmond Condominiums, located on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. He also spent five years as Senior Project Manager at a New York City-based construction management company, building over 100 units of subsidized housing on the Lower East Side. Stephen holds a BA in Environmental Design from the University of Colorado, a M.Arch from the University of Pennsylvania and a M.S. in Real Estate Development from Columbia University. He sits on the advisory board of the Center for Urban Real Estate at Columbia and the board of the International Yacht Restoration.

Shimon Shkury is the President and Founder of Ariel Property Advisors. As President he oversees all investment sales, capital services and research initiatives that the company undertakes. Since 2002, Mr. Shkury has advised private clients, institutions, operators, equity providers and lenders on pricing, positioning and selling assets throughout New York City. This experience has enabled Mr. Shkury to emerge as an expert within the various asset classes, city, state and federal regulatory agreements and market indicators. Mr. Shkury is routinely sought out as a resource for the industry and has been featured in publications such as The Real Deal, Commercial Observer, The Wall Street Journal, Crain’s New York, Bisnow and many others. As a contributor to Forbes, he writes about trends in commercial real estate and is the host of Ariel’s Coffee & Cap Rates podcast. In 2023, he was named to the Commercial Observer’s Power 100 list of commercial real estate leaders and, in 2022, to Crain’s New York’s list of Notable Leaders in Real Estate. Along with his partners, he was honored with Connect CRE’s Top Broker Award 2022, Globest.com’s Multifamily Influencer Award 2022, and Commercial Property Executive’s Best Investment Transaction 2022 in the portfolio category. Originally from Israel, he came to the United States in 1999 to earn an MBA in finance at the Wharton School of Business and a master’s degree in international studies from the University of Pennsylvania’s Lauder Institute. He previously served as a lieutenant in the Israel Defense Forces. Prior to starting Ariel Property Advisors, Mr. Shkury was a Partner with Massey Knakal Realty Services, now Cushman & Wakefield. Mr. Shkury lives in Manhattan with his wife, son and daughter. He can be reached at 212.544.9500 ext. 11 or via email at sshkury@arielpa.com.

Mark Fawer is a partner in the Real Estate group, where he focuses on matters including the representation of real estate developers, funds, REITs, CDOs, investors, and lenders in the acquisition, financing, development, refinancing, recapitalizing and sale of single-asset and portfolios of multifamily, retail, industrial, office, and hotel properties and the origination, purchase, disposition and restructuring of senior and mezzanine real estate and corporate loans and loan participation interests.

Mr. Craig is a senior managing director and has been the regional officer and partner responsible for Hines' New York Tri-State office since 1996. His responsibilities as senior project officer include managing the development, redevelopment, acquisition, construction, modification and/or interior fit-out on projects. Since joining Hines in 1982, Mr. Craig has been involved in a variety of development projects and transactions aggregating approximately 16 million square feet. Craig received his BA in History/Economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and his MBA from Columbia University. Mr. Craig served as an adjunct professor of Real Estate Development at the Paul Milstein Center for Real Estate at Columbia Business School from 2010 to 2015. And, is a member of the Executive Committee and the Board at Phipps Houses, New York City’s oldest and largest non-for-profit developer for affordable housing. He was also a recipient of the Building Trades Employers’ Association (BTEA) Award in 2012 and 2007 and the Police Athletic League Award in 2009.

As Chairman, NY Investment Sales with JLL Capital Markets, Bob co-leads the investment sales division in New York City. Bob was Chairman and Founding Partner of Massey Knakal Realty Services, New York’s #1 building sales firm. He started his real estate career in 1984 at CB Richard Ellis where he met Paul J. Massey Jr. They both left CB in 1988 to form Massey Knakal. From 1988 through 2014, Massey Knakal closed over 6,000 transactions with an aggregate value in excess of $23 billion. To date, Bob has been personally responsible for the sale of 1,873 buildings (generally considered to be the highest total ever for a single broker in New York) and over $18 billion in sales. On December 31, 2014, Cushman & Wakefield acquired Massey Knakal. At Cushman & Wakefield, Bob acted as Chairman of New York Investment Sales. He was ranked the top originating investment sales broker at Cushman & Wakefield, globally, in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Since 2009, Bob has written a weekly column on the New York City Real Estate Market called Concrete Thoughts for the Commercial Observer.

