Laurie, an accomplished deal maker, is partner and co-chair of the firm’s global real estate practice. She takes a client-focused approach to her real estate practice, often acting as in-house counsel for her clients and becoming a trusted member of their businesses. She has a long list of clients who have been with her since the beginning of her practice and appreciate her ability to adeptly and efficiently handle any type of real estate deal. She is recognized as a leading lawyer in Chambers USA 2021, noting that she is “a strong negotiator” and “she has a great business sense combined with legal knowledge.” Most recently, for the second year in a row, Commercial Observer included her in their elite “Power 100” list, which recognizes the most powerful players in real estate.

Laurie represents real estate private equity funds, companies, institutional REITs, investors and other property owners in structuring and closing real estate transactions such as acquisitions and dispositions, developments, financings, portfolio transactions, preferred equity investments, leasing and real estate joint ventures. Her work touches all asset classes, including office, multifamily, affordable housing, workforce housing, mixed-use, life sciences, hospitality, retail and condominium. She also maintains an active capital markets and fund practice, representing investors in joint venture transactions and sophisticated fund and tax structures. Laurie is also well-versed in the Opportunity Zone program and helps clients through the process of structuring and investing in qualified properties and vehicles.

Laurie is involved in a number of non-profit and charitable organizations focusing on increasing diversity in real estate. She serves on the Advisory Board and spearheads the firm’s legal partnership with Project Destined, an organization dedicated to transforming minority youth into owners in the communities in which they live, work and play. She also serves as co-chair for Rebuilding New York’s “She Builds” program, where she organizes an annual renovation day, rehabilitating a New York City community center in need.

Jaime Sanmiguel is a Vice President in FirstService Residential’s Multifamily Rental Division.

In this role, Jaime oversees a mix of new and young rental properties, steady-state assets,

luxury amenitized properties, and multi-building complexes with a commercial overlay. His

management portfolio includes roughly 3,000 units, supported by a team of dedicated

management professionals who specialize in complex building operations, risk mitigation, and

compliance with emergent local laws and housing regulations.

With over 15 years of experience, Jaime has cultivated strong relationships with some of New

York’s most prominent multifamily building and portfolio owners. As a consultant, he helps

these clients differentiate their properties from competing assets, maximize ROI, reduce

operating costs, and elevate building staff performance through quality coaching and

certification programs.

Prior to his role as Managing Director, he served as General Manager of New York by Gehry, an

iconic architectural masterpiece in Downtown Manhattan with more than 900 apartments.

Andrew Barrocas has enjoyed success as a dominant force and respected authority in the New York City

real estate industry for many years. In his accomplished career, he has sold over $10-billion worth of

property, and managed, trained, recruited and collaborated with the city's top agents and brokers. As

CEO and Founder of MNS, Andrew currently oversees more than a billion dollars’ worth of real estate, as

well as an exceptional team of talented agents and project managers focused on providing the utmost

level of client service.

Andrew entered the real estate field after graduating from the WP Carey School of Business at Arizona

State University. He went on to achieve instant success and recognition as one of the "Top 30 Brokers

Under 30", according to The Real Deal. Over the years, Andrew has been a continually sought-after

expert on real estate who has been featured in The New York Times' "The 30-Minute Interview", quoted

in all major New York publications, and spotlighted on The Stoler Report.

Since founding MNS in 2006, Andrew has grown the company substantially in terms of its revenue and its

team, which is now over 125 people. He also serves his industry as a licensed teacher through the State

of New York, passing on his knowledge and array of professional experience of real estate sales to real

estate brokers and salespersons.

Andrew is also an active member of The Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), The Community

Housing Improvement Program (CHIP), Young Jewish Professionals (YJP) and Young Presidents

Organization (YPO). He and his wife Rachel are the proud parents of three beautiful girls – Cayden, Ella

and Zoe.

Sherry Wang is a Partner at The Vistria Group in Real Estate. Prior to joining Vistria, Sherry was a managing director and co-head of the Urban Investment Group at Goldman Sachs. Under her leadership, UIG invested $12 billion in public-private partnerships to create equitable economic development across the United States. Prior to joining the Urban Investment Group, Sherry worked in the Investment Banking division at Goldman Sachs.

Sherry received a B.A. in Economics & Mathematics from Yale University, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. Sherry serves on the New York Advisory Board of Enterprise Community Partners, where she co-chairs the policy committee. She is on the Board of Directors of the Center for an Urban Future. She is a Salzburg Global Fellow and was recognized on the 2023 Power 100 list by Commercial Observer.

