NYC Office & Workplace of the Future

Eric Gural is Co-CEO and Principal of GFP alongside his cousin Brian Steinwurtzel. A corporate real estate veteran, Eric began working with the GFP portfolio at the age of 15 as a porter and freight operator during his summers off from school. He assumed a full-time position as an assistant asset manager in 1991. In 2008 he was promoted to his current role, in which he oversees all aspects of company operations, with a focus on leasing and management of the existing portfolio. Eric was instrumental in successfully converting over 1 million square feet of former manufacturing space into office in the Garment District and launching the first rooftop restaurant and bar in a commercial building at 230 Fifth Avenue. In 2010 he founded the first fashion incubator in New York City in collaboration with the Council of Fashion Designers of America and New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYEDC). Eric is very active within the community and is Chairman of PowerMyLearning and Trustee of The Nature Conservancy (New York Chapter). He also serves on the boards of the Garment Center Business Improvement District, Union Square Partnership, Design Trust for Public Space, and Playwrights Horizons.

Barbara A. Blair leads the Garment District Alliance (GDA) as its president, working with local businesses and property owners to improve the economic vitality of the Garment District. In late 2018, Blair was the lead advocate and spokesperson for many of the local stakeholders as the City approved a historic lifting of zoning restrictions on the iconic neighborhood, an act which eluded previous Mayors and City Councils and will help unleash the neighborhood’s full economic potential. Blair brought the real estate community together on a consensus plan to offer building space to remaining garment manufacturers, so the zoning deal could proceed. While the district is lined already with rooftop bars, restaurants and boutique hotels, and a thriving public art scene on Broadway, the zoning change will undoubtedly be the most significant spark the district has seen in generations. Over the years, Blair’s passion, vision and tenacity helped set the stage for the district’s transformation into a vibrant, 24/7 neighborhood. Where the area once emptied at 5 PM, it now has 42 hotels, 250 restaurants, world-class art, public programming, and millions of annual tourists bringing the neighborhood to life around the clock. Today, the Garment District boasts an explosion of new uses, attracting diverse and cutting-edge businesses. And with the change in zoning laws, the district is now poised to continue to grow as one of NYC’s hottest neighborhoods. About the Garment District Alliance The Garment District Alliance (www.garmentdistrictnyc.com), formerly the Fashion Center BID, is a not-for-profit corporation established in 1993 to improve the quality of life and economic vitality of Manhattan’s Garment District. Through programs in the areas of streetscape improvements, sanitation and public safety, marketing and promotions, economic development, and community service, the Garment District Alliance supports the neighborhood’s transformation into a modern, 24/7 destination for dining, nightlife, hotels and unique office space. For more information on the Garment District Alliance’s many art initiatives, please visit http://www.garmentdistrictnyc.com/art-design/.

As Head of Real Estate for Americas my role is to provide professional assistance management coordination to the zone business units in tendering and choosing partners for all our Real Estate transactions and Architectural and Construction Projects, liaise and coordinate with brokers, contractors and internal clients for property transactions or building validation, lead the role representative for all operation matters as well as oversee all project stages, investment planning, site location, layout concept, project implementation, architectural and engineering design and work execution, delivery and commissioning, as well as integrate FM procedures, quality standards and energy performance.

Mr. Teti is a Partner of Normandy and is head of its leasing group, responsible for managing the leasing and marketing activities for Normandy’s portfolio. Mr. Teti also spends time on business development and capital raising activities for Normandy. Previously Mr. Teti was part of Normandy’s acquisitions team where he assisted in underwriting and closing acquisitions and financings. Prior to joining Normandy, he was Vice President of Operations at 52 Transom Group, where he oversaw sales and sourcing operations. Mr. Teti graduated from Princeton University with a degree in Sociology we he was also a varsity athlete and a member of the National Champion rowing team. In addition, Mr. Teti is a three‐time member of the U.S. Olympic Rowing Team, competing in the Sydney, Athens and Beijing Games. As a member of the US National Team Mr. Teti won 10 national championships and is a winner of three World Cup medals and a Pan American Games gold medal. Mr. Teti is active in the community and has held leadership positions with several local and national non‐profits and charities including Playworks, Diabetes Research Institute, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, USRowing and the Princeton National Rowing Association.