Will Silverman is Managing Director/Group Head of Investment Sales in Hodges Ward Elliott’s New York Office. He was hired in 2015 to expand the company’s offerings to office, retail, multifamily in land, specializing in New York City. Prior to joining HWE, Will was an Executive Managing Director in the Capital Transactions Group at Savills Studley, where he worked on nearly $6B of transactions since joining the firm in 2003. Since joining HWE, Will has transacted on office, retail and multifamily deals for clients including Westbrook, Rockpoint, Carlyle Group, Savanna and Normandy. Will has consistently succeeded at bringing an institutional investor audience to new locations, property types and strategies through a pioneering strategy that emphasizes quantitative research and data analytics. Will graduated cum laude from Tufts University with a degree in International Relations. He is a father of three sons and a native New Yorker.

Ronald A. Kaplan, CPA, is a partner with CohnReznick and is the Firm’s Commercial Real Estate Industry Leader. Ron has more than 20 years of experience providing assurance, due diligence, business advisory, and tax services to clients in the commercial, residential, retail, and hospitality sectors throughout the United States and internationally. Ron regularly provides assistance and advisory services to clients as they negotiate agreements with lenders, equity partners, and fund managers. In addition, he advises clients on accounting and tax matters throughout the agreement process, from initial drafting through completion. Ron’s clients are generally private companies with multi-state operations and include real estate opportunity funds, property management firms, partnerships, contractors, institutional lenders, REITs and joint ventures, as well as other corporate and family owners and investors. Ron has a particular focus on real estate opportunity funds, with clients ranging from start-ups to established funds. His clients benefit from his experience in critical areas, such as fair value reporting, compliance monitoring, investor relations, and fund performance. Prior to joining CohnReznick, Ron was in charge of the real estate practice for the New York office of a large national public accounting firm. In this role, he oversaw the practice’s client services, account management, and team development functions. He was also active in the firm’s training activities, leading presentations on the real estate business for professionals both within the firm and at national industry conferences.

Mr. Fineman has more than 20 years of experience in the commercial real estate business. At ACORE, Mr. Fineman is responsible for originating, underwriting, structuring and closing commercial real estate financing opportunities, and for managing originations for the Eastern Region. Prior to joining ACORE, Mr. Fineman was an Executive Vice President with Brickman and a principal at Hillcrest Finance, where he was responsible for originating, underwriting, structuring and closing equity and debt investment opportunities, and financing new and existing equity investments. Prior to Brickman, Mr. Fineman held various positions in commercial real estate finance including a senior role with Wachovia Bank, where he managed, structured and closed more than $25 billion of complex commercial real estate finance transactions often involving multiple lenders and tranches of debt, and a role as a banker with Nomura Securities in the mid to late 1990s. In addition to his finance experience, Mr. Fineman has also spent a significant amount of time on the equity side of the commercial real estate business where he was involved in the development, ownership, management and operation of commercial real estate, including in senior roles with Centres Inc. and Terranova Corporation, and in his time with Brickman. Mr. Fineman began his career in commercial real estate as an attorney representing institutional and private clients in a wide range of commercial real estate transactions, including finance, acquisitions, dispositions, leasing, development and land use. After college and prior to law school, Mr. Fineman spent several years at IBM Corporation as a marketing representative. Mr. Fineman received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Drexel University and a J.D. from the University of Florida. Mr. Fineman serves on the board of enCourage Kids Foundation. Mr. Fineman is married to Lori and they have two children, Mia and Rocky.

Mr. Levine joined Meridian in 2004 and currently serves as a Senior Managing Director, overseeing a staff of originators and underwriters in the negotiation and placement of financing for construction, repositioning and transitional asset transactions. Prior to joining Meridian, Mr. Levine was a Senior Vice President at Westminster Capital, a division of Kushner Companies. His job responsibilities at Westminster included coordinating all aspects of financing for Kushner Companies, including debt and equity financing. Mr. Levine also previously worked as a financial analyst in the real estate investment banking group of CIBC World Markets. Mr. Levine holds an M.S. in Real Estate Finance from New York University and a B.A. in Finance from Tulane University’s A.B. Freeman School of Business.

