2025 New York Commercial Real Estate Forecast

Leslie Wohlman Himmel is founder and co-managing partner of Himmel + Meringoff Properties, a leading owner/operator of New York-based commercial real estate and one of the only privately owned, first generation portfolios of Manhattan office buildings. Founded in 1985 with partner Stephen Meringoff, Himmel + Meringoff currently manages two million square feet of commercial real estate valued in excess of $2 billion. Ms. Himmel began her career as an acquisitions associate at Integrated Resources in 1979 and is today recognized as one of the foremost women leaders of the commercial real estate industry. Focused on creating value through long-term ownership, she is a creative and insightful hands-on owner responsible for the acquisition of property, strategic repositioning of assets and portfolio financing. In 2017, Ms. Himmel was named as one of the 50 Most Powerful Women in New York by Crain’s. She was honored as Harvard Business School Club of New York’s ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ for 2016 and, in 2011, received REBNY’s Mendik Lifetime Leadership in Real Estate Award for exceptional accomplishment and dedication to leadership in New York real estate. Ms. Himmel is a Board member of the M&T Bank Directors Advisory Council, New York City Mortgage Committee and the Harvard Business School Club of New York. In 1992, she founded and continues to co-chair REBNY’s Economic Development Committee which works with New York City officials to support economic development initiatives in the city. A member of REBNY’s Board of Governors since 2001, Ms. Himmel also serves on the Board of the Executive Committee. Ms. Himmel is a member of the Real Estate Roundtable, the UDMUC Red Council of the Urban Land Institute, Young Men’s/Women’s Real Estate Association of New York and YPO/WPO. Dedicated to women entrepreneurs, Ms. Himmel established “The Women’s Student Association Fellowship Fund” in 2008, which awards scholarships to Harvard Business School students. Ms. Himmel is also an early stage investor and Board advisor to Hello Alfred, a successful online concierge service, developed by two women who are recent HBS graduates. Ms. Himmel earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania, graduating Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa and received her MBA with high honors from Harvard Business School.

Shaunak Tanna is an executive director at PGIM Real Estate. Based in New York, Shaunak is responsible for sourcing, underwriting, and structuring real estate investments including senior and mezzanine loans and preferred equity investments for the Eastern and Mid-Western U.S. Prior to joining PGIM Real Estate, Shaunak was Head of Structured Investments for Basis Investment Group, LLC, where he was responsible for the firm’s mezzanine and bridge lending, and originated a range of investments across stabilized, development and transitional value-add properties. Before Basis, he was with Terra Capital Partners, LLC and its affiliate The Greenwich Group International, LLC. Shaunak has a Bachelor of Commerce in accounting and taxation from the University of Mumbai and a Master of Business Administration in real estate from Baruch College. Shaunak is also a Chartered Accountant, and an active member of the Advisory Board for Steven Newman Real Estate Institute of Baruch College.

Rosie Tilley serves as Head of Development for Charney Companies, where she is responsible for overseeing the execution of complex development projects. Well-versed in every aspect of the development lifecycle, Rosie is an industry-leading real estate development executive with a proven track record for strategic execution across a wide range of asset classes in New York City and nationally. Most recently, Rosie has led residential development efforts for Google and Lendlease’s 26-building, 7,000-unit joint venture master plan in Mountain View, CA. Previously, Rose led development for Twining Properties across major mixed-use master plans in New Rochelle, NY and New Haven, CT containing for-rent and for-sale residential units, retail, hospitality, office, and life sciences uses, as well as open space and infrastructure improvements. Prior to Twining, Rosie was responsible for the development of major development projects at RXR Realty in New York City, including rental and office uses with new construction and gut rehabilitation execution, including leading the development of RXR’s first New York City residential project, 475 Clermont. Rosie also oversaw the development of Steiner East Village, a record-setting luxury condominium building, for Steiner NYC. Rosie is a graduate of Columbia University and is active in Urban Land Institute.

Xi Huang joined CBREIM (New York) as a Managing Director and Separate Accounts Portfolio Manager. Previously Xi was with Tishman Speyer, where she was a Managing Director in the Equity Capital Markets team and responsible for managing relationships with some of the world’s largest institutional investors. In addition, Xi spearheaded Tishman Speyer’s private wealth strategy and participated in new product development. Prior to that, Xi was a Vice President of Portfolio Management at Clarion Partners, where she worked on commingled funds and the launch of a private REIT. Xi started her career as an analyst with UBS Investment Bank.