Eugene is the Global Head of Real Estate and Business Development at Knotel. As a member of the senior executive team, Eugene leads Global Real Estate and Business Development. This encompasses all facets of real estate, including market strategy, transaction negotiation and execution, as well as management of the design and construction, IT, facilities and asset management functions Prior to Knotel, Eugene was a senior executive at Knewton, Senior Policy Advisor for Economic Development for Mayor Bloomberg, a Presidential appointee at the U.S. Department of Commerce, and worked in a variety of roles at Morgan Stanley. He earned an MBA from NYU and BS from Cornell University.

Bryan Murphy is the CEO of Breather, a network of over 500 flexible private office & on demand meeting spaces in 10 cities across the world. Before joining Breather, Murphy was the founder and president of Tomorrow Sleep. Prior, Murphy served as a VP on eBay's NA leadership team after the company acquired his previous company, WHI Solutions — where Murphy was the co-founder and CEO. Murphy has been recognized for leadership excellence, being named a winner of the Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year award, Deloitte's Fast 500 and Fast 50 award. Along with his current position at Breather, Murphy currently serves as a Director for Neighborly, Four Mine, and as an adviser for Starboard Capital Partners.

Throughout his years in the office furniture industry, Marc has been passionate about furnishing and creating comfortable, healthy and dynamic offices. Marc is the owner of OFH, an office furniture & design company founded in 1991. OFH has established a reputation for furnishing beautiful work spaces with quality office furniture at affordable prices. Marc is focused on growing the company, fostering a collaborative team spirit among the staff, and making customer satisfaction the company’s highest priority. Marc spent the first 20 years of his career as a partner at Dallek Office Furniture, a company founded by his grandparents Nathan & Fanny Dallek nearly 100 years ago. Marc proudly continues the legacy started by his grandparents by leading a thriving business focused on designing and furnishing offices for businesses between 5 – 100 employees. Marc is the proud father of five children. He and his wife Jill love attending NYC’s galleries and museums. He has been competing in triathlons since 2000 and bikes to the office and around the city every day.

Jonathan Lee Cohen serves as Head of Acquisitions at RFR Holding, a Manhattan-based, privately controlled real estate investment, development and management company with over $13 billion assets under management. In this capacity, Mr. Cohen oversees the acquisition of investments across all asset classes including office, retail, hotel and residential. Mr. Cohen was formerly a Director at Madison Capital where he was responsible for sourcing, identifying, evaluating, underwriting and analyzing potential acquisitions and financing commercial real estate investments, including direct property acquisitions, loan investments and note acquisitions. Prior to joining Madison Capital, Mr. Cohen acted as an Associate at Cabot Investments, specializing in the acquisition and asset management of real estate and clean energy assets. In this capacity, he assisted in managing the firm’s five million square foot portfolio of office and retail assets, the acquisition of retail and office assets for Cabot’s private REIT platform and the acquisition of clean energy assets for Cabot’s renewable energy investment platform. Mr. Cohen began his career as an Acquisitions Analyst at The Praedium Group, where he was responsible for analysis, due diligence and transaction execution for the acquisition of office, retail and multifamily assets, as well as for the management and disposition of the firm’s existing assets. Mr. Cohen graduated with Honors from the University of Michigan, earning both a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science.

Mr. Shehadeh is a Senior Managing Director overseeing Tishman Speyer's activities in the New York region, and is a member of the firm's Investment Committee. Since joining the company in 2000, Mr. Shehadeh has been responsible for transactions totaling over $12 billion. Today, he oversees the acquisition, development, disposition and operations of the New York area business - a portfolio of approximately 22 million square feet, with an additional 8 million square feet of development pipeline. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute and the Real Estate Board of New York. Mr. Shehadeh received a BS in engineering from Boston University and an MBA in finance from New York University.

