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Speakers and Panels

Charles Hamilton
Moderator

Charles Hamilton

Senior Counsel

Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf

Seth Pinsky

Seth Pinsky

EVP, Metro Emerging Markets & Public Affairs Director, Fund Manager

RXR

Sanjay Mody
Moderator

Sanjay Mody

Partner

Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf

Lester Petracca

Lester Petracca

President

Triangle Equities

Eben Ellertson

Eben Ellertson

Director - Acquisitions

L+M Development Partners

Eran Polack

Eran Polack

CEO and Co-Founder

HAP Investments

Alison Novak

Alison Novak

Principal

The Hudson Companies

Arvind Bajaj

Arvind Bajaj

CIO

Anbau

Scott Metzner

Scott Metzner

Principal

Janus Property Company

Robert Shapiro

Robert Shapiro

EVP

Cushman & Wakefield

Victor Sozio

Victor Sozio

Founding Partner

Ariel Property Advisors

Tal Bar-Or

Tal Bar-Or

Senior Managing Director

Meridian Capital Group

Seth Pinsky

EVP, Metro Emerging Markets & Public Affairs Director, Fund Manager

RXR

Seth Pinsky serves as Executive Vice President and Investment Manager of the RXR Metropolitan Emerging Market Strategy . In this role, Pinsky is leading RXR’s efforts to invest in “emerging opportunities” in New York City and the surrounding Tri-State region, focusing on asset classes and geographic regions that have historically been characterized by underinvestment, but that have significant growth potential due to planned or in-place infrastructure and other relevant characteristics.

Prior to joining RXR, Pinsky served as Director of Mayor Bloomberg’s Special Initiative for Rebuilding and Resiliency, which developed a $20 billion plan to help neighborhoods stricken by Hurricane Sandy to rebuild smarter and stronger and to protect critical citywide systems and infrastructure from the likely impacts of climate change in coming decades.

Pinsky also served as President of the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), a position to which he was appointed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2008, after joining the agency in 2003 as a vice president. During his tenure, NYCEDC became an international leader in the field of economic development, focusing both on transforming the city’s underlying economy and investing in its critical infrastructure.

While at NYCEDC, Pinsky served as a lead negotiator on behalf of New York City for projects ranging from Yankee Stadium and Citifield, to the World Trade Center, to the acquisition of Hunters Point South in Queens, the largest middle-income housing development in the City since Starrett City.

Among the initiatives advanced by NYCEDC under Pinsky’s leadership were the redevelopment of Willets Point in Queens, Coney Island in Brooklyn, the Homeport in Staten Island, and the Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx, as well as the creation of a major new bioscience research park on City-owned land, north of Bellevue Hospital. Under Pinsky, NYCEDC also managed the construction of the first two phases of the High Line in Manhattan, launched a new East River Ferry service connecting Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan and announced and advanced plans for the world’s largest observation wheel in St. George in Staten Island.

In the area of economic modernization, under Pinsky, NYCEDC created the Center for Economic Transformation (CET), which, in addition to launching a network of business incubators across the City that, at the time of Pinsky’s departure, housed more than 600 companies, developed and oversaw the Bloomberg Administration’s international Applied Sciences NYC competition. The Applied Sciences competition will result in a significant expansion of Columbia University’s engineering school, as well as the creation of a new engineering institute in Downtown Brooklyn led by NYU that will include CUNY, Carnegie Mellon University and others. It will also result in the creation of a $2 billion engineering campus on Roosevelt Island, being developed by Cornell University and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.

Prior to joining the NYCEDC, Pinsky was an associate at the law firm of Cleary Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton in the Real Estate practice and a financial analyst at James D. Wolfensohn Inc. He is a graduate of Columbia College, where he majored in Ancient History, and of Harvard Law School, and is an Adjunct Senior Research Scholar at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs. Pinsky lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Angela and their children, Theo and Amelia.

