NYC's Hottest Emerging Markets

Robert S. Nelson, a long-time owner and operator of apartment buildings across New York City, serves as the President of New York-based Nelson Management Group, Ltd. He is also one of the founding partners of the real estate investment firm, Global One Investments, LLC. During his 30 year career, Mr. Nelson has owned and managed more than 8,000 units of multifamily housing. He also has widespread experience in the field of real estate development and ground up construction, with his most recent work on the construction of two new mixed-income towers located along Story Ave encompassing 435 units of housing in the Soundview section of the Bronx. In his tenure, Mr. Nelson formed the Global One Real Estate Fund in 2008, that purchased $210M of property and most recently launched Global One Real Estate Fund II targeting $450M. The fund primarily seeks to invest in additional apartment buildings to add to its portfolio. Mr. Nelson oversees the day-to-day management and asset management functions of over $600 million worth of multifamily properties owned by the firm and its affiliates. In one of his acquisitions, Mr. Nelson won praise for spearheading a Mitchell-Lama apartment building conversion at a 309 unit Upper West Side property, known as Cathedral Parkway Towers, by devising a complex deal the New York Times called “unique in the annals of the housing program.” The New York Times said he had brought about a “singularly happy resolution to more than 25 years of feuding” between landlord and tenants. The state housing commissioner praised Mr. Nelson’s buyout scenario as “a new model to preserve affordable housing.” In addition to Cathedral Parkway Towers, other notable properties under the Nelson umbrella include the Lafayette Boynton complex in the Bronx, Atlantic Plaza Towers in Brooklyn, The Promenade Apartments in Marble Hill, and 275 South Street located downtown in Manhattan’s emerging Two Bridges neighborhood. Mr. Nelson holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Boston University. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Rent Stabilization Association (RSA) and the New York State Association for Affordable Housing (NYSAF AH), two highly influential New York City-based landlord groups. He also holds the designation Registered Apartment Manager (RAM) from the National Association of Home Builders. Mr. Nelson’s hands-on commitment to the communities in which he works has earned him extensive industry recognition. In particular, he was voted “2005 Developer of the Year” by the Association of Builders and Owners of Greater New York City (ABO).

Victor Sozio is one of the Founding Members of Ariel Property Advisors. Serving the company as Executive Vice President-Brokerage Services, Mr. Sozio is responsible for originating and executing the sale of commercial real estate transactions throughout the five boroughs. Since beginning his career, Mr. Sozio has participated in selling more than 550 properties valued at over $2 billion and has established himself as one of New York City’s leading commercial real estate brokers. Through his career Mr. Sozio has maintained a sharp focus on the multi-family asset class, selling both individual buildings and portfolios. He has developed a comprehensive understanding of properties subject to various city, state and federal regulatory agreements, including rent stabilization, Section 8 vouchers, HUD agreements and LIHTC. His expertise extends to the sale of development sites and commercial condos throughout New York City. In 2012, The Commercial Observer named Mr. Sozio one of the 20 to Watch, which recognized emerging commercial real estate professionals. In 2013 and 2014, Real Estate Forum named him and his partners as Top NY Brokers, as well as recognizing him as one of Tomorrow’s Leaders: New York. Mr. Sozio is an active participant and supporter of industry and non-profit organizations such as The Real Estate Board of New York, Saint Jude Children's Research Hospital, Bronx-Manhattan North Association of Realtors and the New York State Association for Affordable Housing where he serves on the membership committee. Mr. Sozio began his real estate career at Massey Knakal Realty Services, now Cushman & Wakefield. He is a graduate of Manhattan College, where he received a B.S. with a concentration in marketing. He also is a Veteran of the United States Marine Corps and served in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Daniel Parker is a Managing Director on the Hodges Ward Elliott (“HWE”) New York commercial investment sales team. Mr. Parker has spent over a decade working in both principal and advisory roles in the New York City commercial real estate market. Prior to joining HWE, Mr. Parker was a Vice President at The Related Companies, where he led a management team overseeing a 2,700 unit multifamily portfolio in New York City. Prior to working for Related, Mr. Parker worked in the Savills Studley Capital Transactions Group, working on a team that closed in excess of $2.2 billion in commercial real estate transactions including residential, office, retail and land. Mr. Parker started his real estate career working as a multifamily asset manager, overseeing 45 rent-regulated properties with 1,600 apartments and 78 retail spaces located in New York City for Prana Investments. In addition to New York City office, retail and land transactions, Mr. Parker brokers multifamily properties in Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx. Mr. Parker has represented institutional clients that include Related, Rockpoint, Carlyle, KBS, Westbrook and Normandy, as well as a number of private families and investors. Mr. Parker recently brokered the sale of a $71 million workforce housing portfolio on behalf of Related to a partnership between Taconic Investment Partners and Clarion Partners. Other notable multifamily sales include the record-breaking $140 million sale of a 38 walk-up properties with nearly 1,000 units in the Bronx, 316 Bergen in Brooklyn, the Madison Belvedere at 10 East 29th Street in Manhattan, 442 Lorimer, 184 Havemeyer, 164 Havemeyer, the leasehold at 300 East 46th Street, and 111 Kent Avenue. In 2005, the New York City Teaching Fellows program selected Mr. Parker for a one year public school assignment as a full-time English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher in Washington Heights at PS 5. From 2001-2003, Mr. Parker lived in Mexico City, where he offered service through his church and became fluent in Spanish. Mr. Parker is an Eagle Scout and remains an avid photographer, camper and hiker. He regularly spends time with his family at Candlewood Lake in New Milford, CT to enjoy the outdoors and water sports. Mr. Parker received his Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from the University of Utah and an MBA in Finance and Economics from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University.

