Brian Collins is Executive Vice President and Director of Development where he oversees the development projects across the firm’s portfolio.

Previously, Mr. Collins was the Head of Acquisitions and Development at Fisher Brothers. Most recently, he oversaw over $1.5 billion in development of residential properties in New York City and Washington, DC, including 111 Murray, 225 East 39th Street, 101 West 87th Street, 37 Warren Street and 701 2nd Street NE on Capitol Hill.

Prior to joining Fisher Brothers, Brian was President of Intrawest, one of the largest resort owner/operators and real estate development companies in North America. As President, Brian oversaw all real estate activities worldwide. Before Intrawest, Brian was the founder of Colgate Development, a development company which specialized in the development of luxury hotels and condominiums. Under Brian’s leadership, Colgate developed several hotels and residential properties including The Ritz-Carlton in Charlotte, NC and the Residences at The Ritz-Carlton, Philadelphia.

Brian started his career in real estate development as a principal and COO of Millennium Partners. Overseeing the commercial components of Millennium’s projects, Brian was responsible for the development of The Ritz-Carlton hotels in New York, Boston and Washington and the Four Seasons hotels in San Francisco and Miami as well as five Sport Club/LA facilities, office space, movies theatres and parking garages. Brian is an active member of the Urban Land Institute where he serves as vice chairman for ULI New York. He is also active in numerous New York real estate groups and councils.

Mr. Collins holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from Colgate University and a Masters in Accounting from NYU. He and his wife have two children and live in Fairfield CT.

Adam I Gordon is the managing partner of Wildflower Ltd, as well as affiliated companies, Madison Development and Adam Gordon Holdings. Wildflower is currently constructing the first modern E-Commerce warehouse in New York City. Brooklyn Logistics Center spans two entire city blocks. The firm is also under development with JFK Logistics Center on approximately 11 acres less than a mile from JFK airport.

Adam’s company has been one of the most active developers of self-storage in Brooklyn, Queens and Bronx for the past two decades. Recently, they sold a portion of their portfolio to Prime Group for over $184 million. Mr. Gordon has also developed numerous historic residential properties in Manhattan as well. He also pioneered the largest community solar project in New York City, on over 2 acres of rooftop, reflecting the firms commitment to sustainability.

Adam has spoken on real estate and entrepreneurship at Harvard, Wharton, Dartmouth, Columbia and NYU. He received his BA in International Relations from the University of Michigan and his MBA in finance from the Wharton School. He was a longtime cabinet member at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

He resides in Manhattan.

Elizabeth Lusskin is the President of the LIC Partnership and Executive Director of the LIC Business Improvement District. In this role, she promotes economic development across the vibrant Long Island City industrial, commercial, residential and cultural arts mixed-use community. She is the Co-Chair of the Sunnyside Yard Master Plan Steering Committee, was Co-Chair of the Amazon Community Advisory Committee Project Plan Committee and is a Member of the Western Queens Tech Task Force, among other roles. Prior to LIC, she served as the Chief of Staff and Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at the Polytechnic Institute of NYU. Through her former consulting practice, Elizabeth Lusskin Consulting LLC, she advised public, private for-profit and non-profit clients on economic and community development, organizational management and strategic planning. Elizabeth has served as Deputy Commissioner of NYC SBS, General Counsel to the Downtown Alliance and Legislative Counsel at NYS Office of Federal Affairs. She is a graduate of Yale University and NYU School of Law.

A sought after voice in Queens real estate, Eric Benaim’s entry into real estate began in 2001, after a successful career as owner of a live event production and marketing firm. Initially concentrating on Manhattan luxury sales, Eric later recognized the untapped opportunity in his own beloved borough, and turned his focus exclusively to Long Island City. The result was the sale of 50 residences in 2006 alone.

In the midst of 2008’s severe economic crisis, Eric instinctively decided the time was right to launch Modern Spaces, permanently changing the perception and value of real estate in LIC. In just 10 years, Eric’s insightful and personal approach resulted in the swift expansion of Modern Spaces, including opening additional offices in Astoria where 100 agents work, capturing a 70% market share in Long Island City. In 2019, Modern Spaces crossed the river to capture 10% of the burgeoning market share over the next three years, in Jersey City.

He is responsible for successfully completing over $7B in sales and is currently responsible for overseeing over $4B in real estate, which translates to over 8000 units. Eric was the first person to be recognized as a 40 Under 40 Rising Star in both Queens and Brooklyn by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Brooklyn Borough President, Marty Markowitz, respectively.

Eric has been the recipient of the 2018 Community Impact Award by the LIC Partnership, as well as the Community Hero award by the Long Island City YMCA. Eric is a member of REBNY, and serves on the Advisory Board of Mount Sinai Hospital, as well as the Board of Directors for the Long Island City Partnership. In 2016 the City and State Award honored him for Corporate Social Responsibility.

Eric is consistently called upon to speak at a diverse array of events and is frequently featured, quoted, interviewed and profiled in prominent outlets including CNN, Fox Business, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CRAIN’S, The Real Deal, CNBC, and NY1.

Eric is an art collector and avid supporter of the arts. As the informal ‘Mayor of LIC,’ it is his passion for building a prosperous community that informs Modern Spaces ‘unparalleled perspective. He currently resides in Long Island City with his wife Stephanie and son Greyson.

Mr. Betesh joined Meridian Capital Group in May 2017, where he leads an eight-member team. Prior to joining Meridian, he served as a Director at Cushman & Wakefield Capital Markets and a Director of Capital Services at Massey Knakal Realty Services. To date, Mr. Betesh has financed over 500 buildings across the United States and has closed well in excess of over $5 billion in transactions throughout his career. Previously, Mr. Betesh was a Portfolio Manager at a private family office, where he managed a portfolio of properties in Midtown Manhattan and was principally responsible for restructuring and developing the portfolio, in addition to directly leasing the properties and managing the finances at a corporate level. Mr. Betesh attended Brooklyn College, where he received his Bachelor of Science in Business Management and Finance and was honored with the Brooklyn College Presidential Scholarship.

Adam Kriegstein practices in the general real estate group with a focus on development and offering plans as well as the acquisition, disposition, financing, leasing and development of various property types. With respect to offering plans, Mr. Kriegstein’s work on behalf of clients spans the many phases of the condominium and cooperative formation process, including the promulgation of condominium and cooperative governing documents, the preparation and filing of condominium and cooperative offering plans (or applications for no-action letters) with the New York State Department of Law, and the sale of individual residential and commercial condominium and cooperative units. With nearly 15 years of experience representing sellers and purchasers in the acquisition, sale, and lease of high-end co-op and condominium units, townhouses and residential homes, Mr. Kriegstein provides clients with comprehensive services, including pre-contract due diligence review of properties, contract preparation and negotiation, title and lien search review and guidance through all aspects of a residential closing transaction. Being that such a large portion of Mr. Kriegstein’s practice is focused on representing developers and drafting condominium and cooperative documents, clients purchasing under an offering plan gain invaluable insight about the transaction which translates into more information, better protection and unparalleled counsel. Bar Admissions: New York; Education: University of South Florida (B.S. Major in Criminal Justice, Minor in Political Science, 1996); Nova Southeastern University, Shepard Broad Law Center (J.D., cum laude, Goodwin Fellow, 2001).