An avid entrepreneur, Rich has launched and run numerous businesses including an international arbitrage textbook company, a college marketing network, and an offshore technology outfit. Most recently, Rich was an Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company specializing in Financial Services.

Bruce Meyerson is a real estate attorney. He counsels real estate owners, developers and lenders with interests in multifamily, office, mixed-use, industrial and condominium properties. He closes a broad range of transactions involving joint ventures, permanent loans, construction loans, mezzanine loans, private equity investments, securitized lending, workouts, commercial real estate, development and acquisitions and divestitures.

Zach is charged with sourcing and executing new investments on behalf of Sitex in New York City, Baltimore, Washington DC and south Florida. Since joining the firm in 2016, Zach has closed $105.0 million of industrial investments across Sitex’s target markets. In addition to his investment responsibilities, Zach oversees asset management for Sitex’s existing portfolio in New York City. Zach began his real estate career in New York City at BlueGate Partners working on capital raising for multifamily developers in the tri-state area. From BlueGate, Zach moved to KTR Capital Partners, where he executed acquisition and development investments in New Jersey, Atlanta, and Pennsylvania. Following his time at KTR, Zach joined Brookfield where he was responsible for sourcing and executing industrial investments in the mid-Atlantic and New Jersey. Throughout Zach’s career, he has closed over $200.0 million of industrial investments across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions. Zach is a graduate of Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ.

Andrew Chung founded Innovo Property Group (“IPG”) in 2015. Prior to starting IPG, Andrew Chung was a Partner at The Carlyle Group in the U.S. Real Estate Fund. He served as head of the New York office for the Real Estate Fund for 10 years. Mr. Chung is currently a member of the Advisory Board for NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate. He was also recognized by ranking in the New York Observer’s “Power 100: The Most Powerful People in NY Real Estate” in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. Mr. Chung graduated from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, with a B.S. in Economics.

Neil Shapiro concentrates his real estate practice on sophisticated commercial real estate financings, joint ventures, sales, acquisitions and development. A significant portion of Neil's practice involves acquisitions, sales, financings, development, joint ventures and leasing of health care related projects, including continuing care retirement communities, assisted living facilities, nursing homes and hospitals.

Robert K. Futterman is the founder and Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of RKF. Headquartered in New York, with additional offices in Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Northern New Jersey, San Francisco and Toronto, RKF has been responsible for $20 billion in aggregate real estate transactions since its inception in 1998. Robert has more than 25 years of retail real estate experience and has personally been involved in transactions totaling in excess of $10 billion. He has successfully created one of the leading retail real estate firms in the US and the dominant player in the New York metro area. With unparalleled expertise in landlord and tenant representation, new construction, leasing, sales and market analysis, he is unrivaled in the industry. Throughout his distinguished career, Robert has been a leader in revitalizing several of New York’s most significant retail markets, including the renaissance of New York’s Union Square South, Times Square, 34th Street/Herald Square, SoHo, Columbus Circle and the Meatpacking District. He has also served as an advisor to the Port Authority of NY & NJ for the World Trade Center redevelopment. Robert has also made an impact on retail markets outside of New York City. He has played an integral role in reshaping the retail landscape of Las Vegas’ Strip and also been involved in retail real estate in South Florida, specifically in and around Miami. Robert has worked on behalf of many of the nation’s premier retailers, including: Apple, Adidas, Barnes & Noble, Topshop, Gap, Guess, Fairway Market, FedEx Office, Forever 21, Tourneau, Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters, J.Crew, Polo Ralph Lauren, Bed Bath & Beyond, and 24 Hour Fitness. He has also completed transactions with an array of domestic and international retail brands deals such as Bottega Veneta, Brooks Brothers, Emilio Pucci, Nordstrom, Prada, Rebecca Taylor, Sandro, Vince and Whole Foods Market. Robert has also represented an impressive list of developers, landlords and institutions on their retail real estate, including Related Companies, Vornado Realty Trust, SJP Properties, The Howard Hughes Corporation, Milstein Properties, Hines, The Durst Organization Inc., Silverstein Properties, RFR Realty, Forest City Ratner Companies, Taconic Investment Partners, The Carlyle Group, Fisher Brothers, Glenwood Management, Apollo Real Estate Advisors, Extell Development Company, Morgan Stanley, Edward J. Minskoff Equities, Blackstone Real Estate Advisors, Jamestown Properties, SL Green Realty Corp., CIM Group and MetLife. Iconic retail and mixed-use projects in which Robert has been involved include The Shops at Columbus Circle at Time Warner Center, Grand Central Terminal, 270 Greenwich Street, 401 West 14th Street, The Times Square Building and the South Street Seaport in New York City, and Miracle Mile Shops in Las Vegas. Prior to founding RKF, Robert spent 15 years with Garrick-Aug Associates, where he was the top producer. While no longer in existence, Garrick-Aug Associates was formerly the leading retail leasing firm in New York. Robert is a member of the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) and the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and is a licensed Salesperson in the states of Connecticut and New York. He is a four-time winner of the REBNY Retail Deal of the Year (2001, 2005, 2009 and 2010) for creativity and contributions to Manhattan’s retail landscape. Robert is a frequent speaker and lecturer on retail real estate and has participated in programs on behalf of BloombergLINK, Urban Land Institute, ICSC, REBNY, NAIOP Commercial Real Estate Development Association, Columbia Graduate School of Business and BISNOW.

