Visionary Series Past Events
Solving the Affordable Housing Crisis
December 2, 2022
9-11 am Live event with virtual simulcast
Fordham University | 150 W. 62nd Street | Costantino Ballroom | New York, NY
New York City is one of the most expensive places to live, and affordable apartments are dwindling. Between 2017 and 2021, the city lost roughly 96,000 apartments renting below $1,500 — as it gained 107,000 apartments renting at $2,300 or more. The vacancy rate for units under $1,500 was under 1 percent, while the rate for units renting above $2,300 was 12.64 percent.
Restrictive regulations, high construction costs, the loss of tax abatements, simple supply and demand – the reasons for the lack of affordable housing in the city are myriad. But what can be done?
Join Fordham’s panel of visionaries from multiple sectors like real estate development, finance, law, and government leaders to hear their views on how the affordable housing landscape has changed and what it will take to make city living affordable.
Panel:
Moderator
Yasmin Cornelius | Senior Vice President, Community Affairs, L&M Development
Ms. Cornelius is responsible for leading, planning and executing the community relations program at L+M Development Partners and C+C Asset Management. In addition, Ms. Cornelius oversees and coordinates engagement with stakeholders in all L+M/C+C communities. By working with community leaders and government officials on behalf of L+M/C+C, she facilitates job creation, support for local non-profits and the creation of needs-based programs for the community. Ms. Cornelius has over 25 years of experience in the private and public sector and has worked for the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), New York State Senator Majority Conference, Manhattan Borough President’s Office and was District Manager of Community Board 10M. In 2016, she was elected New York State Committee member for the 70th Assembly District.
Chris Dunn | Managing Partner at Mission Peak Capital
Chris Dunn is a full partner in Mission Peak Capital. Mission Peak Capital is a multi-strategy real estate investment firm with primary focus in Housing and Credit. Mission Peak’s Housing business owns multifamily, manufactured housing and build-for-rent developments throughout the country. It is vertically integrated with its own property management, sales and leasing divisions. Prior to joining Mission Peak Capital, he spent over 10 years at Deutsche Bank in various roles in New York, London, and Hong Kong. Most recently, Mr. Dunn was a Managing Director and Head of Structured Finance in the Commercial Real Estate (CRE) Group based in New York. Before joining Deutsche Bank, Mr. Dunn was a Principal in the Real Estate Finance Group at Banc of America Securities. Prior to joining Banc of America Securities, Mr. Dunn was a Director in the Structured Finance Group at Standard & Poor's.
Michael LaCour-Little | Professor of Finance, California State University, Fullerton
Michael LaCour-Little joined Fannie Mae in 2016 as Director – Economics. He recently retired from the position of Chair of the Department of Finance at California State University-Fullerton, where he continues in its faculty early retirement program. Prior to a ten-year stint in academia, he worked for decades in banking at Wells Fargo and Citibank, including their mortgage companies. He continues to serve on the editorial boards of a number of academic journals and is the author of dozens of peer-reviewed papers on topics in housing economics and real estate finance.
Katherine McAdams | Director of MFH Affordable Lending, Wells Fargo
Katherine McAdams is a Director in Wells Fargo’s Community Lending & Investment Group, where she focuses on financing the construction and preservation of affordable housing in New York City and nationwide. In this role she has originated over $2B of debt financing for affordable housing and is also responsible for the construction servicing and asset management of a $1B portfolio. With nearly 15 years of experience, she has held various other positions within Wells Fargo’s Commercial Real Estate division, including restructuring and market-rate originations. McAdams holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and a Minor in Accounting from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Jed Resnick | CEO, Douglaston Development
Jed Resnick joined Douglaston Development as Chief Operating Officer in 2018 and assumed the role of CEO in 2020. He brings 18 years of real estate finance and development experience to the company. As CEO, Mr. Resnick oversees best-in-class execution across Douglaston’s various development projects, ensuring excellence in project planning, design, finance, and legal structuring. He also leads site acquisition efforts to strengthen the company’s project pipeline, as well as critical asset management activities and other strategic business development initiatives.
Prior to joining Douglaston Development, Mr. Resnick was a founding principal at Grafton Street Capital, a boutique real estate firm. He also spent ten years at LeFrak in New York City, serving in numerous roles including Senior Vice President for Real Estate Capital Markets and Acquisitions, and where he focused on project finance, ground-up development, and significant adaptive reuse projects.
Fordham REI Presents: Visionary Series CCL: Rising Interest Rates and its Impact on CRE
Find out what you need to know
July 26, 2022
As interest rates climb, inflation hits a 40-year high and global economic uncertainty surges, what impact is this having on the commercial real estate market? Will CRE transactions yield less returns, and what effect will rising interest rates have on property values and investment performance? Join the Fordham Real Estate Institute's panel of visionary experts and learn how to leverage returns in a changing market.
