The 7th Annual Multifamily-Residential Rundown

Stephanie McCleskey has been instrumental in developing—and maintaining—the foundation supporting the timely collection and dissemination of in-depth apartment market and student housing data. Her tenure at Axiometrics has generated a rigorous quality control method to ensure on-time reports and accurate data for Axiometrics clients. McCleskey also organized and now oversees research and tracking processes for Axiometrics’ construction pipeline process, creating the methodology to update under-construction and lease-up properties on a monthly basis, thus ensuring clients have access to immediate and indispensable data for effective decision making purposes. Additionally, her efforts are focused on supervising, managing, motivating and training a crack staff of Axiometrics researchers. McCleskey received her degree in real estate finance from Southern Methodist University’s Cox School of Business.

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.

Ralph Herzka is the chairman and CEO of Meridian Capital Group. Since co-founding the commercial real estate advisory firm in 1991, Mr. Herzka has remained the guiding force behind the company’s evolution from a small Brooklyn-based commercial mortgage brokerage to a national leader in real estate capital markets, having personally arranged over $100 billion in financing. Additionally, Mr. Herzka has led Meridian’s recent expansion into New York City investment sales and retail leasing in 2015 and 2018, respectively. Mr. Herzka demonstrates an exceptional ability to foster multi-generational relationships with real estate owners and investors and forms critical alliances with lenders to achieve success across the asset spectrum. He is a member of the Real Estate Board of New York, the Mortgage Bankers Association, the Commercial Real Estate Finance Council, and the International Council of Shopping Centers. In addition to his professional leadership, Mr. Herzka is a dedicated philanthropist, raising millions of dollars for various organizations over his career. Most notably, he is a passionate participant of Bike4Chai, an annual 180-mile cycling fundraiser for children fighting pediatric illnesses and disabilities. Mr. Herzka is a lifelong resident of Brooklyn, NY. He and his wife are proud parents and grandparents.

Amit Doshi recently joined Meridian Investment Sales as a Senior Executive Managing Director to head the mid-market multifamily investment sales sector. Prior to joining Meridian, Mr. Doshi spent 30 years as a partner at a boutique investment sales firm, spearheading a tight knit team of 20 investment sales brokers. To date, Mr. Doshi has sold over 1,500 investment properties whose market value is in billions, making him one of the most prolific and consistent producers in New York City investment arena in the last three decades. His experience consists of selling more than 55 million square feet comprising of 63,500 apartments, 2,850 retail and commercial spaces as well as several land development properties in NYC and its boroughs. Mr. Doshi has achieved an average of 40 deals per year throughout his career, including 57 deals in 2005. In 2007, he set the mark even higher, by selling a multifamily portfolio for a single family comprising of 108 buildings for a record price of $295,000,000. From multifamily properties to land assemblages, he has gained a strong foothold by mastering the vagaries associated with rent stabilization, regulatory agreements, complex leaseholds, ground leases and zoning laws.

Chad Tredway is a Managing Director and the Head of the East Region (New York, Boston and DC) for Chase Commercial Term Lending (CTL) and is based in New York. Chad leads a team of over 150 people and is responsible for loan originations, strategic direction and the financial performance of the business. Chad also serves as the Fannie Mae DUS CEO for JPMorgan Chase and is the primary liaison to Fannie Mae for multifamily originations nationally. Chad is a columnist for the Commercial Observer and also publishes a quarterly thought leadership piece through JPMorgan Chase called “Chad’s Corner.” He was named by the Commercial Observer as one of the 50 most powerful people in real estate in 2013, 2014 and 2015, and in 2014, he was featured by the Commercial Observer as the top commercial mortgage broker or lender under 35. Chad serves as a mentor for the Chase Fellowship Initiative and sits on the board of directors for ArtsConnection and the Valley Economic Development Center. He graduated from Loyola University in Chicago and began his career in investment banking as an analyst in the M&A Group of a multinational financial services firm before joining JPMorgan Chase in 2008.