Moses Gates is RPA’s director of community planning and design, leading the organization’s planning, research and advocacy efforts in affordable housing, economic development, and community engagement & design. He works with RPA staff to make sure that a community and neighborhood focus is present throughout the organization’s regional efforts. Prior to joining RPA, Moses was director of planning and community development for ANHD, a New York City policy and advocacy nonprofit, where he oversaw the organization’s housing development policy and planning work, and initiated ANHD’s Community Development Fellowship program. Moses also has worked for New York City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development, as a nonprofit affordable housing developer, and as a licensed New York City tour guide. Moses is currently a visiting assistant professor at the Pratt Institute, where he also serves as an advisor for students pursuing careers in community planning, and a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners. He has a bachelor’s in history from the University of Wisconsin, and a master's of urban planning from Hunter College.

Young Woo is the Founder and Principal of Youngwoo & Associates, a leading real estate development firm based in New York City. Mr. Woo is a thought leader in the area of creative real estate development. He has been recognized for his contribution and innovative thinking in the real estate industry by major publications such as Forbes Magazine, The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. Mr. Woo is a graduate of Pratt School of Architecture, and is a member of NYU’s Schack Institute of Real Estate advisory board and the Real Estate Board of New York. In addition, Mr. Woo is a philanthropist toward organizations that support cultural initiatives in Latin America.

Carl has been lead counsel on some of the highest-profile real estate deals around the country. He takes an incisive approach to structuring and closing complex transactions, combining creativity with a strong business perspective. As a result, his client roster contains the names of many people he once sat across from but now sits next to at the bargaining table. In Chambers USA, 2016, a client described him as “a great lawyer,” “a smart, no-nonsense guy who can come to sensible resolutions and get deals done.” “He is a deal maker, not a deal breaker,” the client added. Carl is an accomplished negotiator and skilled legal advocate with more than 35 years of experience. He is co-head of Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP’s global real estate practice and advises a diverse, distinguished clientele: prominent owners and developers—including REITs and private equity funds—in their real estate acquisitions, dispositions, developments, financings, workouts, restructurings and joint ventures; major institutional lenders in mortgage, mezzanine and construction financings; and owners and tenants in significant commercial lease transactions. He also has served as counsel in several of the nation’s largest Historic Tax Credit transactions. An active presence in the field, Carl often moderates panel discussions on industry trends. Major media outlets—among them The Wall Street Journal, Crain’s New York Business, CNBC and The Real Deal—frequently seek his insights on real estate law and business. His professional acumen led to a profile in The New York Times article “Finding a True Passion in Real Estate Law.” In his spare time, Carl plays bass guitar in the rock band “Normal by Day.” Coupling his musical talent with charity work, he organizes the annual fundraising concert Real Estate Rockers in Relief, which features performances by leading real estate executives and their bands.