Speakers

Andrew Kimball is President and CEO of the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation, which recently inked a deal with ShopRite to anchor the retail portion of a $60 million plan to redevelop the six-acre Admirals Row site at the Yard. The Brooklyn Navy Yard project, which is expected to create 1,200 new jobs, includes the development of a 220,000-square-foot silver LEED-certified manufacturing center and the city’s first building-mounted wind turbines. The development is expected to take three years to complete. The Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation (BNYDC) is a not-for-profit corporation that manages the Navy Yard under a contract with the Yard’s owner, the City of New York. BNYDC is responsible for leasing space in the Yard, for developing the underutilized areas of the Yard, and for overseeing the ongoing modernization of the Yard’s infrastructure.

Douglas Hercher is Executive Vice President and Principal of Cushman & Wakefield Sonnenblick Goldman and a Managing Director in its Debt and Equity Capital Markets Group, where his responsibilities include originating, marketing and structuring debt, equity and joint venture transactions. He also oversees the firm’s NASD-registered broker deal, SG Real Estate Securities, which is responsible for executing third party fund-raising transactions and other corporate financings. Mr. Hercher joined the firm in 2004, having previously been Managing Director in the Global Real Estate Group of Lehman Brothers.

Since entering Borough Hall in January 2002, Marty has reinvigorated the office of borough president, serving as the tireless chief advocate for Brooklyn’s economic, social and cultural interests, while initiating and promoting efforts to improve Brooklynites’ quality of life. As borough president, he has set an ambitious agenda focused on the core issues of his more than three decades in public service — housing, neighborhood preservation and community development. Marty’s efforts to stimulate and grow Brooklyn’s economy include revitalizing Coney Island, re-zoning Greenpoint-Williamsburg and Downtown Brooklyn, encouraging development of the Brooklyn Cruise Ship Terminal, wooing regional corporate headquarters, large manufacturers and retailers, startups and green businesses, and lobbying on behalf of Brooklynites for the affordable housing and jobs attached to the Atlantic Yards project.

MaryAnne Gilmartin is in charge of Forest City’s Commercial & Residential Development in New York. Throughout her 15 years at Forest City, Ms. Gilmartin has played a key role in the creation of civic public/private development projects in the city.

Ms. Gilmartin oversees the company’s most visible and prestigious projects: The Barclays Center — the future home of the NBA Nets franchise — the feature component of the 8 million square foot Frank Gehry-master plan for the Atlantic Yards redevelopment project.

Ms. Gilmartin also manages the MetroTech office portfolio in Brooklyn, which consists of 6.7 million square feet of Class A office space.

Seth Pinsky has worked to meet the challenge presented by the recent economic crisis by re-evaluating the agency’s strategy for expanding the City’s economy and redoubling existing efforts to position the City as the international center for innovation in the 21st century. Beyond working to overhaul the City’s economy, Seth’s efforts have also included modernizing NYCEDC’s 63-million square-foot property management portfolio; overseeing $2.5 billion in capital investments ranging from basic infrastructure improvements to new parks and streetscapes across the City; and helping to negotiate and structure the City’s involvement in some of the most complex development projects in recent years.

Born in Brooklyn, Joe Sitt serves as Chief Executive Officer of Thor Equities, a forward-thinking national development and redevelopment company. Thor Equities specializes in urban real estate projects and public/private partnerships in the United States, Puerto Rico, and Mexico. In addition to his responsibilities as the company’s CEO, Mr. Sitt also serves as the Chairman and Managing Principal of the Thor Urban Property Funds with equity in excess of $1 billion in various private equity funds specializing in value-added investments in shopping centers, malls and mixed-use urban projects. Launched in 2004, the Fund’s investors include pension funds, investment banks, prestigious top-tier college endowments, and foundations.