Seth Pinsky serves as Executive Vice President and Investment Manager of the RXR Metropolitan Emerging Market Strategy . In this role, Pinsky is leading RXR’s efforts to invest in “emerging opportunities” in New York City and the surrounding Tri-State region, focusing on asset classes and geographic regions that have historically been characterized by underinvestment, but that have significant growth potential due to planned or in-place infrastructure and other relevant characteristics. Prior to joining RXR, Pinsky served as Director of Mayor Bloomberg’s Special Initiative for Rebuilding and Resiliency, which developed a $20 billion plan to help neighborhoods stricken by Hurricane Sandy to rebuild smarter and stronger and to protect critical citywide systems and infrastructure from the likely impacts of climate change in coming decades. Pinsky also served as President of the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), a position to which he was appointed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2008, after joining the agency in 2003 as a vice president. During his tenure, NYCEDC became an international leader in the field of economic development, focusing both on transforming the city’s underlying economy and investing in its critical infrastructure. While at NYCEDC, Pinsky served as a lead negotiator on behalf of New York City for projects ranging from Yankee Stadium and Citifield, to the World Trade Center, to the acquisition of Hunters Point South in Queens, the largest middle-income housing development in the City since Starrett City. Among the initiatives advanced by NYCEDC under Pinsky’s leadership were the redevelopment of Willets Point in Queens, Coney Island in Brooklyn, the Homeport in Staten Island, and the Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx, as well as the creation of a major new bioscience research park on City-owned land, north of Bellevue Hospital. Under Pinsky, NYCEDC also managed the construction of the first two phases of the High Line in Manhattan, launched a new East River Ferry service connecting Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan and announced and advanced plans for the world’s largest observation wheel in St. George in Staten Island. In the area of economic modernization, under Pinsky, NYCEDC created the Center for Economic Transformation (CET), which, in addition to launching a network of business incubators across the City that, at the time of Pinsky’s departure, housed more than 600 companies, developed and oversaw the Bloomberg Administration’s international Applied Sciences NYC competition. The Applied Sciences competition will result in a significant expansion of Columbia University’s engineering school, as well as the creation of a new engineering institute in Downtown Brooklyn led by NYU that will include CUNY, Carnegie Mellon University and others. It will also result in the creation of a $2 billion engineering campus on Roosevelt Island, being developed by Cornell University and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. Prior to joining the NYCEDC, Pinsky was an associate at the law firm of Cleary Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton in the Real Estate practice and a financial analyst at James D. Wolfensohn Inc. He is a graduate of Columbia College, where he majored in Ancient History, and of Harvard Law School, and is an Adjunct Senior Research Scholar at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs. Pinsky lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Angela and their children, Theo and Amelia.

