NY 2020 Forecast

Sanjay Mody's is Special Counsel with the law firm of Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf, LLP. His practice spans the areas of infrastructure, real estate, government and finance. He advises public and private sector clients on a range of matters, focusing on complex transactions with a governmental dimension. Before joining Windels Marx, Mr. Mody was counsel in the Regulatory and Government Affairs practice group at a global law firm. He also served in a prior role as Senior Advisor to the Chairman of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, where he advised the Chairman on policy, legal, and financial issues relating to the agency's infrastructure and economic development projects, including the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, airport terminal redevelopment, and a new cross-Hudson rail tunnel, among other significant real estate transactions. Sanjay is a Board Member of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy, a member of the New York Committee of the Regional Plan Association, and a David S. Rockefeller Fellow of The Partnership for New York City.

Michael Givner is an Executive Director for Morgan Stanley Real Assets Michael joined Morgan Stanley in 2009 and is responsible for sourcing, underwriting and executing transactions in the Northeastern United States on behalf of Morgan Stanley’s real estate funds Previously, Michael worked at Credit Suisse DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners Michael received an M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Michael also graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School and a B.A. in History from the College of Arts and Sciences

Rahul Idnani is the President of Dream Equity Partners, the private real estate arm of Dream Unlimited, one of Canada’s leading real estate companies with $9 billion of assets under management in North America and Europe. Prior to joining Dream, Mr. Idnani served as Global Chief Operating Officer and Head of Portfolio Management with direct oversight of a $90 billion real estate portfolio across various property types and investment strategies for the firm’s institutional and retail clients. He also previously held senior leadership positions at TIAA and was instrumental in the acquisition of Nuveen Investments and build-out of its global real assets platform. Before joining TIAA in 2013, Mr. Idnani held leadership and investment roles at Voya Financial and Credit Suisse, respectively. He graduated with a B.S., magna cum laude, in Finance and Economics from New York University Stern School of Business. He is also a member of the International Honor Society for Business Programs, Beta Gamma Sigma.

Abraham “Abie” Hidary oversees the daily operation of Hidrock Properties and is responsible for the company’s equity and debt financing relationships. Under Abie’s leadership, Hidrock has executed complex strategies in Manhattan including the repositioning of office buildings, the acquisition of defaulted notes, and ground up development of nearly 2,000 hotel rooms in Manhattan. To finance its transactions, Abie maintains relationships with lenders and investors throughout the country and around the world. Abie graduated magna cum laude at Yeshiva University’s Sy Syms School of Business, and is a member of the board of directors for the Garment District Alliance and Alliance for Downtown New York. Abie also currently serves as the President of the Yeshivah of Flatbush which educates over 2,000 students in its Lower School, Middle School, and High School; and has over 10,000 alumni since its founding 1927.

Helen Hwang is Senior Executive Managing Director at Meridian Investment Sales, LLC and is head of the Institutional Investment Sales Group. Ms. Hwang has executed over 85 institutional sales and recapitalization transactions exceeding $26 billion in value. Prior to joining Meridian, Ms. Hwang spent 16 years at Cushman & Wakefield as an Executive Vice President, as the head of NYC Investment Sales. Ms. Hwang has worked on numerous prestigious sales assignments throughout her career, including 1865 Broadway, 220 East 72nd Street, 22 River Terrace, 101 Murray Street, 400 Madison Avenue, One Court Square, 60 East 12th Street, 510 Madison Avenue, 511 Fifth Avenue, Glenn Gardens, the MetLife Building at 200 Park Avenue, 666 Fifth Avenue, the portfolio sale of Park Avenue and 850 Third Avenue, and the ground leases under 625 Madison Avenue, 2 Herald Square and 75 Rockefeller Center. For the sale of 88 Leonard Street, Ms. Hwang was honored with the Real Estate Board of New York’s highest achievement, the 2012 Most Ingenious Sales Deal of the Year (Robert T. Lawrence Memorial Award). Ms. Hwang has marketed significant New York assets for clients such as Africa Israel Investments, Ashkenazy Acquisitions, Capmark Financial, Daishin Securities, Dermot Company, Epic UK, Five Mile Capital, Istithmar, J.E. Robert Companies, Paramount Group, Park Tower Group, Rockrose Development Corp, SL Green, Spitzer Enterprises, Vornado Realty Trust, and Macklowe Properties. She has been a trusted strategic advisor to numerous domestic and international family offices, institutions and not-for-profits, including American Bible Society, Archdiocese of New York, Children’s Aid Society, MTA, New York University, St. John’s University, and Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, and Fortune 50 Corporations such as Bank of America and Verizon. Ms. Hwang has been presented with numerous awards over her career for both her professional achievements and charitable contributions, including the Top Broker of the Year by Real Estate Forum Magazine, a leading trade publication, CoStar’s prestigious Power Broker of the Year award, Bisnow’s New York Power Women award, Rebuilding Together NYC ‘s Patty Johnson Outstanding Leadership Award, and Friendship Circle’s Humanitarian Award. She was also named one of the 50 Outstanding Asian Americans in Business by the Asian American Business Development Center. Ms. Hwang serves as Chair of the Membership Committee and member of the Executive and Advisory Committees for the Urban Land Institute’s New York City Chapter and as an industry expert guest speaker for numerous conferences and some of the top REIT equity research teams in the nation, including Bank of America Merrill Lynch, ISI Group, FBR Capital Markets & Co, JMP Securities, and UBS. Ms. Hwang received her Bachelor of Science degree from the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration (Real Estate Finance), where she graduated “With Distinction.” She also holds a Master’s degree in Real Estate Investment and Development from New York University. Ms. Hwang is a New York State Certified Real Estate Appraiser and is a New York and New Jersey Licensed Salesperson.

