Meet The 2025 New York Power Women Honorees
New York City’s commercial real estate industry has faced wave after wave of challenges in 2025, from the introduction of tariffs and federal funding cutbacks in the spring to the local political uncertainty introduced by November’s looming mayoral election.
The ability to navigate the turbulence is the hallmark of the 27 women who were named Bisnow New York Power Women for 2025, to be honored at a cocktail and awards reception Oct. 8 at 120 Broadway.
The two winners of this year's Icon and Influencer Award, MAG Partners founder and CEO MaryAnne Gilmartin and MSquared founder Alicia Glen, said sticking to their specialized areas and staying disciplined has been paramount as headlines throw investors into a panic.
Both women have managed to pull together standout moments in NYC’s commercial real estate scene during a moment when other developers have been stuck.
This summer, MAG Partners opened two residential buildings, the 194-unit Anagram Turtle Bay at 300 E. 50th St. and the 188-unit Mabel at 335 8th Ave. MSquared, meanwhile, acquired full ownership of a 1,193-unit property at 3333 Broadway in Manhattanville for $323.5M with a consortium of other investors and recently closed a $140M raise for the firm's second fund.
But it has been far from easy.
“Never have I seen daily national headlines whipsaw our business the way, or at least for our company, the way that it has since January,” Gilmartin said, adding that ”Liberation Day” — the day that President Donald Trump officially began his tariff campaign — was a “colossal stress inducer.”
The impact of cuts to federal programs has been a particular pain point for affordable and mixed-income housing investors and developers like Glen’s firm. Deals have gotten harder to put together because some resources are no longer available, she said.
“Business is very much focused on the relationship with the public sector and how you leverage government's policies and capital and money to promote affordable housing,” Glen said.
New York City’s upcoming mayoral election could increase those tensions, Gilmartin said. While she said a potential Zohran Mamdani mayoralty would have minimal impact on the ground-up development business, it could heighten the need for strategic thinking among builders. Trump's staunch opposition to Mamdani poses a potential complicating factor.
Political uncertainty at home and abroad has led to extra sensitivity and caution in the capital markets.
“Our investors are international, and they tend to be very sensitive to headlines,” Gilmartin said. “War is hard. War is harder when you're dealing with international investors that are from that region.”
Both have decades of experience helping to shape New York into what it is today — Gilmartin developed the Barclays Center as head of Forest City Ratner, and Glen was the tip of the spear for Mayor Bill de Blasio's housing policy. While they expressed apprehension about the city's short-term course, they have long histories of navigating the challenges while being one of few women in the room.
“For women in particular, you do have to be smarter than everybody else in order to get the authority to be in charge, or to raise capital or to run a city,” Glen said. “There are lots of women in the industry, but you have got to really own it, and you had better be the person that is making the decisions.”
About The Event
New York Power Women celebrates the honorees as forces that kept their firms active and resilient in a continued down market cycle that challenged all areas within the industry. These women were nominated by their peers for their work in financing, investment and capital markets facets of New York City’s commercial real estate sector, brokering some of the biggest office and multifamily deals during the past year.
A steering committee evaluated dozens of nominees to select the honorees, who navigated challenges across development, ownership, asset management, brokerage, design, build, engineering, policy and more. This year's committee was made up of BGO’s Abbe Franchot Borok, Hunton Andrews Kurth’s Laurie Grasso, Empire State Realty Trust’s Lesley Lisser, RXR Realty’s Whitney Arcaro and Scotiabank’s Linda Foggie.
The event will be held at 5:30 PM on Oct. 8 at 120 Broadway. Tickets are available here.
The other women being honored as New York’s 2025 Power Women are:
Amy Rose, CEO, Rose Associates
Angela Pinsky, Head of Community Engagement for NY, NJ & PA, Amazon
Christina Chiu, President, Empire State Realty Trust
Danielle Lombardo, Chair, Real Estate, Hospitality, and Leisure and Corporate Risk and Broking for North America, WTW
Jeanette Abate, Managing Director, U.S. Debt Capital Markets, Tishman Speyer
Kara McShane, Managing Director, Head of Commercial Real Estate, Wells Fargo
Kelly Kennedy Mack, President, Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group
Kimberly Adams, Managing Director, Head of Alternatives Platform, Portfolio Manager, Clarion Partners
Larissa Belova, Chief Investment Officer, UBS
Lisa Bevacqua, Executive Managing Director, Investor Portfolio Management, CBRE
Lissa So, Founding Partner, Marvel
Madeleine Russo, Managing Director, Co-Chief Compliance Officer, Blackstone
Margaret Anadu, Senior Partner, The Vistria Group
Marion Jones, Principal and Executive Managing Director of U.S. Capital Markets, Avison Young
Marisol DeRosa, Financial Services Leader, Strategy Director, Principal, Gensler
Melissa Gliatta, COO, Thor Equities
Mayra Maisch, Managing Director, Head of U.S. Construction Value-Add Portfolio, BGO
Michelle Kelban, Global Chair, Real Estate Practice, Latham & Watkins
Michelle MacKay, Chief Executive Officer, Cushman & Wakefield
Nancy Packes, President, Nancy Packes Inc
Nora Creedon, President & CEO, Starwood Real Estate Income Trust
Suri Kasirer, President, Kasirer
Trisha Connolly Horowitz, Partner, Head of Real Estate and Asset Management, Catal Capital
Yael Ron, Chief Hospitality Officer, Silverstein Properties
Yesenia Scheker-Izquierdo, Global Tax Leader, Real Estate and Partner-in-Charge for New York Real Estate Practice, KPMG