David Kramer is a principal with the Hudson Companies, Inc. and has lead responsibility for the market rate housing developments and commercial projects at Hudson. His projects include: The J Condominium, Riverwalk Landing, The Marais, The Clinton, The Hudson East, and a number of other residential projects. Currently, Hudson is developing: Cobble Hill Tower, Forrest Glen Estate, The Knick, Third + Bond, Riverwalk Court, and Riverwalk Crossing. Hudson has also been involved in the controversial Gowanus area projects, which are now under Superfund status.

In 2008, after 40 years in commercial banking, Brendan J. Dugan returned to his alma mater, St. Francis College, as President. Prior to becoming the College’s 18th President, he served as Chairman of the College’s Board of Directors. Mr. Dugan’s last banking position was Chairman & CEO of Sovereign Bank’s Metro NY/NJ Division. Sovereign had recently acquired Independence Bank where Mr. Dugan worked since 2003. Prior to joining Independence, he served as Chief Operating Officer of Citibank Commercial Markets (2001-2003), President of European American Bank (1991-2001) and President and Chief Executive Officer of NatWest USA (1974-1991). While at each of these institutions, Mr. Dugan helped develop and manage the implementation of growth strategies in the areas of Commercial and Retail Banking, Leasing and Real Estate Lending, all of which are integral to the New York economy.

Ofer Cohen is a seasoned executive with 14 years of sales, marketing and entrepreneurial management experience. Ofer founded TerraCRG during the first quarter of 2008, after serving as Director of Sales at Massey Knakal Realty Services, one of the leading investment sales firms in New York City. His vision for TerraCRG was to create a new type of brokerage and advisory firm, one that efficiently responds to the Brooklyn Commercial Real Estate market and its participants, during all stages of the market cycle. The firm occupies newly redeveloped office space across from the Atlantic Yards.

TerraCRG was is a boutique commercial brokerage and advisory firm focused primarily on the Brooklyn borough and vicinity. More…

David Maundrell is President and founder of aptsandlofts.com. Starting from a small 550 square foot office in an industrial section of North Williamsburg in October of 2002, David’s vision for the company is to simply “Keep it Real” with a goal of providing clients with highest level of marketing services for their properties but also to provide his customers with the same level of service in a down to earth approachable manner. This vision has enabled aptsandlofts.com to become one of the largest and recognizable privately owned Real Estate brands in Brooklyn today.

aptsandlofts.com was founded in October 2002 with the goal of approaching marketing campaigns in a completely creative way (creating trends, rather than following trends) and embracing the very best, honest and approachable Real Estate Brokers. More…

Chris Havens founded Creative Real Estate Group LLP in June 2007 and currently represents 150,000 square feet of loft space. He brings a near 30-year background in real estate, housing and land use.

In 2002, Mr. Havens joined Two Trees Management Co. in DUMBO as Director of Leasing & Marketing for their 1.4 million square foot commercial portfolio. Completing over one hundred new leases while managing the re-positioning of the former industrial and craft space into office use, Haves successfully created the DUMBO office marketing, realizing the Walentas’ vision.

Timothy D. King joined partners, Brian Leary and Jim Lang, to form CPEX Real Estate in 2008. Tim manages the firm’s business line divisions and business development. He has been involved in Real Estate operations, sales and leasing for forty years. During that time, he has hired, trained and managed several hundred agents.

Prior to forming CPEX Real Estate, Tim was a Partner with Massey Knakal Realty Services. He joined MKRS in 2002 and opened the firm’s Brooklyn office as its first Managing Partner. After serving as the Managing Partner of the Brooklyn office, Tim later became MKRS’S first Chief Operating Officer. During his tenure, the firm’s annual revenue increased dramatically and its staff grew from 30 to 200, with 75 staff members in Brooklyn alone.

J.D. Parker is regional manager of Marcus & Millichap’s Manhattan, Brooklyn and New Haven offices and oversees a staff of over 120 commercial brokers and assistants. In addition to being the broker of record for the state of New York, J.D. manages all transactions in the region and recruits, hires and deploys new agents in the market place. As regional manager, J.D. provides strategic direction of the firm’s Manhattan, Brooklyn and New Haven offices, while serving as an active advisor for brokers. Currently, J.D. is overseeing 300+ exclusive listings valued in excess of $600 million within the regional area. In the last three years, J.D. has overseen over 400 closings with a sales volume in excess of $1.78 billion in New York and Connecticut.