Executive Director at J.P. Morgan Asset Management with more than twelve years experience performing value-add commercial real estate investment management. Specialize in multi-family, office and retail asset management, acquisition/reposition analytics, joint venture and capital markets structuring.

Paul is an accomplished real estate professional with over 20 years of experience that includes real estate sales, recapitalizations, acquisitions, financing and asset management. His experience covers all property types and investments throughout the capital stack and across the risk-reward spectrum. Paul has been involved in approximately $17 billion of completed commercial real estate transactions. Prior to joining Hodges Ward Elliott, Paul has held officer positions at CBRE, Morgan Stanley, and UBS Realty. At CBRE, Paul oversaw all office transaction for its leading investment sales team in New York City and was a recipient of the Edward S. Gordon REBNY Ingenious Deal award in 2011. Before that, he was a Vice President in acquisitions at Morgan Stanley covering the MSREF and PRIME Property funds. He began his career at UBS Realty and holds an undergraduate degree from Georgetown University and a Masters of Business Administration from New York University. Paul is on the advisory board for the Steers Center for Global Real Estate at Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business.

Kevin Chin is Vice President, Securiti & Head of Corporate Development at TheGuarantors, a leading VC-backed FinTech/PropTech company, that provides innovative financial products to multifamily and commercial office real estate owners, brokers, and occupiers. In this role, he is responsible for leading all aspects of sales, strategy, underwriting and operations for the company’s commercial office business line. Kevin joined the TheGuarantors as its 11th employee and Chief of Staff to the CEO in 2016. During his time at the firm, he has played an instrumental role in launching the Securiti business line, managing and developing strategic partnerships with insurance companies, and working closely with the management team on fundraising efforts for its Series A and Series B rounds of financing. Prior to his position with TheGuarantors, Kevin spent 4 years at two Fortune 500 publicly traded FinTech firms, Intercontinental Exchange (parent company of New York Stock Exchange) and S&P Global (parent company of Standard & Poors), where he focused on firm-wide mergers & acquisitions, principal investments, strategic partnerships, and corporate strategy for each of the company's executive management teams. Prior to that, Kevin spent 3 years at J.P. Morgan in the investment banking group focused on underwriting, structuring, and executing investment grade and leveraged finance transactions for financial institutions and real estate private equity firms, as well as at Goldman Sachs & Co. in their investment management division. Kevin is a graduate of Baruch College, where he received his Bachelor’s degree in finance and investments, with supporting studies in real estate from New York University's Shack Institute of Real Estate.

Ryan joined Stanwich Energy Advisors eleven years ago and works as Managing Director, helping to facilitate exponential growth, in both client base and suite of services. At Stanwich, Ryan works closely with large volume end-users of electricity and natural gas to help navigate the deregulated energy markets and implement a tailored strategy to mitigate and manage energy spend. Ryan earned a degree in economics with distinction from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Additionally while at UNC, he was a four year starter on the Mens Varsity lacrosse team, finishing his career 8th all-time in school history in assists, while also earning a place on the All-ACC Academic lacrosse team.

Ryan is the co-founder and CEO of Convene. Convene has set out to change the way the world works by partnering with the largest landlords in commercial real estate to design and service the next generation office building – one that feels more like a full-service, lifestyle hotel. Convene’s integrated “workplace-as-a-service” platform gives building tenants and enterprise clients access to a growing network of premium meeting and event spaces, private workspaces, hospitality services, and curated experiences, all connected by Convene’s technology platform. Convene was recently named the #11 Best Workplace in New York by Fortune Magazine, and #30 on LinkedIn's annual list of Top Startups in 2017. Ryan has been recognized for his transformative achievements on Real Estate Forum’s 50 Under 40 list, Inc. Magazine’s “30 Under 30,” a list of America’s Most Promising Young Entrepreneurs, was named “Top Entrepreneur” by Crain’s New York, and a finalist in Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year® New York Awards.