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.

Ronald A. Kaplan, CPA, is a partner with CohnReznick and is the Firm’s Commercial Real Estate Industry Leader. Ron has more than 20 years of experience providing assurance, due diligence, business advisory, and tax services to clients in the commercial, residential, retail, and hospitality sectors throughout the United States and internationally. Ron regularly provides assistance and advisory services to clients as they negotiate agreements with lenders, equity partners, and fund managers. In addition, he advises clients on accounting and tax matters throughout the agreement process, from initial drafting through completion. Ron’s clients are generally private companies with multi-state operations and include real estate opportunity funds, property management firms, partnerships, contractors, institutional lenders, REITs and joint ventures, as well as other corporate and family owners and investors. Ron has a particular focus on real estate opportunity funds, with clients ranging from start-ups to established funds. His clients benefit from his experience in critical areas, such as fair value reporting, compliance monitoring, investor relations, and fund performance. Prior to joining CohnReznick, Ron was in charge of the real estate practice for the New York office of a large national public accounting firm. In this role, he oversaw the practice’s client services, account management, and team development functions. He was also active in the firm’s training activities, leading presentations on the real estate business for professionals both within the firm and at national industry conferences.

Josh is Senior Vice President of Office Leasing for Vornado Realty Trust in New York and is responsible for the strategic repositioning and leasing of 11 million square feet of the REIT’s Class A office portfolio. Josh’s current projects include the repositioning of the 750,000 SF Farley Building from an early 20th century post office into a best in class creative office hub for companies focused on innovation and collaboration. Additional major projects of focus include the repositioning of Vornado’s Penn Plaza holdings including the 2.5 million square foot 1 Penn Plaza and surrounding district and the marketing and leasing of 512 West 22nd Street, a boutique ground up development on the High Line in West Chelsea.

Gregory Kraut joined KPG in 2017 as a managing partner. Mr. Kraut oversees the strategic direction of the company, fundraising, development, capital administration, asset management and leasing. Before joining KPG, Mr. Kraut was the Founding Principal and Managing Director of Avison Young’s New York office. Working with senior management, he established the Canadian-based firm’s local corporate infrastructure and grew its footprint in the Tri-State region through business acquisitions and high-level recruiting. During this time, he was named one of Commercial Observer’s Power 100 in New York City real estate for three consecutive years. As a senior broker and advisor, Mr. Kraut specialized in tenant and landlord representation including acquisition, disposition and planning strategies for local and multi-market clients. He also evaluated and underwrote office properties for individual and institutional owners. Prior to Avison Young, Mr. Kraut was a Senior Executive at CBRE, the world’s largest real estate services company. Throughout his 20-year career, he has represented owners and occupiers in transactions totaling more than 10 million square feet.