Sam and his team emphasize client relationships and the building of a competitive bidding process around each listing. He joined Besen Partners in 2023, previously beginning his career at Marcus & Millichap and then serving as the Senior Vice President of TrueRate investment sales. Sam’s wide range of experience in the business has proven vital to navigating even the toughest deals from listing to close. Sam graduated from The George Washington University in 2016 and was a member of the ice hockey team as well as the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity.

Todd R. Pajonas, Esq., President of Legal 1031 Exchange Services, LLC, is a member of the New York Bar and has been working in the real estate and title insurance industries since 1992. Prior to forming Legal 1031 Exchange Services, LLC Todd established the Northeast operations for two separate national qualified intermediaries, founded a national qualified intermediary which was later sold to an investor, and was counsel for two national title insurance underwriters. Todd focuses on IRC §1031 tax deferred exchanges and has received Martindale Hubbell’s prestigious AV peer review rating for attorneys.

In his position with Legal 1031 Exchange Services, LLC Todd frequently lectures on IRC §1031 tax deferred exchanges, structured installment sales, real estate taxation, cost segregation, and other real estate related topics. Todd has lectured extensively for various bar associations, CPA societies, Boards of Realtors, Land Title Associations, and many civic, real estate, tax, educational and financial organizations.

Todd was a guest lecturer at the New York University School of Continuing and Professional Studies where he taught a class on IRC §1031 tax deferred exchanges. He has been quoted in numerous publications including The New York Times, National Real Estate Investor, Small Business Review, Shopping Center Business Magazine, and Registered Rep Magazine. On June 18, 2013 Connecticut Governor Malloy signed House Bill No. 6339 which sets forth guidelines and requirements pertaining to minimum fidelity bond and errors and omissions insurance coverage, as well as inclusion of a prudent investor standard to maintain the liquidity and preservation of the exchange funds. Todd twice gave testimony before the Connecticut Banks Committee and was the main driving force in seeing this law enacted.

Todd is the author of various legal articles, including Tax Deferred Real Property Exchanges: Do Co-Ops Qualify?, published in the New York Law Journal on August 9, 1999, Vesting and Finance Issues Related to Tax Deferred Exchanges Under IRC §1031, published in the May 2000 issue of the West Real Estate Finance Journal, The Benefits of a Tax Deferred Exchange, published in the September 2001 issue of Aviation Week’s A/C Flyer International, Property Exchanges Defer Taxes, published in the New York Law Journal on November 26, 2001, Reverse Tax Deferred Exchanges of Aircraft, published in the December 2001 issue of Aviation Week’s A/C Flyer International, Why Tax Deferred Exchanges are Good For Your Clients, published in the New York Real Estate Journal on December 31, 2001, Forming an Entity Which Allows Partners Separation While Minimizing Tax Consequences, published in the New York Real Estate Journal on January 29, 2002, Qualified Intermediaries Aid in §1031 Tax Deferred Exchanges – Providing Security, published in the New York Real Estate Journal on March 26, 2002, Taxing Complications: Sorting Out Tax-Deferred Exchanges for Tenants in Common, published in the New York Law Journal on April 10, 2002, Minimizing NY Mortgage Recording Tax, published in the May 2002 issue of the New York Real Estate Journal, Boilerplate Contract Language May Get You in Hot Water, published in the August 19, 2002 issue of the New York Law Journal, Proper Planning Is Important for Deposits, Escrows, and §1031 Tax Deferred Exchanges, published in the April, 2003 issues of the New York and New England Real Estate Journals, IRS Favors New §1031 Tax-Deferral Avenue, published in the New York Law Journal on August 18, 2003, Reporting Primary Residence Sales – The IRS has modified requirements when §1031 exchanges and partial rentals are involved, published in the New York Law Journal on March 12, 2007, Vacation Home Exchanges Clarified – The unanticipated implications of Rev. Proc. 2008-16 are broader, published in the New York Law Journal on June 23, 2008, How Mortgage Disclosure Improvement Act Has Changed Residential Closings, published in the New York Law Journal on September 2, 2009 and Eagerly awaiting a Covid-19 extension for 1031 Exchanges, published April 8, 2020 in the New York and New England Real Estate Journals.

Todd received his B.S. degree from Saint John’s University and his J.D. degree from Touro Law School. He is a member of the New York State Bar Association.