Sanjay Mody

Moderator

Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf

Sanjay Mody's is Special Counsel with the law firm of Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf, LLP. His practice spans the areas of infrastructure, real estate, government and finance. He advises public and private sector clients on a range of matters, focusing on complex transactions with a governmental dimension. Before joining Windels Marx, Mr. Mody was counsel in the Regulatory and Government Affairs practice group at a global law firm. He also served in a prior role as Senior Advisor to the Chairman of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, where he advised the Chairman on policy, legal, and financial issues relating to the agency's infrastructure and economic development projects, including the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, airport terminal redevelopment, and a new cross-Hudson rail tunnel, among other significant real estate transactions. Sanjay is a Board Member of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy, a member of the New York Committee of the Regional Plan Association, and a David S. Rockefeller Fellow of The Partnership for New York City.

Eran Polack

CEO and Co-Founder

HAP Investments

Eran Polack is CEO-NY and Co-Founder of HAP Investments, a New York-based real

estate investment group that specializes in the development of residential and

commercial properties including 500 Summit Avenue in Jersey City. He is also CEO of

HAP Construction, a full-service construction management company.

As CEO of HAP Investments, Mr. Polack oversees a diverse portfolio of residential and

commercial real estate that is renowned for its location, proximity to mass transit, and

innovative construction and design.

He is an established entrepreneur with a long history of successful real estate ventures

in Eastern Europe, Israel, and the United States. In the U.S., Mr. Polack has overseen

the construction and development of 12 residential properties totaling over 2 million

square feet.

His strengths include the early identification of emerging regions, and the development

of projects tailored for those markets. He also has a deep understanding of the budget,

schedule, and quality necessary to achieve success for any real estate project.

Mr. Polack was one of the first developers to identify East Harlem as well as the Journal

Square neighborhood of Jersey City as areas in preliminary stages of urban

revitalization. He was also an early leader in the revival of Neve Tzedek, a highly

coveted neighborhood in the heart of Tel Aviv.

Alison Novak

Principal

The Hudson Companies

Alison oversees mixed-income and market-rate developments as well as Hudson’s middle income equity fund. Under her leadership, Hudson launched its commitment to green building. Alison has overseen the acquisition, design, financing, construction, and completion of a wide range of housing developments ranging from affordable (Ocean View Villas) to high-end (House No 94), home ownership (Third + Bond) to rental (The Clark), single-family (Ocean View Villas) to high rise (The Parkline). Her goal is to ensure Hudson’s diverse team maintains the highest integrity and commitment to its guiding principles. Alison majored in Community Development at Grinnell College and earned her Master of City Planning and Master of Science in Real Estate Development, both from M.I.T. Alison was named among the “Responsible 100” by City & State in 2019. She is a Vice Chair of Women in Housing and Finance, an honor bestowed on past board presidents. Alison’s a member of the 21st cohort of Coro Leadership New York and sits on the board of The Osborne Association.

Arvind Bajaj

CIO

Anbau

Arvind joined Anbau in 2015. He is responsible for managing the firm’s acquisition activities as well as investor and capital relationships. Prior to Anbau, Arvind served as head of the New York City office of Madison Marquette, making investments in Long Island City, Williamsburg and Hunts Point. He has also invested in Brooklyn rent-stabilized and market rate multi-family assets. Previously, Arvind has held senior commercial real estate positions with Blackstone, Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley in both New York City and London, and is a dual citizen of the United States and United Kingdom.

Scott Metzner

Principal

Janus Property Company

Scott Metzner founded Janus in 1989. In that time,

he has been deeply involved as a developer in Harlem's

public policy and community development goals. Prior

to his New York projects, he was active in national

real estate markets and international capital markets

through leadership positions at Eastdil Realty, Roseland

Property Company and Daiwa Securities America.

He has served on the Executive Committee of the board

of Phipps Houses (New York's largest affordable housing

developer and owner), was a member on the board of

Phipps Neighborhoods and is Co-Chair of the board of

the Tenement Museum. He received an MBA from

Columbia University and a BArch from the University

of Maryland.

Summary

We all know that core neighborhoods in Manhattan and Brooklyn are scorching hot, but which markets are next? Come hear from the creative investors, developers, and other stakeholders who are transforming neighborhoods across the five boroughs. From the Bronx to Staten Island, our all star panelists will break down the emerging submarkets, economic and demographic trends, and projects to look out for in the coming years. As always, expect plenty of networking time before and afterwards.

Habitat NYC


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Venue

New World Stage
340 West 50th Street
New York, NY 10019
Stage 3

Transit: 1, C, or E to 50 St; N, Q, R to 49th St, B or D to 7th Ave.


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