Tom Vecchione is a strategic design expert with more than 30 years of experience in architecture and real estate planning. He has worked with top corporations, building owners, and developers to reposition their properties and align the stakeholder’s business aspirations to the demands of a new generation of tenants. Tom has designed for a range of industry sectors globally, including financial headquarters in Cairo, innovation hubs in San Francisco, pharmaceutical campuses in Zurich, technology centers in London, creative workplaces in Shanghai and office towers in Boston, NYC, Tokyo, Chicago and Philadelphia. He is a member of the Board of Directors of The Center for an Urban Future, The New York City Landmarks Preservation Foundation, and on the Advisory Board at The Cornell Baker Program in Real Estate. Tom recently joined Vocon to serve of a critical member of the Vocon leadership team, integrating design innovation across the firm, growing and accelerating high-performance services for enterprise clients and strengthening capabilities for master planning and building repositioning.

Mr. Cohen is President of the Tri-Slate Region. When the firm operated as GVA Williams. Mr Cohen was the third generation of his family to head the firm. which was founded in 1926. He chaired GVA Williams' Executive Committee and was the founding partner and Chairman of GVA Worldwide Ltd.. GVA strategic partnership of leading real estate firms serving 120 business capitals on Uwe continents. An expert real estate advisor. Mr. Cohen has represented an elite clientele of the nation's lop companies, including American Express, ADP and General Motors. He specializes in representing corporations in the acquisition and disposition of office space nationwide. He has extensive experience representing law firms including, Moses 8 Singer. Holland and Knight. Smith Gantrell Russell. Mr. Cohen currently represents a wide range of clients regionally and nationally and globally including, Wells Fargo Advisors. American Lawyer Media. Signature Bank. Russell Reynolds Associates. SS&C and Marks Paneth In 2012. Mr. Cohen was ranked as one of New York City's lop 20 brokers by the Real Deal. That year. among others. he represented Parsons Brinkerhoff in the renewal of their 200.000-square toot world headquarters at 1 Penn Plaza in 2017 Mr. Cohen was ranked 66 among Commercial Observer's Power 100 nationwide. Mr. Cohen graduated from llw University of Pennsylvania. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT Mr. Cohen is on the Board of Directors of several or ganizalions. He serves as Vice-Chairman of the Board of the Flatiron/21J Street Partnership and also serves on the Boards of. The Roundabout Theatre Company, the Jewish National Fund of Greater New York and YPO Metro NY/YPO Gold Big Apple. He is also a past Chairman of the Board of Housing and Services Inc. and past President of Young Presidents' Organization NY Metro Chapter. Mr Cohen is also a Tony Award winning Producer of -A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder.

Dan is an internationally-recognized leader in commercial design for new and redeveloped buildings and partner at MdeAS. With nearly four decades of experience, he provides creative, innovative architectural solutions; making him instrumental in the firm’s overall approach to design. His clear commitment to the philosophy of modernism and urbanism enlivens a building’s presence with integrity. Dan’s effective leadership and design transcends the firm with a reputation for meeting the client’s goals by working closely with them through the design process. Setting a high-standard for craft within architecture, Dan’s eye for detail is reflected in every project he manages. He has worked alongside international developers to oversee the construction of more than 50 million square feet, including large-scale innovative projects such as the renovation of the GM Building, the ground up construction of 510 Madison Avenue and “The Cubes” at 120 West 42nd Street, recognized by the AIA’s Award of Excellence of Commercial Large Projects. Dan is currently working on the major repositioning of New York’s Two Penn Plaza, 1100 Avenue of the Americas, and 460 West 34th Street.

Philip Skalaski, P.E. is the Vice President of Engineering and Energy Services at The Durst Organization. Phil is responsible for managing the mechanical, electrical & plumbing (MEP) systems for the Durst Organization’s recent development properties including: EŌS, VIΛ 57 WEST, FRANK 57 WEST and Halletts Point. In addition, Phil supervises all MEP infrastructure upgrades to the existing buildings in the Durst portfolio to ensure best design practices as well as proper operation to maximize energy efficiency. Prior to joining Durst in 2008, Phil contributed to the design of several high profile building electrical systems, including The Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park, 7 World Trade Center, IBM World Headquarters in Armonk, NY, Revel Casino Hotel Resort and Spa in Atlantic City, NJ and the R&H Lab Tech Center in Shanghai, China. Phil is Co-President of The New York Energy Consumers Council, the largest energy customer advocacy organization in New York State. He also advises the New York City Commissioner of Buildings on Electrical Code Technical Standards as a member of the Electrical Code Revision and Interpretation Committee. He is a member of the Real Estate Board of New York. Phil holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Hofstra University and is a New York State Licensed Professional Engineer.

