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State of NYC Affordable: Development Pipeline & Target Neighborhoods

Hot Spots for Affordable Housing Developments

Meredith Marshall

Meredith Marshall

Co-Founder & Principal

BRP Companies

Andy Cohen

Andy Cohen

Managing Director

BRP Companies

Michelle Militello

Michelle Militello

Senior Director, Affordable Asset Management

Fairstead

Pamela West

Pamela West

MD, Impact Investing

Nuveen

Basha Gerhards

Basha Gerhards

Senior Vice President of Planning

Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY)

Louise Carroll

Louise Carroll

Partner

Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP

Daniel Bernstein
Moderator

Daniel Bernstein

Member

Rosenberg & Estis, P.C.

Meredith Marshall

Co-Founder & Principal

BRP Companies

Mr. Marshall is a co-founder of BRP Companies, a vertically integrated owner, operator, developer and manager of transit-oriented, mixed-use, multifamily properties in the NY Tri-State area. With over 70 employees and a track record of 1.3 million SF of completed real estate projects, the firm has over $1 billion in transactions currently under development.

Mr. Marshall is responsible for executing BRP’s investment strategy including deal origination, acquisition, finance and development. He has also led the firm’s strategic partnership initiatives such as the firm’s decade long partnership with Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group and BRP’s active relationships with all of the New York City Agencies. Prior to co-founding BRP, Mr. Marshall was a Managing Director at Musa Capital Advisors, an emerging markets private equity and financial advisory firm based in New York City. Musa Capital managed a Separate Account for Kingdom Holding Africa, HRH’s Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal’s Investment vehicle for Sub-Saharan Africa. At Musa Capital, Mr. Marshall was instrumental in executing cross-border transactions including the $37 million development of a mixed-use office complex and mall in Harare, Zimbabwe. Mr. Marshall also led successful investments in the Telecommunications and Financial Services sectors. Prior to Musa Capital Advisors, Mr. Marshall was a Senior Associate at Wasserstein Perella & Co., an investment banking firm based in New York City. While at Wasserstein, Mr. Marshall was an integral member of the firm’s

Telecommunications and Media, Mergers and Acquisitions practice, where he assisted in transactions exceeding $15 billion.

Mr. Marshall is a Founding Member of the Council of Urban Professionals (CUP), and is a Member of the Executive Board of the New York State Affordable Housing Association (NYSAFAH). Mr. Marshall also proudly serves on the Boards of Enterprise NYC Advisory Board and Citizens Housing and Planning Council since 2018, and is a Trustee of Xavier University of Louisiana.

Mr. Marshall holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Boston University and a Master of Business Administration in Finance and International Business from Columbia Business School.

Andy Cohen

Managing Director

BRP Companies

Mr. Cohen is responsible for managing BRP Companies' new construction and acquisition rehab transactions. Since 2013, Mr. Cohen has been responsible for over $1B in development comprising over 2,100 units of mixed-income affordable rental housing and over 150,000 SF of commercial space. Mr. Cohen previously held various positions at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD). Most recently, Mr. Cohen served as the Director of Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) Preservation where he oversaw the legal and financial restructuring of over 5,000 residential dwelling units, comprised of over 50 separate transactions. In this role, Mr. Cohen originated over $50M in construction and permanent debt and leveraged over $100M in bond financing, over $80M in equity, $17M in conventional debt, and refinanced over $150M in existing debt.

Mr. Cohen holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Urban Development from Trinity College and a Master of Arts degree in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning from Tufts University.

Pamela West

MD, Impact Investing

Nuveen

Real Estate: Affordable Housing Acquisitions, Asset Management, Dispositions and Portfolio Management

Basha Gerhards

Senior Vice President of Planning

Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY)

Basha is focused on topics related to housing, land use, zoning, resiliency, and community development. Previously, Basha served as a senior land use advisor to Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer. Prior to that, Basha worked at City of New York’s Department of City Planning. She has an M.S. in Urban Planning from Columbia University GSAPP and holds a B.F.A. in Historic Preservation, with a concentration in Urban Design & Development, from the Savannah College of Art & Design.

Louise Carroll

Partner

Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP

A well-known figure in New York City's affordable housing community, Louise Carroll has the depth of experience to steer clients through the financial and legal complexities of affordable housing and mixed-income housing projects. With a distinguished career in public service that spanned over 20 years, including a tenure as commissioner of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) and chair of the New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC), the city's bond issuer, Louise has a keen understanding of the policies and processes that developers and project owners must navigate.