As President of Brooklyn Economic Development Corporation, a thirty-one year old not for profit corporation dedicated to community and business development and job creation in Brooklyn, Joan Bartolomeo directs a staff which provides services in the areas of small business lending, commercial and retail development, entrepreneurship, commercial revitalization and numerous other activities. BEDC also directs the Initiative for a Competitive Brooklyn (ICB), a project that seeks to create sustainable jobs for Brooklyn’s residents by facilitating the growth and expansion of the borough’s private sector employers. In 2008, BEDC also assumed Management of the historic Moore Street Retail Market in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Lori Raphael is Director of Real Estate and Development at the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce where she promotes the business interests of Brooklyn’s real estate industry. She has served as Executive Director of the Flatbush-Nostrand Junction Business Improvement District, working with property owners, developers and retailers on retail revitalization and promotion of the commercial corridor. Prior, Lori was Vice President for Asset Management at the NYC Economic Development Corporation, where she was responsible for leasing and lease administration of a large and diverse portfolio of City-owned commercial real estate. Lori has also served as Deputy Agency Chief Contracting Officer at the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development, managing compliance and contracting programs.

A native New Yorker, Robert Hebron joined Ingram & Hebron Realty in January of 2004 bringing with him over fifteen years of real estate experience garnered as a residential agent in Marin County, California. Robert also spent five recent years as Vice President Sales & Marketing for a 300-employee Silicon Valley software and consulting firm. Robert specializes in the Downtown Brooklyn office leasing market and since returning to New York, where he has been directly involved in leasing over 500,000 square feet. The most recent transaction was ownership representation in a controversial 12,000 square foot lease with the federal government.

Caroline Pardo, Director of Leasing, Two Trees Management, has over 8 years of New York real estate experience. Over the past five years she has brought over 50 businesses to the DUMBO community, helping to transform it into one of Brooklyn’s most sought after neighborhoods. A few of the business that Pardo has welcomed to the Dumbo and Downtown Brooklyn neighborhood include Urban Outfitters, Etsy, Red Mango, Lenscrafters, The Little Gym, Trader Joe’s Fortis, Forty Acres and A Mule, Brooklyn Flea, Mikey’s Hook-Up, Nature’s Grill Café and Salon De Quartier. A graduate of Hofstra University, Pardo began her career at Helmsley-Spear before leaving to join Cushman & Wakefield where she focused on leasing and management. Pardo is a Brooklyn resident and active member of REBNY and the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce.

Larisa Ortiz is a nationally recognized expert in the field of urban commercial district revitalization. Her firm, Larisa Ortiz Associates (www.larisaortizassociates.com), specializes in retail strategies, market analysis and strategic planning for diverse urban commercial districts. She is the author of “Real Estate, Redevelopment and Reuse” an economic development training manual published by the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) and is editor of The Commercial District Advisor (www.commercialdistrictadvisor.com), a blog and newsletter dedicated to urban commercial district management and distributed to over 3,000 practitioners around the country.

Joe Getz has spent 23 years helping some of the nation’s most successful retail developers achieve that status. Prior to forming JGSC Group in 1997, he held executive positions at leading advertising agencies in the Philadelphia area where he created marketing campaigns and strategic plans for shopping malls, retailers, real estate developers, and consumer products companies. Over the course of his career, Joe has pioneered programs to gauge shoppers’ perceptions, define consumers’ wants and needs, and discover untapped opportunity in retail shopping centers and downtown neighborhoods.

Sean Mooney is an Associate Director with over 6 years of experience in commercial real estate finance. Mr. Mooney oversees originations in the Brooklyn office and serves a wide variety of institutional and private clients on a national basis. Closing 17 transactions in 2009, Mr. Mooney received the prestigious MVP award for New York City. He has financed over 100 transactions during the course of his career. Mr. Mooney is a member of the Mortgage Bankers Association, International Council of Shopping Centers and Appraisal Institute.