Rachel Casanova is the Tri-State Senior Managing Director of Workplace Innovation at Cushman & Wakefield, a branch of the Strategic Consulting practice. In 2017, she founded Balansett after working in the field of Workplace Strategy for over 20 years, helping companies transform their real estate assets to reinforce long-term business strategies, corporate culture, and increasingly integrated space, digital tools and technology and performance goals.

David Weinberg is a Principal at ZGF’s New York City office with over 30 years of experience encompassing all areas of design, management, and delivery. His experience includes master planning, visioning and strategy, architecture, interior design, and branding. He has led numerous highly complex projects with phased implementation and his projects have been featured in national publications and garnered numerous design awards. David has extensive experience working on projects in New York City for clients such as CITI Group, Bloomberg, BlackRock, The New York Times, LinkedIn, Live Nation, and Indeed, to name a few. Additionally, David is a thought leader on integrated project delivery and architect led design-build services. He is recognized as a strong mentor and advocate for professional growth and development among his team. He is also on the Board of Directors of CaringKind, a nonprofit dedicated to Alzheimer’s caregiving. David earned a Master of Business Administration from Rice University and a Bachelor of Architecture from Cornell University.

Joseph Rigazio is the CEO of Talisen Construction Corporation. Talisen is a commercial construction firm founded in the New York Metro marketplace in 2009. Focusing on the Healthcare and Education markets has brought Talisen success in the hospital, ambulatory centers, medical office buildings, charter schools, private universities, and special projects areas. Trained in both Electrical Engineering, Business Economics, and Construction Management, Joseph entered the professional world with a strong vision. After a 23-year-long career in technology, in which he managed Fortune 100 company relationships in sales management, ran marketing organizations, and ultimately, lead a major business unit at Texas Instruments, Joseph chose to utilize his expertise and leadership skills to start Talisen. Concentrating on growing a team bonded by a common vision, Talisen has become a trailblazer in the New York construction field. Focused investments on employees, processes, and the NY Metro subcontractor ecosystem, along with an innovative approach to project management, differentiates Talisen from the competition. Founded on the key tenants of safety and collaboration, Talisen has grown into a premier New York construction firm that truly partners with their clients to bring their vision to life.

John Dulin is a 30 year global telecom and enterprise executive. He has held senior positions in product management, marketing and sales with focus on fiber optics, wireless and new technology/market development. Currently with Corning Incorporated, John is VP market development introducing new innovation to the commercial real estate market

Dodie Williams is a Director of Project Management at Macro Consultants LLC. With more than 15 years of experience in commercial real estate, construction management, and contract negotiation, Dodie has proven herself a leader and trusted partner to clients and colleagues alike. In her previous role as Vice President of the Project and Development Services Group for Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), Dodie was responsible for all of JLL’s project and development activities in the greater Pennsylvania/Delaware/New Jersey tri-state area. In this role, Dodie led her group at JLL through exponential growth, and established herself as a major force in the industry. She has played a key role in successfully executing many high-profile corporate interior projects, including the consolidation and relocation of IMS Health’s headquarters, as well as the pitching of Philadelphia PDS’ first sports/arena project with the Wells Fargo Center revitalization project. Dodie’s influence goes beyond leadership and project management skills, to include marketing and business development expertise. In her current role at Macro, she is driving the development of a variety of internal organizational initiatives and programs, while working closely with her project teams to manage major national real estate accounts, such as Duff & Phelps and Convene. Regularly recognized by her peers as a mentor, Dodie was honored with a JLL Spotlight Award in 2014 for her commitment to advancing diversity in the workplace and in 2018 as a JLL Women’s Summit participant. Prior to entering the real estate industry, she worked in the pharmaceutical industry in various analyst and operational roles. Dodie is a graduate of Gwynedd Mercy College, and holds a B.S. in Business Administration. Additionally, she is a LEED Accredited Professional from the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) and a licensed Real Estate Salesperson in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.