Introduction by Lou Mirando, President, Streamline Realty Funding and Chairman of the Fordham Real Estate Institute Advisory Council
Featuring
Andrea Balkan | Managing Partner, Real Estate, Brookfield
Andrea Balkan is a Managing Partner in Brookfield’s Real Estate Group, responsible for the overall management of Brookfield’s real estate finance funds. Ms. Balkan has held several senior management positions across the organization. Prior to joining Brookfield in 2002, she was a Director at Merrill Lynch in New York in the investment banking and debt capital markets groups, where she was responsible for conduit and large loan origination business, and before that, a Managing Director at Chase Manhattan Bank.
Adam Doneger | Vice Chairman, Cushman & Wakefield
Adam Doneger is a Vice Chairman with Cushman & Wakefield’s Capital Markets Team. He joined the firm in October 2016 after spending 5 years at Eastdil Secured where he served as Managing Director. Prior to Eastdil Secured, Adam worked at Brookfield Asset Management in their Real Estate Debt Fund. Adam began his career at Morgan Stanley in the real estate group.
He is a licensed real estate salesperson in the State of New York.
Mr. Doneger holds a Master’s in Real Estate from NYU and a BA from Johns Hopkins University. Doneger is a former professional lacrosse player that played for the New Jersey Pride in Major League Lacrosse (MLL) from 2003-2007. He was named the Major League Lacrosse Rookie of the Year in 2003. Prior to playing in the MLL, Doneger played his college lacrosse at Johns Hopkins University where he was named a two-time First Team All American and team captain during his junior and senior years. Doneger was named to the All Time JHU Lacrosse Team. In 2002, Doneger played for the United States Men’s National Team that won a gold medal in Australia. In 2014, Doneger was elected into the Long Island Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
Mr. Doneger currently serves on the board of directors for River Fund, a not-for-profit dedicated to fighting hunger, homelessness and poverty in city neighborhoods. Doneger serves as a Leadership Fellow at Johns Hopkins University and sits on the Johns Hopkins University Athletic Department Advisory Board.
Tony Fineman | Senior Managing Director, ACORE Capital
Mr. Fineman has more than 25 years of experience in the commercial real estate business. At ACORE, Mr. Fineman is responsible for originating, underwriting, structuring and closing commercial real estate financing opportunities, and for managing originations for the East and Midwest Regions.
Prior to joining ACORE, Mr. Fineman was an Executive Vice President with Brickman and a principal at Hillcrest Finance, where he was responsible for originating, underwriting, structuring and closing equity and debt investment opportunities, and financing new and existing equity investments. Prior to
Brickman, Mr. Fineman held various positions in commercial real estate finance including a senior role with Wachovia Bank, where he managed, structured and closed more than $25 billion of complex commercial real estate finance transactions often involving multiple lenders and tranches of debt, and a role as a banker with Nomura Securities.
Ryan Severino | Chief Economist, JLL
Ryan Severino is the chief economist at JLL where he manages the economics team and is responsible for global and regional economic research, analysis and forecasting as well as property market forecasting.
Prior to JLL, Ryan served as senior economist and director of research at Reis in the research and economics department, the team responsible for the firm's market forecasting, valuation, and portfolio analytics services. Ryan also served as the Associate Director of Research at MetLife Real Estate Investments where he was responsible for macroeconomic and real estate market analysis, formulating portfolio strategy, and conducting deal reviews.
Before joining MetLife, Ryan served as the Director of Investment Strategy and Market Research at Starwood Capital Group where he directed the entire research effort at the firm. Ryan has also held research positions at Prudential Real Estate Investors and UBS.
Presented by Co-Chairs of the REI Executive Advisory Committee:
Lou Mirando, CEO of Streamline CRE Funding Group
Ryan O'Connor, President of Clinton Management
Get Ready:
Tokenization, Blockchain, and Crypto Currency is Coming to Real Estate
Find out what you need to know
July 8, 2021
According to ResearchandMarkets.com, the global real estate market is expected to go from $2.7 trillion in 2020 to $3.7 trillion in 2025. Until recently, the best projects could only be accessed by accredited and institutional investors. But with tokenization, asset owners and developers can securitize their assets, making it easier and cheaper for investors to buy or sell real estate, and for owners and developers to raise capital...without a middle man.
How can you benefit from this convergence of real estate investing and blockchain technology? Find out at our summer "Picnic Lunch and Learn."