Clients benefit from the knowledge and tools that Louise acquired throughout her years in public service, during which she earned a reputation as a highly effective agent of change. She served for nearly 15 years in HPD, working to produce and preserve affordable housing across New York City. Appointed as HPD commissioner and chair of HDC by former Mayor Bill de Blasio in May 2019, Louise managed over 1 billion dollars in city and federal funds to finance one of the most significant and complex affordable housing plans in the country. During her tenure, she pushed the plan's goal of 300,000 units ahead of schedule by two years.

Prior to leading HPD, Louise developed a deep understanding of the affordable housing framework while holding several leadership positions there, including assistant commissioner for inclusionary housing and associate commissioner for housing incentives. In these positions, she worked to craft changes to New York City's tax programs to achieve greater affordability. Additionally, she led the team as one of the chief architects in designing and implementing the city's Mandatory Inclusionary Housing Program to require the creation of permanently affordable housing in conjunction with residential rezonings and streamlined the Voluntary Inclusionary Housing Program to increase production.

Daniel Bernstein

Moderator

Rosenberg & Estis, P.C.

Daniel M. Bernstein joined Rosenberg & Estis, P.C. in 2017 and is a Member and Leader of the firm’s Tax Incentives & Affordable Housing Department. Bernstein’s practice involves affordable housing and urban development issues in New York, obtaining property tax exemptions and abatements (485-x / ANNY for new development; 467-m / AHCC for commercial conversions; new and old 421-a including requests for extension of 421-a(16) Completion Date, ICAP/ICIP, 420-c, 420-a, J-51, Article XI, etc.), development rights bonuses and incentives / zoning requirements (Voluntary and Mandatory Inclusionary Housing, FRESH program, Zoning for Quality and Affordability) for New York City projects. Bernstein is experienced in the assessment and taxation of real property in New York, as well as acquisition, financing, leasing, Declarations of Condominium, and condominium offering plans. Bernstein also has extensive experience helping real estate developers obtain economic incentives for their residential, commercial, or mixed-use projects. Bernstein also performs diligence on such matters for lenders and purchasers of such NYC properties.

Prior to joining Rosenberg & Estis, Bernstein spent over a decade at two New York City real estate law firms representing some of the city’s major residential, commercial, and mixed-use real estate developers. Bernstein began his career working on immigration, healthcare, and public benefit issues at a major New York labor union and for New York not-for-profit organizations, where he handled litigation in U.S. District and Circuit Courts.

Financing Affordable Housing: Making the Equation Work

Capital Markets Outlook

Jessica Yoon

Jessica Yoon

Managing Director

L+M Development Partners

Jenny Wu

Jenny Wu

Managing Director, Development

Jonathan Rose Companies

Raymond Li

Raymond Li

Senior Mortgage Banker

KeyBank

Rob Wrzosek

Rob Wrzosek

President – Affordable Strategies

NewPoint Real Estate Capital

William Russo

William Russo

Senior Vice President, Chief Investment Officer

The Community Preservation Corporation

Jeet Gulati
Moderator

Jeet Gulati

Associate

Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf

Jenny Wu

Managing Director, Development

Jonathan Rose Companies

Jenny Wu is the Managing Director of Development for Jonathan Rose Companies who has been with the company since 2012. She brings a broad base of design and construction, finance, and development experience, and is responsible for leading the firm’s pivotal green development projects in the East Coast.

Prior to joining Jonathan Rose Companies, Ms. Wu was an architect for the New York-based architecture firm Rogers Marvel Architects where she designed and managed the construction of several adaptive reuse projects, including conversion of a piano factory into a non-profit film school and a mattress warehouse into a community soup kitchen.

Ms. Wu received a Master of Science in Real Estate Development degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Architecture degree from University of Texas at Austin. She is a Registered Architect in the State of New York, LEED Accredited Professional, and actively serves on the Board of Women in Housing and Finance.

Raymond Li

Senior Mortgage Banker

KeyBank

Raymond Li is a senior mortgage banker at KeyBank Real Estate Capital, focused on affordable housing to expand community development lending and investment activity in the Northeast. He is responsible for new affordable housing business development and relationship management as part of a team providing off-balance sheet financing solutions to for-profit and non-profit real estate owners, investors, and developers. Mr. Li joined Key in 2022.

