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Speakers and Panels

Purnima Kapur

Purnima Kapur

Executive Director

NYC Department of City Planning

Eli Weiss

Eli Weiss

Principal

Joy Construction

Susi Yu

Susi Yu

EVP

Forest City Ratner

Spencer Orkus

Spencer Orkus

Partner, President, Development

L+M Development Partners

Juan Barahona

Juan Barahona

Principal

SMJ Development/BFC Partners

Rob Likes

Rob Likes

National Manager

KeyBank

John Gilmore

John Gilmore

Vice President

KeyBank Real Estate Capital

Robert LiMandri

Robert LiMandri

Senior Principal

Vidaris

Shimon Shkury

Shimon Shkury

President and Founder

Ariel Property Advisors

Victor Sozio

Victor Sozio

Founding Partner

Ariel Property Advisors

Jeanine Margiano
Moderator

Jeanine Margiano

Partner

Windels Marx

Shwetha Subramanian

Shwetha Subramanian

Director - Residential Development

Greenland Forest City Partners

Aaron Yowell

Aaron Yowell

Partner

Nixon Peabody

Winell Belfonte
Moderator

Winell Belfonte

Partner

CohnReznick

Spencer Orkus

Partner, President, Development

L+M Development Partners

Spencer Orkus is a Partner and the President of Development at L+M Development Partners who has been with the company since 2007. He has developed over 5,000 affordable new construction units within various mixed-use new construction projects compiling over $2.5 billion in financing resources.

Spencer leads L+M’s efforts to provide housing that is healthy, energy-efficient, and resilient to climate change. He is passionate about the intersection of housing, healthcare and food access, partnering with various healthcare providers, food-oriented social justice enterprises and other non-profits. He has led L+M’s venture into the new era of sustainable construction, having completed our first passive house project with geothermal heating/cooling and NYC’s first net-zero community in the pipeline.

Prior to joining L+M, Spencer worked as a licensed structural engineer for DeSimone Consulting Engineers designing high-rise residential buildings and other structures. He has a BA and MA in Architectural Engineering from Penn State University and an MA in Real Estate from New York University’s Schack Institute of Real Estate. He is co-chair of the NYSAFAH policy committee, a board member of New York Passive House and serves on the Hastings on Hudson waterfront zoning committee.

John Gilmore

Vice President

KeyBank Real Estate Capital

John is a Vice President and Senior Relationship Manager within KeyBank Real Estate Capital’s Community Development

Lending and Investment Group. He is a member of the Group’s management team tasked with expanding the Bank’s

affordable housing platform from 12 to 50 states. Based in Manhattan, John focuses on establishing and expanding

relationships with real estate investors and owners of affordable housing based in the eastern US. Throughout his tenure

at the Bank John has served in many functions including working in the Bank’s Income Property Group, Asset Recovery

Group, and Private Equity Group.

Over his career, he has closed over $1.5 billion in multifamily housing loans throughout the nation. John has expertise in a

wide variety of asset types, including Affordable Housing, Market Rate Apartments, Manufactured Housing, Student

Housing, and Seniors Housing. Additionally, he is highly experienced in complex deal structures including

acquisition/rehabs, tax exempt bonds, low income housing tax credits, new construction, and permanent financing options

through Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and HUD.

John is a 2006 graduate of Morehouse College by way of Houston, Texas. While at Morehouse he graduate Cum Laude

with a Bachelors Degree in Finance and a minor in Economics. John currently serves as a Board Member of Bridge

Street Development Corporation and serves on the Steering committee of the New York Chapter of the Real Estate

Associates Program.

Robert LiMandri

Senior Principal

Vidaris

Mr. LiMandri joined Vidaris in 2014, bringing with him strategic leadership experience and innovation. Currently Mr. LiMandri oversees operations and the company’s Code Advisory division. The newly formed group can deliver comprehensive solutions based on a deep understanding of building code and NYC zoning. He also explores strategic service offerings that can bridge current gaps within the complex real estate and construction market in New York City and other metropolitan markets around the country. Mr. LiMandri also serves as a member of the Management Committee.