Andrew Barrocas has enjoyed success as a dominant force and respected authority in the New York City real estate industry for many years. In his accomplished career, he has sold over $10-billion worth of property, and managed, trained, recruited and collaborated with the city's top agents and brokers. As CEO and Founder of MNS, Andrew currently oversees more than a billion dollars’ worth of real estate, as well as an exceptional team of talented agents and project managers focused on providing the utmost level of client service. Andrew entered the real estate field after graduating from the WP Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. He went on to achieve instant success and recognition as one of the "Top 30 Brokers Under 30", according to The Real Deal. Over the years, Andrew has been a continually sought-after expert on real estate who has been featured in The New York Times' "The 30-Minute Interview", quoted in all major New York publications, and spotlighted on The Stoler Report. Since founding MNS in 2006, Andrew has grown the company substantially in terms of its revenue and its team, which is now over 125 people. He also serves his industry as a licensed teacher through the State of New York, passing on his knowledge and array of professional experience of real estate sales to real estate brokers and salespersons. Andrew is also an active member of The Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), The Community Housing Improvement Program (CHIP), Young Jewish Professionals (YJP) and Young Presidents Organization (YPO). He and his wife Rachel are the proud parents of three beautiful girls – Cayden, Ella and Zoe.

Mr. Cayten is a Partner and Senior Director of Strategic Growth at CodeGreen Solutions, a leading sustainability and energy efficiency consulting firm based in New York City supporting over 150 million square feet of property in NYC and 150M across the country. Mr. Cayten has more than 20 years of experience in sustainability consulting, architecture and development in commercial real estate. Mr. Cayten works with private and public sector leaders to improve the sustainability of the built environment while delivering positive value to building owners, occupiers and investors. Mr. Cayten has worked closely with policymakers and the real estate community since 2009 developing and navigating the City’s energy and carbon efficiency programs for existing buildings. In 2018 and 2019 Mr Cayten was deeply involved in the technical discussions leading up to the passing of LL97. Mr. Cayten holds a master’s degree from the Yale School of Architecture and has spoken domestically and internationally about sustainable real estate and energy efficiency policy. He serves on the sustainability committees of BOMA-NY and REBNY, is an active member of USGBC, Urban Green Council, a member of the Building Energy Exchange Industry Leadership Council and sits on the Advisory Council to the New York City Climate Museum.

Joshua Kopelowitz, AV Rated by Martindale Hubbell, joined Rosenberg & Estis, P.C. in 2007 and is a member with the firm's Litigation Department. He is a fierce advocate for his clients, practicing in the area of civil litigation. His results-oriented approach gives his clients the confidence to engage Mr. Kopelowitz in a broad array of lawsuits, appeals and transactions involving a variety of issues such as leasing, landlord-tenant law, air rights, complex commercial litigation, easements and construction law. A substantial part of Mr. Kopelowitz’s practice focuses on representing landlords and developers in negotiations, complex litigations and alternative dispute resolution in an array of areas including commercial/residential leasing, rent regulatory matters, brokerage claims and contracts. Most recently, Mr. Kopelowitz used his litigation acumen in a New York Supreme Court case involving a rent-controlled tenant who used her Central Park duplex apartment as a bed and breakfast by soliciting transient guests on Airbnb.com. As reported by the New York Post, Law360.com and other media outlets, Mr. Kopelowitz successfully secured a temporary restraining order in favor of a landlord which enjoined the rent-controlled tenant from using her apartment as a bed and breakfast. Mr. Kopelowitz's ability to comprehend complex issues quickly has allowed him to aid his clients in matters both within the real estate sphere and out. He has successfully defended a respondent before the New York Immigration Court; negotiated valuable air rights; defended debtor in bankruptcy; negotiated an adverse possession claim; successfully tried a commercial lease holdover proceeding on behalf of a landlord; and represented a major developer in a mesothelioma action. Of late, he successfully secured a dismissal from the Supreme Court of Queens County of all of plaintiff's negligence and construction law claims against a landlord.