Mr. Li brings more than fifteen years of real estate experience in affordable housing, finance and investment banking to KeyBank. Prior to joining Key, he was a director with Santander Bank’s Community Development Finance team, where he led the debt and equity originations team, managing a $2 billion portfolio of assets that qualify for Community Reinvestment Act credit. Previously, Mr. Li was at Citigroup’s Citi Community Capital group, part of the investment banking division, and managed a $1 billion portfolio of highly structured mixed-used affordable housing transactions across the nation. Mr. Li previously served on the Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation’s investment committee from 2017- 2022 and on advisory boards for several private equity funds.

Mr. Li first entered the real estate industry in 2006.

Rob Wrzosek

President – Affordable Strategies

NewPoint Real Estate Capital

Rob Wrzosek is President - Affordable Strategies at NewPoint Real Estate Capital, responsible for developing proprietary non-agency executions and managing investments in affordable housing bonds. He has over two decades of multifamily and affordable housing finance experience.

Prior to joining NewPoint, Wrzosek was Head of Multifamily at Bluefin Capital Management. Previously, he was responsible for the affordable housing and HUD/FHA finance businesses of Berkeley Point (now Newmark). During his career, Wrzosek has served on the board of directors of Walker & Dunlop, was President of Hunt Mortgage Group, and managed the tax-exempt affordable housing securitization and tax equity syndication platforms for Credit Suisse. He has also acted as an outside advisor to the Obama Administration on issues pertaining to the LIHTC program, and was a partner at Eichner & Norris PLLC, a Washington, DC-based law firm.

Wrzosek holds both a Bachelor of Science in Finance and a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Ithaca College, a J.D. from Duke University School of Law, and a Master of Laws in Taxation from Georgetown University Law Center.

William Russo

Senior Vice President, Chief Investment Officer

The Community Preservation Corporation

William Russo is CPC’s Senior Vice President, Chief Investment Officer. In this role, he provides leadership and partnership to all of CPC’s business lines in assisting the development and execution of the company’s strategic goals and the growth of its impact. This includes managing the analysis around investments and funding opportunities and partnering with the Finance department on the analysis of revenue enhancing and cost saving opportunities. Russo also works collaboratively with the Chief Financial Officer to guide the company’s finance objectives and capital raising strategies, as well as advising its Capital Allocation Committee and Board of Directors.

Russo joined CPC in April 2018 as Senior Vice President, Capital Strategies where he was responsible for driving the company’s capital raising efforts. Prior to joining CPC, he served as Managing Director in the Restructuring and Transaction Advisory Services group at Berkeley Research Group (FKA Capstone Advisory Group), an advisory firm specializing in restricting and transaction advisory, forensic and litigation consulting, and valuation services. In that role, he functioned as both a company-side advisor and lender-side advisor in pharma, assisted living, manufacturing, homebuilding and real estate in activities related to debt repayments, bankruptcies, bankruptcy emergence and turnarounds. Russo also worked in close collaboration with, or directly managed, the efforts of financial analysts. While at Capstone, Russo was part of the team that was retained by CPC from 2011 to 2014 to advise the company during its restructuring and recapitalization.

Russo has also served in similar roles in financial and economic analysis and consulting at Citigroup Corporate and Investment Bank as well as PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

Russo received his Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Finance from Syracuse University, School of Management. He is also a member of the Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors.

Jeet Gulati

Moderator

Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf

Jeet Gulati is a lawyer with Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf, LLP. He represents financial institutions, real estate developer-owners, and nonprofits with public-private partnerships, particularly with redevelopment and affordable housing financing transactions. He also represents governmental agencies with inter-agency and real estate ventures. Prior to joining Windels Marx in 2019, he was a Deputy Attorney General in the New Jersey Division of Law, where he focused on real estate and public finance transactions, including representing the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency on multifamily transactions and the New Jersey Infrastructure Bank on its water and transportation infrastructure financing programs. Prior to that, he was an Assistant General Counsel at New York City Housing Development Corporation (“NYCHDC”) where he represented the agency in financing the new construction or preservation of over 2,000 units of affordable housing in New York City. Mr. Gulati began his career as a Housing Fellow at NYCHDC and its sister agency, the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development. He holds a J.D., cum laude, from Brooklyn Law School, and a B.A., cum laude, from City College of New York. Jeet is admitted in NY and NJ.