Before joining Vidaris, Mr. LiMandri served as New York City Department of Buildings Commissioner. He is an operational executive with a history of leadership in commercial real estate, construction, development standards, and oversight—with a tenure punctuated by widespread changes in building safety standards, technology initiatives, green building innovation, and code updates. Drawing on his background in fiscal oversight and P&L management, he has managed budgets exceeding $200M, in addition to a team of 1,100 attorneys, engineers, inspectors, and architects.

His leadership impact can be felt throughout the city’s real estate industry with enhanced safety awareness, stringent mandates for construction, and quality and advances in sustainability. In addition, his innovative approach to technology utilization has saved his customers millions in staff time, while boosting customer satisfaction with the launch of cutting-edge online collaboration tools such as the paperless virtual approval of plans at the HUB, 3D site safety review, and a smart phone app.

Mr. LiMandri has also held positions at Realfoundations as a management consultant, Jones Lang LaSalle managing Class A office, Columbia University, and Honeywell Corporation.

Shimon Shkury

President and Founder

Ariel Property Advisors

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.

Jeanine Margiano

Moderator

Windels Marx

Real Estate;

Jeanine represents developers in the construction and development of commercial, mixed-use and residential properties, including affordable and supportive housing projects and skilled nursing, assisted living and independent living facilities. Such representation includes all aspects of acquisition, development, construction and financing through the use of tax-exempt bond issuances, government subsidies and grants, construction loans and low-income housing tax credits.

General Counsel;

Ms. Margiano serves as general counsel to a number of for-profit and not-for-profit companies, ranging from small enterprises to large international companies, providing advice on myriad of matters such as: formation of business entities; intellectual property; corporate and regulatory compliance; real estate; licensing; financing; employment; privacy and compliance policies; non-disclosure arrangements; asset acquisitions and divestures; and vendor and service-related contracts.

Lending;

Ms. Margiano also practices in the areas of commercial and real estate lending and municipal finance transactions. She represents numerous institutional lenders on all aspects of secured and unsecured financings, including direct bond purchases in connection with tax-exempt bond issuances to developers, educational and not-for-profit entities, acquisition and construction loans, traditional financings, including lines of credit, participations, and asset-based loans secured by receivables and inventory.

Winell Belfonte

Moderator

CohnReznick

Winell Belfonte is a partner in CohnReznick’s Affordable Housing and Not-for-Profit and Education Industry

practices. She serves as the partner in charge of the Firm's New York office affordable housing practice. In this

capacity, she is the lead service provider and business advisor to her clients and accountable for the

dissemination and implementation of technical issues for affordable housing and not-for-profit clients.

Winell has 30 years of experience providing services to a broad range of clients. Her extensive experience

comes in the areas of audit, accounting, and tax for not-for-profit and for-profit clients including real estate

developers, investors, syndicators, contractors, and property managers, as well as charities and foundations.

Her business advisory expertise includes strategic planning, the design and implementation of internal control

structures, financial analysis, budgets, regulatory compliance, and investor requirements.

As a frequent speaker, Winell has become well known for her technical expertise. She has spoken to many

not-for-profit and affordable housing audiences and graduated from a nine-month community leadership

program with Leadership of Greater Washington in 2010.

Summary

In a city known for rising rents and rising land prices, creating and preserving affordable units is as important as ever. Join leading developers, policymakers, and lenders as they talk challenges and solutions to providing affordable housing in New York City.  

As always, expect plenty of networking and crucial insights in what promises to be another exciting Bisnow event!

Agenda

Time Activity
11:30 AM
12:30 PM
Breakfast & Networking
12:30 PM
2:30 PM
All-Star Panelists
2:30 PM
3:00 PM
Post Game Networking

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