Jordan’s practice focuses on structuring, negotiating and closing the acquisition, joint venture, financing, leasing and disposition of the full range of commercial real estate assets, including distressed debt and equity transactions. Jordan represents purchasers and sellers in commercial real estate debt and equity acquisitions and dispositions; borrowers and institutional and non-institutional lenders in securitized and balance sheet financing transactions (including acquisition, construction, bridge, mezzanine, preferred equity) and workouts; owners and tenants in leasing transactions; equity participants in joint ventures; and developers in ground-up and redevelopment projects involving office, retail, industrial, multifamily, hospitality and mixed-use projects.

David led World-Wide Holdings' multifamily development and acquisition activities in the LIC market.

David is responsible for all investment and new development activity at L+M Development Partners, including oversight for each of the core expertise groups and investment platforms with Goldman Sachs’ Urban Investment Group and Citi Community Capital. He brings over 25 years of acquisitions, finance and new development experience, and has been a key participant in transactions involving over 20,000 units and $5 billion of investment. Prior to joining L+M, David spent much of his career in senior development roles at Forest City Ratner Companies and Tishman Speyer in New York. He began his professional life working in city planning and economic development before joining HR&A Advisors to focus on public-private development strategy and housing finance. David has served with organizations such as the Enterprise Community Partners New York Advisory Board, the Randall’s Island Park Alliance, the LIC Partnership, Manhattan Community Board 7, and as a fellow with Coro New York. He graduated from Harvard College with a degree in urban studies and earned an M.S. in real estate development from Columbia University.

Drew Fletcher is head of Greystone Capital Advisors where he oversees a team of professionals responsible for arranging creative debt and equity solutions for institutional and private commercial property owners and developers, and provides strategic advisory services for institutions, investors and borrowers. GCA also focuses on large loan mortgage origination across Greystone’s Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, CMBS, Bridge, balance-sheet and special situation lending platforms. Drew has over 20 years of commercial real estate experience, having directly originated and executed on more than $10 billion of financing transactions. Prior to joining Greystone in 2013, Drew was the Chief Financial Officer of Edison Properties LLC, one of the largest private real estate owners in New York City, with a $5 billion diversified portfolio of self-storage, office, multifamily and substantial land holdings throughout the NY Metro Region. Drew received a B.A. in Economics and Communications from Wake Forest University; an M.B.A. in Finance from New York University; and a Master of Accountancy in Taxation from Rutgers University. He volunteers his time as a guest lecturer at the NYU Real Estate Institute and also is an active member of the Real Estate Board of New York and the Urban Land Institute. Drew also was named to the Commercial Observer’s 50 Most Powerful People in Commercial Real Estate Finance in 2018.