What's Next After 421a? Emerging Tax Incentives for Affordable Housing Developments

How to Incentivize Affordable Developments after 421a?

Steve Krasman

Steve Krasman

COO

Slate

David Schwartz

David Schwartz

Principal

Slate Property Group

Jordan Barowitz

Jordan Barowitz

Vice President

Durst

Brett Gottlieb
Moderator

Brett Gottlieb

Partner

Herrick Feinstein

Brett Gottlieb

Moderator

Herrick Feinstein

Brett J. Gottlieb is partner in Herrick's Real Estate Department where he represents real estate owners, lessees and developers in the application process for New York City’s real property tax incentives including 421-a, ICIP/ICAP and FRESH. Brett counsels clients regarding their property tax benefit applications with respect to project eligibility, benefit calculation, benefit planning and implementation of the exemption or abatement of real property tax in the City of New York.

For the Industrial Commercial Abatement Program (ICAP), Brett counsels owners, developers, architects and contractors on the ICAP Rules and Law pertaining to applications submitted to the New York City Department of Finance. Additionally, he advises on the Equal Employment Opportunity and Minority/Women Business Owned Enterprise (M/WBE) requirements included within Executive Order 50 of 1980, Executive Order 94 of 1986, Local Law 67 of 2008 and Local Law 102 of 2018 as they pertain to ICAP project before the Department of Small Business Services, Division of Labor Services.

Brett's experience with the 421-a Partial Tax Exemption Program and its successor Affordable New York (421-a(16)) includes counseling clients on project eligibility, rent stabilization, dwelling unit stacking, affordable unit proportionality, building measurement, benefit planning and calculation. Brett assists owners and managing agents with the submission of initial and annual rent registrations to the Division of Homes & Community Renewal (DHCR).

For the FRESH Program, he counsels clients on the tax incentive benefit, core application submission, benefit calculations and various program requirements and restrictions.

Brett also prepares attorney opinion letters including tax projections for ICAP, 421-a and FRESH. He also counsels lenders and purchasers as part of the due diligence and underwriting and underwriting requirements. He counsels both landlords and tenants with regards to property tax incentive clauses in leases.

Before joining Herrick, Brett was a partner at Tuchman, Weiss, Liebman & Lindemann, LLP.

Impact of Rising Rents & Inflation on Affordable Housing

Macro Economic Impact Outlook on NYC's Affordable Housing Outlook

Kimberly Darga

Kimberly Darga

Deputy Commissioner for Development

NYC Department of Housing Preservation & Development

Sara Myerson

Sara Myerson

Managing Director, Acquisitions

MSquared

Sean Campion

Sean Campion

Director of Housing and Economic Development

Citizens Budget Commission

Rosibel Tavares

Rosibel Tavares

Account Manager

NYC Accelerator

Ilya Weinstein

Ilya Weinstein

VP

Bellwether Enterprise Real Estate Capital, LLC

David Farino
Moderator

David Farino

Assistant VP, Account Manager

NFP

Sara Myerson

Managing Director, Acquisitions

MSquared

Sara Myerson serves as Vice President for Suffolk Ventures. She joined Suffolk Ventures in March 2019 and brings a strong background in real estate, finance and policy, along with expertise in neighborhood redevelopment and public private partnerships. Prior to her work at Suffolk Ventures, Ms. Myerson served as the Director of Planning at the Boston Planning and Development Agency, where she oversaw the agency’s work related to planning, urban design and zoning. She began her career at Goldman Sachs, where she spent time in the Urban Investment Group and the Investment Banking Division.

Sara holds a Master in Urban Planning from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts from Middlebury College.

Rosibel Tavares

Account Manager

NYC Accelerator

Rosibel Tavares is an account manager at NYC Accelerator. Her academic background in environmental policy and involvement within the Environmental and Climate Justice fields has centered her career in that of advocacy for equity and inclusion within the energy and sustainability field. She cultivated her passion for intersectionality in the sustainability movement and the inclusion of underrepresented communities through her time as a Climate Justice Fellow at UPROSE, one of NYC’s historic Environmental Justice organizations. She went on to hold the role of Senior Community Energy Advisor under NYSERDA’s Community Energy Engagement Program, where she built expertise in energy efficiency and resiliency programing, connecting homeowners and communities throughout the city to information and resources regarding sustainability.