Andrew Dansker is the CEO and founder of Dansker Capital Group, a national mortgage brokerage firm with six U.S. offices and one international office. He oversees a team of 30 professionals originating commercial mortgage debt across all major asset types, with a particular focus on retail and multifamily properties. The firm primarily arranges bank and credit union financing while also executing agency, CMBS, life company, and bridge loan transactions as appropriate. Since its establishment as an independent company in 2020, Dansker Capital Group has placed well over $3 billion in commercial real estate loans nationwide.

Andrew believes the middle-market debt marketplace is under-served by professional, high-quality national firms and sees a significant opportunity for an enterprising company to fill that gap. His leadership vision is to build an organization that delivers institutional-quality service, execution, and results to the national middle-market debt space.

Andrew is a published industry commentator whose writing on the real estate lending market has appeared in The Commercial Observer, Real Estate Weekly, and New York Real Estate Journal. He is also a frequent industry speaker and contributor at conferences and events organized by Bisnow, GlobeSt, Interface, Commercial Observer, ConnectCRE, and other leading commercial real estate platforms. He has more than 15 years of experience in the real estate industry. Andrew earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Chicago and a Juris Doctor from New York University School of Law.

Known for his high level of personal commitment to his clients, Robert has the skill, knowledge and creativity necessary to solve problems and identify opportunities for them. As a member of the firm’s Real Estate practice, Robert counsels developers, real estate equity and opportunity funds, real estate investment trusts, investors, owners and tenants in all aspects of commercial real estate transactions. His practice is national in scope and encompasses a broad range of transactions, with particular emphasis on acquisitions, dispositions, development and retail leasing. His professional focus also includes the management, financing and construction of commercial, retail, industrial and multi-unit residential properties.

Robert is also chair of the firm’s Cannabis Group and counsels clients regarding regulatory compliance, risk management, governmental affairs, licensing and the leasing and acquisition of real property in connection with cannabis related uses. He employs a grass-roots approach that is pivotal in breaking the stigma associated with cannabis and its derivatives.

Adam Schwegman is Director, Head of Retail Leasing at Jamestown. Prior to joining Jamestown, he was Partner, Executive Vice President of Leasing at North American Properties (NAP), where he led the leasing team to focus on a thoughtful, experiential merchandise mix at each of NAP Atlanta’s projects. Prior to joining NAP, Mr. Schwegman served as Senior Vice President for Brookfield Properties (formerly GGP), where he launched Eat/Drink, a national team responsible for all food and beverage deals across the country. Under his leadership, he expanded Brookfield’s food and beverage offerings, including several food halls. He also conceptualized several food halls, including Politan Row at Colony Square and Flagship Commons. Prior to that, Mr. Schwegman worked as a leasing representative at Cousins Properties, where he was responsible for leasing Emory Point, Terminus, and The Avenues, among others. Early in his career he served as a real estate associate for Bank of America and as a senior associate at Robert Charles Lesser & Co. He is also active within the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC). Mr. Schwegman earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Finance, and Real Estate from the University of Tennessee.

Shlomi Bagdadi has proven his expertise in Tri State’s (NY, NJ, PA) commercial real estate with his creative eye and a keen understanding of the market. Mr. Bagdadi’s journey begins in Rishon Lezion, Israel where he studied Marketing and Business Management, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree. As a student, he worked for Bank Hapoalim where he accumulated marketing and banking experience as one of the bank’s representatives, working to sign up clients for the bank’s multitude of services.

From there he moved to join Bank Leumi’s headquarters in Tel Aviv, before finally landing in a wholesale company in New York City, thus joining the e-commerce workforce.

All the while, Mr. Bagdadi managed a successful online sales business with his family and used the proceeds to invest in commercial real estate properties. The insight he gained on ownership and tenancy needs sparked his passion for real estate.

Mr. Bagdadi has almost two decades worth of experience in Commercial Real Estate and established Tri State Commercial® Realty in 2014. With a team of skilled brokers and Mr. Bagdadi at the helm, the firm has consecutively received seven “CoStar Power Broker Top Firm Award ” for Four years in a row and also holds first place for closing the most deals in Brooklyn for three years consecutively, according to The Real Deal’s Brooklyn Retail Leasing charts. Mr. Bagdadi has also been nominated for Brownstoner’s RADD Award as one of Brooklyn’s top 50 industry leaders in commercial real estate, development, and architecture.

Shlomi Bagdadi is also a member of the REBNY Brooklyn commercial board and Brooklyn Retail report committee.