Ian Bruce Eichner, a seasoned developer of urban mixed-use properties, has a proven track record in real estate spanning more than three decades. His vast portfolio of projects in New York, Miami and Las Vegas include City Spire, One Broadway Place, The Manhattan Club, The Kingsley, Royale, American, and Boulevard as well as Montague Street built in Brooklyn Heights. Outside of New York he has developed the Continuum, a 2-tower gated condominium community in South Beach, and the Cosmopolitan, a 3,000 room resort and casino on the Las Vegas strip. His latest project 45 East 22nd Street, recently completed, is the tallest and, considered by many, the most iconic building in the Flatiron District. Transforming the downtown skyline, the tower consists of a glass silhouette of 65 stories which rises 777 feet into the sky. The striking exterior, crafted by the global architectural firm of Kohn Peterson Fox, wraps around timeless interiors created by the Martin Brudzinski Design Studio. The building contains 82 apartments and approximately 230,000 sale-able square feet with the following five floors of amenities including:  Landscaped garden and fifth floor terrace designed by Oehme Van Sweden  Fitness center  Children’s playroom  Indoor basketball court  Golf simulator  Drawing room with separate billiards and cards rooms  Upper Club on the 54th floor with bar, private dining room and catering kitchen  Automated private residential parking garage His newest project 960 Franklin Avenue, Brooklyn is a proposed 1.3 million square feet development consisting of 1600 residential housing units including a proposed 50/50 split between market rate, work-force and low-income apartments. Mr. Eichner’s acute business sense has produced a series of visionary real estate developments that have been characterized by a creative mix of distinctive purpose- built properties. Each of these properties illustrates his extensive real estate expertise and ability to take situations which others may find unachievable and off-putting, and design and execute solutions which realize value for the developer. Mr. Eichner’s notable development achievements that were the first in their class include: 1. First high-rise built in Brooklyn Heights since landmarks height legislation was passed in 1965 (Montague Street, 1998) 2. First urban timeshare in New York, with a new concept of being able to book stays one day at a time (The Manhattan Club, 1996) 3. First and only beachfront gated community in South Beach (The Continuum, 2003-2008) 4. First development on the Las Vegas strip to employ an urban development model, maximizing a small (8.5 acre) site to its full square footage potential of 6 ½ million square feet. (The Cosmopolitan) Mr. Eichner’s career in real estate follows almost a decade in the criminal justice system, including terms as an Assistant District Attorney and program development chief of a New York State agency during Governor Nelson Rockefeller’s tenure.

In just over a decade, Josh Schuster has established himself as a leader of the ‘next generation’ of New York real estate professionals. Having closed more than $1 billion in development deals by the age of 34, Josh started his own development company in July 2016, Silverback Development, focusing on ground-up development and adaptive reuse opportunities that enhance neighborhoods by pushing the boundaries of design.   In Silverback’s first year, Schuster and his team secured nearly $470 million in new deals and control of a $2 billion asset pipeline nationwide, in addition to $400 million in projects still underway through his previous firm, DHA Capital.   As former principal of DHA Capital, Josh sourced and led the development of many noteworthy luxury residential developments in New York City, including 50 Clinton Street, 535 West 43 rd  Street, 75 Kenmare and 12 East 13 th  Street. Prior to his time at DHA, Josh served as director of development at JMH Development, where he was responsible for the trailblazing luxury renovation of 184 Kent Avenue, one of the first and most successful multifamily conversions in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.   In addition to his professional accomplishments, Josh is the founder and chairman Bicol Clinic Foundation, a non-profit organization that builds clinics that provide free medical care in developing countries. To date, the organization has raised more than $3 million, and has built four clinics on three continents.   A graduate of Tulane University, Josh is the youngest board member of the Baruch College - Steven L. Newman Real Estate Institute, and also a co-chair of Urban Land Institute's NYC Multifamily Housing Council. He is also a member of the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, and the New York Private Equity Network.

As President for TitleVest and New York State Manager for First American Title, Brian is involved in strategic planning, execution, and oversight of operational projects, business development, as well as technology creation and deployment. Brian handles client inquiries and provides subject-matter expertise for complex transactions such as, sale-leasebacks, development right transfers, 1031's, defeasance, multi-site/multi-state portfolios, and other residential and commercial matters. With over twenty years of experience in real estate and title insurance Brian has leveraged his knowledge to develop the cutting-edge technology and business practices behind the critically-acclaimed TitleVest proprietary systems. During his 20- year tenure with TitleVest, he has helped to structure and/or oversee the closing of over fifty billion in real estate transactions for leading lenders, investment banks, developers, REITs, and other real estate investors throughout the United States. Under his leadership TitleVest has been awarded Best Title Agency ten years running in the New York Law Journal and also Best Title Company the past two years in the National Law Journal.