Jack Rosenfeld was most recently Senior Vice President and Head of Asset Management for a National Real Estate Investment and Development firm where he was responsible for Due Diligence and Operations of a $1.2 Billion portfolio. Previously he was Senior Vice President of a national Shopping Center development firm responsible for 6.7 million square feet of retail space and participated in over $250 million in financings. He also was a Senior Executive at the Resolution Trust Corporation where he directed and managed evaluations, workouts, restructurings and dispositions on behalf the US Government agency charged with resolving the Savings and Loan crisis. He is currently running the loan workout program for a community bank in Brooklyn.

Dan Harris is the EVP and Chief Lending Officer of Dime Savings Bank of Williamsburgh, a $4.0 billion institution headquartered in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Dime is a well-known multifamily and commercial lender in the greater New York City region. Dime originates between $500 million and $1 billion in multifamily loans per year. Due to its conservative lending approach and focus on NYC multifamily properties, Dime’s credit quality remains very strong and among the best in the industry in terms of delinquent and non-performing loans. Prior to joining the Dime, Dan was EVP and Chief Credit Officer at Hudson Valley Bank, a $2.8 billion commercial bank headquartered in Westchester County, NY, where he managed Commercial Credit, Problem Loans, Loan Servicing, and Loan Participations.

Dan Hartman has over 20 years of experience in commercial real estate finance. At Wrightwood Capital, he is responsible for originating, structuring and closing debt, mezzanine and equity investments in the Eastern United States, concentrating on the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic markets from Virginia to Massachusetts. He was previously with GE Capital’s North American Equity team where he was responsible for identifying and establishing equity joint venture relationships and investments with real estate operating partners in the Northeast. Previous positions have been with Daimler Chrysler Capital (debis), ORIX Real Estate and Chase Manhattan Bank.

A prominent and well-known commercial real estate appraisal professional, Joel Leitner has a diversified background in the valuation of real estate on a national basis for a wide range of applications including market value appraisals, property portfolio consulting and management, investment advisory service, valuations and consulting studies for securitization-equity based and mortgage-backed transactions, purchase price allocations, liquidation sale valuations, condemnation, tax reduction, estates and expert witness testimony for litigation. Joel has completed appraisal assignments of industrial facilities, shopping centers and malls, office and medical centers, hotel and motel facilities, and apartment complexes on behalf of foreign and domestic investment firms including major industrial corporations, financial institutions, individual investors, leading law firms and government agencies.

Mitchell Shpelfogel bought his first multifamily property at the age of eighteen and has continued to purchase, own and operate multifamily residential and mix-use buildings in Brooklyn ever since. Today Mitchell has two full time jobs. First, he owns and operates hundreds of residential units in Brooklyn in addition to expanding his work to condominium and commercial development. Second, as a partner of Pinczewski & Shpelfogel, P.C., Mitchell combines his hands-on experience in the real estate market with a concentration in real estate law when dealing with all types of complex real estate legal matters for home buyers and sellers, property owners as well as developers. In May 2009, Crain’s New York and The New York Law Journal featured articles regarding the largest multifamily residential transaction in Brooklyn of the year in which Mitchell acted as counsel.

Michael Falsetta is the Executive Vice President at Miller Cicero, LLC, a commercial real estate consulting and appraisal firm. He heads Miller Cicero’s Construction and Development practice. A native New Yorker, he has in-depth and extensive knowledge of New York City and its neighborhoods. Although often quoted as a Brooklyn expert, he left that borough two decades ago and has resided in Manhattan since. Mr. Falsetta has been involved in different facets of the real estate industry since 1988, including sales and facilities management, and has acted as general construction manager on small multi-family rehab projects in Brooklyn. He has eighteen years of experience in commercial real estate, primarily as a consultant and in valuation. For nearly a decade until 2007, Mr. Falsetta held the world record for having traveled through the entire New York City subway system in the fastest time.