During his 17+ year career as a commercial real estate broker MONA chief executive officer and founder

Brandon L. Singer has negotiated lease transactions with an aggregate value totaling well over $3 billion.

In September of 2020, Singer launched MONA, a forward-thinking retail brokerage firm that guides

tenants and landlords through the increasingly disrupted retail and commercial real estate landscape.

Since its inception, MONA has hired many of the top retail brokers in New York City and become a

launchpad for the retail stars of tomorrow all while negotiating many of the most prominent retail real

estate deals in New York City.

Singer’s myriad deals at MONA have included Gucci’s lease of 45 Ninth Avenue and Breitling’s lease of

875 Washington Street, both of which were signed in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, as well as

LUISAVIAROMA’s lease of 1 Bond Street in Noho for the brand’s first United States store. All three deals

were nominated for REBNY’s prestigious Retail Deal of the Year award. Singer also negotiated flagship

leases for clients Ben Soleimani Furniture, Showfields, Padel Haus, and many others. As a corporate

executive and founder, Singer is most proud of bringing aboard several high-profile brokers and their

teams to be a part of MONA’s winning culture, as well as fostering an environment where new talent

can learn and grow their careers in an accelerated fashion relative to other commercial real estate firms.

Prior to his commercial real estate career, Brandon graduated from The George Washington University

in 2007 with a degree in Business Administration, and as a proud alum, Brandon has been back to

campus to teach classes in the Real Estate school. Brandon is a member of the International Council of

Shopping Centers and the Real Estate Board of New York. He is also a Root Society member and former

Vice Chairman of Jewish National Fund’s JNF Future as well as a benefactor to UJA, AJC, AIPAC and the

Real Estate Division, New Leadership Cabinet of the State of Israel Bonds.

Jonathan Adelsberg focuses his practice on complex real estate transactions, including sales, acquisitions, large scale developments, financings, workouts, restructurings, leasing, joint ventures and construction projects. Clients, including prominent real estate owners and developers, international retailers, large financial services firms, investors, major corporations and high-net-worth families with significant real estate holdings often call on Jonathan because of his ability to amicably resolve multi-party transactions, and his ability to navigate sophisticated matters involving a governmental component.

As the chair of Herrick's commercial leasing practice, Jonathan advises tenants and landlords in millions of square-feet of office and retail leases throughout the U.S. While his leasing transaction experience spans the entire country, Jonathan frequently advises national and international retailers in prime New York City retail locations, including Times Square and Fifth Avenue. His ongoing clients include two of the five largest U.S. banks, and major retailers including LVMH Moët Hennessy and its subsidiaries. Jonathan’s representation of some of the City’s largest landlords also helps him anticipate the needs of each side of a transaction. He has advised New York City landlords in connection with many prominent retail locations, including the E-Walk complex on 42nd Street – one of the busiest blocks in the world.

Leading projects from concept to completion, Andrew is an expert in the technical design and management coordination of full-service jobs. He navigates complex urban systems and manages broad stakeholder groups to deliver globally significant projects across varied sectors.

Andrew is indispensable to the execution of our full services architectural work, bringing a technical- and delivery-oriented approach to projects, ensuring technical integration at the onset of concept design and a methodical, process-based system for work coordination. These come together to ensure a design is not only aesthetically exceptional but can be delivered on time, on budget, and with a rigorous technical translation of design intent during construction documentation and administration. This approach has been critical to the success of complex projects such as One Vanderbilt and 343 Madison, which necessitate consistent communication between the design team, consultant team, and client.

Having played an integral role in much of the firm’s work in New York City, Andrew has developed a robust understanding of its unique regulatory and legal environment. This expertise enables a seamless transition between design phases and construction and supports feasibility assessments of potential development opportunities. Andrew has successfully steered projects through the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Process (ULURP), which entails significant community engagement and agency support in pursuit of modified zoning regulations and developed long term, productive relationships with agencies such as the DOB, MTA, and DCP in the delivery of large-scale work.

Andrew is an active member of the architectural community, joining reviews at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design and Ohio State University. He has been a guest speaker at the AIA National Conference, The Council Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, and for the NYU Real Estate Program. He also participated in New York City’s Building Resiliency Task Force, defining new building code initiatives in the wake of Superstorm Sandy.