Mr. Auster joined Grid Properties in 2009 as a Managing Director responsible for sourcing acquisitions and new development projects as well as overseeing the leasing of Urban Strategic Partners’ new projects and existing retail portfolio. Prior to joining Grid Properties Mr. Auster was a partner in the New York City office of Ripco Real Estate Corp. – a boutique commercial brokerage company specializing in retail real estate leasing throughout the New York metropolitan area. During his 11 years with Ripco he specialized in representing landlords and developers in the leasing of the retail space in their properties throughout New York City. His clients included building owners and developers such as Archstone, Kimco Realty Corporation, RREFF Alternative Investments, The Apple Bank for Savings and The Argo Corporation. Mr. Auster completed transactions with many prominent tenants including Marshalls, T.J. Maxx, Best Buy, JP Morgan Chase Bank, Darden Restaurants, Bank of America and Staples. He continues to maintain close ties with major national and regional retailers. In addition to his many leasing assignments throughout New York City, Mr. Auster specialized in existing properties and retail developments along the 125th Street corridor and throughout other parts of Harlem where he oversaw the completion of more than 20 significant leasing transactions. Prior to joining Ripco, Mr. Auster was a senior analyst with BRT Realty Trust where he focused primarily on analyzing equity and debt investments for the company. In addition, he was asset manager for a portfolio of internally held commercial properties and was responsible for the organization’s relationship with the capital markets. Mr. Auster began his career in real estate in Washington D.C. working as a lobbyist for the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International. He is a graduate of the University of Maryland and New York University’s Schack Institute of Real Estate, where he received a Master’s of Science in Real Estate Development and Investment. He is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers where he is a board member for the Next Generation Committee, The Real Estate Board of New York and both The NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate and University of Maryland Alumni Associations. Mr. Auster is a licensed real estate broker in the State of New York.

As one of the firm’s senior brokers, Holley Drakeford is busy making deals up and down 125th Street in Harlem on behalf of Giscombe Realty, the firm he joined in 2009. He previously worked for Ardor Realty in midtown Manhattan. At Giscombe Realty, Mr. Drakeford often gets calls from downtown commercial brokers who are bargain hunting for commercial and retail properties for their clients looking to buy or lease properties on 125th Street and the rest of Harlem. Mr. Drakeford is an active Harlem leader serving on the Board of Trustees of the New East Harlem Merchant’s Association(NEHMA), Harlem Community Development Corp, Salvation Army Advisory Board for the East Harlem Citadel,  New York College of Pediatric Medicine and other as an active member of Harlem’s Community Board #11. For many years before going into real estate, Mr. Drakeford served as director of operations for PC Ware International, a technology company in Farmingdale, Long Island. Mr. Drakeford also served as a real estate consultant where he helped purchase, manage and renovate  company-owned warehouse/office spaces and other properties in New York City and Miami for DK Management Company of New York, which purchased PC Ware International. As a consultant for DK Management Company, Mr. Drakeford managed major pollution control projects for steel  and coal factories in China as a liaison with U.S. engineering companies. Mr. Drakeford, who lives in Kew Gardens, Queens, has a bachelor of arts degree in history and sociology from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. He is also a member of the New York Real Estate Institute where he earned his real estate licenses and certification in both construction management and property management.

Rick Gropper has over a decade of experience in real estate development throughout the 5 boroughs of NYC. At CPG, Rick focuses on sourcing and structuring transactions using his deep relationships with various partners including investors, lenders, the community and government. Prior to co-founding CPG, Rick was Development Director at L+M Development Partners, one of the largest and most prolific developers of multifamily housing in NYC. At L+M, Rick was responsible for the development and preservation of more than 5,000 units of housing totaling over $1 billion in total capitalization. Prior to joining L+M, Rick worked for a boutique adaptive reuse development firm based in New Haven, CT. He has an undergraduate degree from Connecticut College and an MS in Real Estate Development from Columbia University. Rick serves on the boards of New Yorkers for Parks, NYSAFAH 2G and the CHPC Strategic Impact Fund.