Andrew Scandalios is a Senior Managing Director in the New York office of HFF (Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P.) and has 19 years experience in the real estate investment banking business as a manager, advisor, and transactional agent. Mr. Scandalios is primarily responsible for institutional-grade transactions nationally. Mr. Scandalios has been involved in real estate asset sales for major corporate, institutional, and entrepreneurial owners totaling over $10 billion. He has extensive experience transacting on all property types. Prior to joining HFF, Mr. Scandalios was a Senior Vice President at Rockwood Realty and an acquisition/dispositions officer at UBS Realty Advisors.

Kenneth M. Krasnow joined Massey Knakal as Managing Director of the Brooklyn office. Most recently, Mr. Krasnow worked as the Chief Operating Officer for Apartment Realty Advisors Florida. There, he oversaw statewide operations, spearheaded market expansion and was responsible for further enhancing new service areas such as institutional mid-market, land and capital market advisory services. Before that he was at Trammell Crow Company as an Executive Vice President, where he was responsible for the overall strategic direction of the tri-state brokerage unit. Prior to joining Trammell he was Cushman & Wakefield’s Executive Managing Director and New York area leader, where he had overall responsibility for the firm’s five offices in the New York area. Mr. Krasnow was previously Regional Managing Director for Cushman & Wakefield’s suburban area.

Greg Todd launched his career in real estate in 1978, when he became the first employee of a new nonprofit developer, BEC New Communities. When the real estate recession hit in 1988, Greg invented the Equity Lease as a means of closing sales on 81 new, affordable condominiums in Crown Heights. By the end of 2002, BEC and other non-profits had been so successful in reviving distressed areas of Brooklyn that their major partner, the City of New York, had no more vacant buildings left to develop. In 2003 Greg joined The Corcoran Group, in Fort Greene, to continue his work in Brooklyn real estate. Today, he represents many of the boroughs affordable housing units.

Brett Goldman joined Triangle Equities as their Director of Acquisitions in 1999 and has since been instrumental in acquiring properties for development and investment. He explores and evaluates strategic commercial and residential opportunities within the New York metropolitan area and is also responsible for the creation and implementation of new development plans. Triangle is a opportunistic private equity development company with over 1,000,000 square feet under ownership. Prior to joining Triangle Equities, he was employed as a Retail Leasing Representative and Project Manager for Forest City Enterprises. Previous to that, he was an Associate with Cronheim Mortgage.

Ben Thypin is a Senior Market Analyst at Real Capital Analytics Inc (“RCA”), where he heads up the group that researches distressed assets and debt. In this capacity he works with RCA’s institutional client base to meet their data needs, contributes to RCA’s publications and provides data and commentary to press outlets large and small. In addition his work at RCA, Ben uses his market knowledge and network to engage in real estate investment banking, helping investors and partners source both deals and capital for commercial real estate debt and equity investments. Additionally, Ben continues to play an active role in managing his family’s 1 million square foot real estate portfolio, which was retained after the sale of Thypin Steel Co, a steel distribution firm based in Long Island City, NY, to Ryerson Tull in 1997. Prior to working at RCA, Ben held positions at LCOR, Plaza Construction, and Toll Brothers and holds a BS from Cornell University.

Eric Brody, the founder and principal of The Brody Group LLC (www.thebrodygroup.net) started the company in 2003 in New York. to develop residential, retail, and commercial buildings within the five boroughs of New York City. Eric Brody oversees The Brody Group’s acquisition, finance, construction and development activities. He has developed, consulted, and/or managed six residential projects in Brooklyn and is currently working on four more, representing a total of 131 units. Prior to starting The Brody Group LLC, Eric Brody led the Acquisition and Land Sales group at Corcoran Brooklyn Development Division where he analyzed, valued, marketed and sold potential development sites in Brooklyn.