Farshad Morè is a partner in Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher's New York and Century City offices. He is a member of the firm's Real Estate Department. Farshad's real estate practice experience includes representation of opportunity and private equity funds, REITs, institutional and non-institutional real estate investors, developers and operators, lenders and borrowers in a broad range of matters, including acquisition, development, financing and disposition of commercial real estate of all asset types, including vacant land, hotels, residential, office, multi-family, retail and mixed-use buildings, shopping centers, and other commercial and residential properties throughout the United States; acquisition and disposition of debt instruments secured by, and equity interests in, real property, including the acquisition and disposition of REITs; complex construction, permanent, securitized, mezzanine, preferred equity and participating financing, including Shari'ah-compliant financings; forming and representing joint ventures, limited liability companies, general and limited partnerships, and negotiating joint venture agreements for operating and capital partners; ground leasing and ground leasehold financing. Additionally, Farshad routinely advises and represents clients in connection with restructuring and "work-outs" of existing financing, as well as uniform commercial code and real estate foreclosures.

Arthur Milston is a Senior Managing Director with NAI Global and Head of the Capital

Markets Group.

Approaching his third decade in commercial real estate investment sales, his entire

career has been in real estate and investment banking with a focus on capital market

transactions. He has broad oversight of the Capital Markets Group including

administration, new business development, transaction execution, marketing, promotion

and financial reporting. He is actively engaged with capital markets clients and all NAI

offices around the globe.

Mr. Milston joined NAI Global in 2014 after spending 18 years at Savills LLC and its

predecessor, Granite Partners. He has worked nationally on numerous and varied sales

and financing transactions including retail, office, residential, hotel and entertainment

projects. Representative sales transactions include: 6 million SF Colonial Properties

Trust Mall Portfolio; 1 million SF Queens Atrium Corporate Center, Long Island City,

New York; 325,000 SF Shops at Georgetown Park, Washington, DC; 300,000 SF

leasehold interest in the retail and office component of the National Landmarked Union

Station, Washington DC. Earlier in his career, Mr. Milston was with Cineplex Odeon

Corporation where he worked on acquiring, developing and managing theatre properties

throughout the Eastern U.S.

Mr. Milston earned a B.S.B.A. with a concentration in Finance from Boston University.

Joel Breitkopf, Principal of Alchemy Properties, has been in the real estate industry his entire professional career. Joel is involved in all aspects of Alchemy’s developments and investments including acquisition, finance, design, construction, marketing and strategic planning and is a principal of Alchemy – ABR Investment Partners which acquires existing commercial buildings and develops in select major markets. He joined Alchemy in 1993. Previously, he was an executive at Commercial Bank of New York and was Vice President of Acquisitions and Finance for Himmel+Meringoff Properties. In this capacity he oversaw opportunistic acquisitions and structured bank workouts in the early 1990’s. Joel was also a real estate loan officer at the renowned Chemical Bank Realty and, prior to that, an analyst at LaSalle Partners, a national real estate advisor and predecessor to Jones Lang LaSalle. In 2013, Joel started a music therapy program for Veterans with PTSD, called Healing our Heroes, at the Music Conservatory of Westchester where he is now the Chairman of the Board of Trustees. He was also President of B’nai B’rith Real Estate, and has been affiliated with numerous other industry groups and charities. Joel has financed well over $3 Billion in real estate transactions and has developed over 3,000,000 square feet of residential and commercial real estate during his career. He has lectured at the Yale University School of Architecture, the University of Pennsylvania, the Wharton Graduate School of Business, Cornell University and has been an Adjunct Professor at New York University’s Master’s Program in Real Estate. Joel is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in Economics.

Colleen is President and Chief Operating Officer at Taconic. She also leads Taconic’s Development and Construction practice. As President and COO, Colleen oversees corporate matters across the firm. As Head of Development and Construction she manages all aspects of development including strategic planning, zoning and entitlements, predevelopment, project budgeting, design management, construction oversight, procurement, risk management and insurance, community relations, branding, and marketing through sale or lease-up.

Since joining Taconic in 2000, Colleen has planned and overseen both ground-up and restoration projects in the commercial, residential and mixed-use sectors, totaling over 7 million square feet of commercial space and 1,500 units of housing. In addition, Colleen leads Taconic’s development advisory business, which focuses on key partnerships for client-led development and construction projects. Colleen received a Bachelor of Arts degree magna cum laude in psychology from Boston College, and earned a Master of Science degree in real estate development and finance from NYU’s Schack Institute of Real Estate. Colleen is an active member of ULI’s Program Steering Committee, NYPEN, Professional Women in Construction, and sits on the Fordham Real Estate Executive Advisory Council.