Ilya Weinstein

VP

Bellwether Enterprise Real Estate Capital, LLC

Ilya Weinstein is Vice President of Bellwether Enterprise Real Estate Capital, LLC where he focuses on loan origination and management of developer relationships for the firm.

Prior to joining Bellwether, Ilya was an Associate at Wells Fargo, where he analyzed and structured nearly $1 billion in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac affordable multifamily loans nationwide. Prior to Wells Fargo, Ilya was an Associate at Red Stone Partners where he helped to originate, structure, and close tax-exempt bond financings of affordable housing properties.

Ilya is a graduate of Colgate University and holds a degree in International Relations and Russian studies.

David Farino

Moderator

NFP

David has extensive experience in the structuring, placement, and servicing of master programs, contractor controlled insurance programs and subcontractor default insurance. He has worked with construction managers, general contractors, prime and trade contractors as well as owners and developers. Prior to joining NFP, David was a senior underwriter at Arch Insurance, focused on casualty and subcontractor default in the construction division. David has maintained broker and carrier relationships throughout the region as well as country wide that prove valuable to the NFP construction clients. His current responsibilities include handling daily activities and servicing functions of casualty programs as well as renewals for construction focused clients; marketing and placement of project specific and master program coverages and assist in the management of the country wide practice of construction insurance at NFP. David received his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Hofstra University and maintains both the Associate in Risk Management (ARM) and Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designations.

Why This Matters

What you'll learn:     

  • Get a better understanding for the future of 421a in New York City and how this impacting public-private partnerships in New York City. 

  • Understand where new housing developments are being produced and which boroughs are target areas for developers and the city. 

  • Closer look at the capital stack for affordable housing financing and how debt is being sourced.

  • How is the affordable housing sector being impacted by rising rental rates and inflation?

  • How are low incoming house tax credits evolving and how does this impact developer incentives to deliver new affordable projects?

How you'll do more business:

Enhance your business and network by hearing from New York City's top affordable housing developers, city officials, affordable housing advocates and lenders. Gain insight into the future of 421a, public-private partnerships, financing affordable deals and the impact of rising rental rates.

Who attends: Developers, landlords, investors, lenders, banks, brokers, lawyers, accountants, city officials and consultants. 

Why should you attend:

Bisnow events bring together the biggest power players in the industry to identify opportunities, build your network, and expand your business. With the largest audience of commercial real estate professionals in the world, no one knows how to help your business more than us.

For questions, recommendations, comments, or press inquiries please email our New York Events Producer, Chris Picher at chris.picher@bisnow.com. 

Venue

NY Marriott Downtown
85 West Street At, Albany St.
New York, NY 10006 (Entrance is on West St)

Ballroom: Financial Ballroom


The hotel offers valet only at a $65/day rate. There are also many surrounding garages for self-park options

Get Directions

Agenda

Time Activity
12:00 PM
1:00 PM
Coffee, Breakfast & Networking
1:00 PM
1:45 PM
State of NYC Affordable: Development Pipeline & Target Neighborhoods

1. Target Neighborhoods: Which boroughs are leading the way with new developments?
2. How are NYC's supply and demand dynamics evolving?

1:45 PM
2:30 PM
Financing Affordable Housing: Making the Equation Work

1. How is the access to equity and the need for debt changing. How is this impacting deal structure?
2. How can developers maximize revenue while having to keep rent prices affordable?

2:30 PM
2:45 PM
Networking
2:45 PM
3:15 PM
What's Next After 421a? Emerging Tax Incentives for Affordable Housing Developments

1. What is next for incentivizing affordable housing developers after 421a?
2. Insight into improving public-private partnerships.

3:15 PM
4:00 PM
Impact of Rising Rents & Inflation on Affordable Housing

1. How are rents being regulated amidst the increase in costs with inflation?

4:00 PM
4:30 PM
Networking

Our Commitment to Safety

We hosted more than 72,000 attendees live, in-person around the globe in 2021. Our commitment to safety is no different in 2022. Our events follow all local Covid-19 regulations and protocols.

At this event, this means you can expect:

Enhanced sanitization protocols will be adhered to throughout the event space including regularly disinfecting surfaces throughout the event and hand sanitizer provided to all attendees.

As venue and local regulations evolve, the CRE industry continues to lead the way forward. As such, we will gather safely to do what we do best: network, connect, and engage to do more business. We look forward to hosting you soon.