Mustafa Coskun is the Founder and CEO of Garden of Eden Gourmet Markets with 6 locations in NY and 2 in NJ and a 300 seat restaurant. His vision to bring quality foods and service to underserved neighborhoods. The vision and his perseverance paid off when he opened his first store in Gramercy in 1994, followed by Chelsea in 1996, Union Square in 1999, Brooklyn Heights in 2001, Upper West Side in 2004, Hoboken NJ in 2006 and South Orange in 2008. Garden of Eden specializes in high quality produce, fresh fish, fresh meats, European style deli, cheese, prepared food, baked goods and large selection of imported and domestic specialty foods. Mustafa’s success did not only bring quality foods and services to the neighborhoods he is catering to but also attracted other businesses like boutiques and large chain stores to the neighborhood.

Ben Bernstein co-founded RedSky Capital (RedSky). The Company is a fully integrated real estate company that acquires, owns and operates real estate and real estate related securities. RedSky looks to capitalize on opportunities in the New York Tri-State Area. The company focuses on acquiring assets in the $1-75 million range. RedSky currently owns and manages 170 apartments and 137,000 sq ft of commercial space in Brooklyn. RedSky is also in contract to buy 135 apartments and 86,000 sq.ft. of commercial space in Brooklyn. Mr. Bernstein is a graduate of Cornell University and previously worked at PIMCO.

Michael House is a Managing Director at Edgewood Capital Advisors, a Private Equity firm specializing the finance, acquisition and management of distressed commercial real estate assets. Edgewood is currently investing its 4th fund and is targeting $100 million of originations for 2010. Michael has been involved in the commercial real estate industry in the metropolitan area for 25 years, having held senior positions at GE Asset Management, Genworth Financial, Arbor Realty Trust and the Bank of New York. At Edgewood, Michael is Responsible for managing the pricing, underwriting, due diligence and closing processes for all loan acquisitions and loan originations.

Michael Muller serves as Vice President at Eastern Union Funding. Since joining Eastern in 2001, he has overseen several billion dollars in commercial real estate finance. Michael’s team closes in excess of $500 million annually. He has consistently received the company’s Number 1 Broker Award for the last seven years. Michael is revered as an expert on multifamily and commercial financing throughout the five boros. His clients rely on him for input and advice that goes beyond that of a typical mortgage broker. Prior to joining Eastern, Michael managed property in NYS for five years.

Adam Luysterborghs is a Founding Principal at Avant Capital Partners. Avant Capital is a real estate investment bank with offices in New York City, Boston, Chicago and Greenwich CT. The principals of the firm have completed over $5b in debt & equity financings nationwide. Adam’s responsibilities as Managing Principal include corporate development, origination of debt & equity engagements and investor relations. Adam has fourteen years of experience in commercial real estate, investment banking and financial advisory. He received a Bachelor’s Degree in Economic Theory from The American University in Washington DC and is a registered principal broker in the State of New York.

bio pending.

Boaz Gilad is President and Co-Founder of ORE International, LLC, a real estate development and consulting firm. Founded in New York City in 2004, ORE International acquires, develops, repositions and manages a diverse portfolio consisting of condominiums, mixed-use and commercial properties. ORE International manages over $30 million of equity capital with a total real estate portfolio valued at over $100 million. ORE International has participated in more than fifty developments in the Greater New York area. ORE International specializes in finding niche development and investment opportunities in attractive neighborhoods that produce exceptionally high cash-on-cash returns.

Phil Wharton was hired by AvalonBay in 2004 as a Senior Development Director in the New York Development office. He currently has direct responsibility for two major NY metro projects – Avalon Riverview North and Avalon on the Sound II, each in excess of $150 million development cost. In addition, Phil is actively pursuing new development business for Avalon Bay in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and Westchester County. Phil has an extensive career in real estate development and investment, having worked previously in a development capacity at LCOR and Lincoln Property Company as well as investment manager for public and private pension funds at Lend Lease’s investment advisory group and the Yarmouth Group.