MaryAnne Gilmartin is President and Chief Executive Officer of Forest City Ratner Companies (FCRC), a New York-based real estate development company. Ms. Gilmartin has been point person in the development of some of the most high profile real estate projects in New York City. She led the efforts to build Barclays Center, the new state-of-the-art sports and entertainment venue and the centerpiece of the $4.9 billion, 22-acre mixed-use Pacific Park Brooklyn development. Ms. Gilmartin oversaw the development of The New York Times Building, designed by world renowned architect Renzo Piano and New York by Gehry, the tallest residential building in the Western Hemisphere, designed by award winning architect Frank Gehry. In addition to these projects, Ms. Gilmartin has managed the commercial portfolio at MetroTech Center in Downtown Brooklyn, which consists of 6.7 million square feet of Class A office space. Ms. Gilmartin graduated summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa from Fordham University, where she also completed her Masters Degree in 1990. Ms. Gilmartin began her real estate development career as a New York City Urban Fellow in 1986 at the Public Development Corporation. Ms. Gilmartin served proudly for over 7 years on the New York City Ballet Advisory Board. Currently, Ms. Gilmartin serves as a Board Trustee for the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM); a Member of the Executive Committee and Board of Governors of the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY); and as a Member of the Industry Advisory Board of the MS Real Estate Development Program at Columbia University. Most recently, she was named Co-Chair of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, a member of the Board of Directors of the Jefferies Group LLC, a global investment banking firm, and a Member of the Board of Trustees of New York Public Radio. Ms. Gilmartin has been recognized as a top professional in her field by WX as its 2007 “Woman of the Year”, by Crain’s in 2007 as one of New York’s Most Influential Women and again, in 2011, 2013 and 2015, by Crain’s as one of New York’s 50 Most Powerful Women.

Prior to founding Taconic with Paul Pariser in 1997, Charlie formed CBC Properties, where he acquired, repositioned, and managed more than one million square feet of office properties in New York City and Washington, D.C., as well as several hundred apartment units in the New York metropolitan area. Earlier in his career, he was a managing director at Jones Lang Wootton (JLW), where he was responsible for property acquisitions, sales, and financing for the firm’s international clientele, with a focus on New York, Washington, D.C., and Toronto. In these latter two cities he established JLW’s regional offices and business platforms. A graduate of George Washington University, Charlie is actively involved in the educational community serving as a Regent of the New York State Board of Education, a board member of PENCIL, and a participant in PENCIL’s annual Principal for a Day program. In addition, Charlie is a member of the Board of Governors of the Real Estate Board of New York, the Executive Committee of the Board of Advisors of the George Washington University School of Business, and the Advisory Board of the University’s Center for Real Estate and Urban Analysis.

Carl has been lead counsel on some of the highest-profile real estate deals around the country. He takes an incisive approach to structuring and closing complex transactions, combining creativity with a strong business perspective. As a result, his client roster contains the names of many people he once sat across from but now sits next to at the bargaining table. In Chambers USA, 2016, a client described him as “a great lawyer,” “a smart, no-nonsense guy who can come to sensible resolutions and get deals done.” “He is a deal maker, not a deal breaker,” the client added. Carl is an accomplished negotiator and skilled legal advocate with more than 35 years of experience. He is co-head of Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP’s global real estate practice and advises a diverse, distinguished clientele: prominent owners and developers—including REITs and private equity funds—in their real estate acquisitions, dispositions, developments, financings, workouts, restructurings and joint ventures; major institutional lenders in mortgage, mezzanine and construction financings; and owners and tenants in significant commercial lease transactions. He also has served as counsel in several of the nation’s largest Historic Tax Credit transactions. An active presence in the field, Carl often moderates panel discussions on industry trends. Major media outlets—among them The Wall Street Journal, Crain’s New York Business, CNBC and The Real Deal—frequently seek his insights on real estate law and business. His professional acumen led to a profile in The New York Times article “Finding a True Passion in Real Estate Law.” In his spare time, Carl plays bass guitar in the rock band “Normal by Day.” Coupling his musical talent with charity work, he organizes the annual fundraising concert Real Estate Rockers in Relief, which features performances by leading real estate executives and their bands.