Introduction by Lou Mirando, President, Streamline Realty Funding and Chairman of the Fordham Real Estate Institute Advisory Council
Featuring
Daniel Owen Mee | President, Dillon Capital Advisors, LLC
A capital markets executive, Mr. Mee has spent over 30 years financing real estate and other assets. He co-founded Tremont Realty Capital, a nationally based Registered Investment Advisor which he sold to the RMR Group. There Mr. Mee played a central role in the IPO and was Co President/ COO of its publicly traded mortgage REIT. He started his career at JP Morgan Chase. At Dillon Capital Mr. Mee advises companies on strategic planning, capital allocation and capital raises.
Donna Redel | Angel Investor, Blockchain-Digital Assets Adjunct Professor, Fordham Law
Redel has managed global organizations, working especially in financial performance and governance issues, for over 30 years. Redel served as Chief Information and Technology Officer for both the International and Derivatives divisions of Prudential Securities. In 2000, Redel joined the World Economic Forum as Managing Director and Board Member. She is also a speaker at global conferences on regulatory and business issues, and is an advisor in blockchain, having co-founded The Fordham Law Blockchain Regulatory Symposium: Regulation and Innovation. Redel is a board member of NY Angels where she co-founded and co-chairs the Blockchain Committee and was a former member of both Women Corporate Directors and Golden Seeds – Angel Investors for Women Entrepreneurs.
David M. Otto | Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Martin Davis, PLLC
David M. Otto has been practicing law for over thirty-three years, focusing on corporate finance, securities, mergers/acquisitions, corporate governance, and capital market matters. He received his B.A. from Harvard University in 1981 and his J.D. from Fordham University School of Law in 1987. He is the founding Managing Partner at Martin Davis, PLLC (“Martin Davis”), a boutique law firm based in Seattle, WA, a Founder and General Partner of CounterPointe Ventures (“CounterPointe”), a blockchain technology fund, and a Founder and Principal of CounterPointe Sports Group (“CSG”), a company dedicated to tokenizing interests in professional sports franchises.
David is a leader in the effort to streamline the contractual and legal processes necessary to launch innovative blockchain technology projects, decentralized applications, and tokenized business models. He focuses on entity formation, transactional structure, token allocation, token-economics, contracts and legal documentation, tokenization platforms, legal opinions and memoranda, analysis regarding token payment/utility/asset-backed functionality, and Federal and State regulatory compliance.
Envisioning the Future:
Technology, Innovation, and Obsolescence
April 15, 2021
Technology is a driving force in shaping the future of all industries, including ones that have a tremendous impact on the marketplace: healthcare, construction, development, and architecture. What are some examples of the newest tech changing how these industries do business? And, what parts of these industries will innovation make obsolete?
Featuring
Michael Dowling | President and CEO, Northwell Health
Michael Dowling is one of health care’s most influential voices, taking a stand on societal issues such as gun violence and immigration that many health system CEOs shy away from. As president and CEO of Northwell Health, he leads a clinical, academic and research enterprise with a workforce of more than 75,000 and annual revenue of $14 billion. Northwell is the largest health care provider and private employer in New York State, caring for more than two million people annually through a vast network of more than 830 outpatient facilities and 23 hospitals.
Mr. Dowling’s leadership has been invaluable to Northwell’s consistent expansion and prominence. In 2020, he successfully navigated the health system through the first COVID-19 epicenter in the US, detailing his experiences in Leading Through a Pandemic. Northwell innovated through the crisis, expanding hospital bed capacity (adding 2,000 beds in two weeks), 3D-printing nasal swabs for COVID testing and converting BiPAP machines into mechanical ventilators. Northwell was the first person in the US to receive the historic COVID vaccine in December 2020.
Jeffrey Levine | Founder and Chairman, Douglaston Development LLC/Levine Builders/Clinton Management
Levine has directed the new construction and rehabilitation of thousands of residential units, including both affordable and luxury housing, student housing, hotels, senior living, health care facilities, and millions of square feet of commercial retail, office, and institutional space. He most recently developed the Edge along the Williamsburg waterfront in Brooklyn, a 1.5 million square feet mixed use project, which includes approximately 2,000 residential units, over 60,000 square feet of retail, structured parking, a water taxi pier, and a pedestrian esplanade.
Christopher Mills | President and COO, Plaza Construction
Christopher Mills has served for more than three decades managing notable projects at Plaza Construction, and he currently serves on the company’s board of directors. As an industry innovator, he has applied his technical competence and experience to managing large, complex, and significant construction projects, including 99 Hudson Street (New Jersey’s tallest building) and the award-winning Fulton Center in New York City, as well as New York’s newest super-tall structures at 45 East 22nd Street and 111 Murray Street. He has been involved in managing more than 10 million square feet of construction throughout New York City, with projects spanning across the educational, residential, cultural, transportation, and power/energy market sectors.
James Nelson | Principal and head, Tri-State Investment Sales Group, Avison Young
James Nelson leads a group of three dozen professionals in the sale of multifamily, office, development, and retail properties. Avison Young is a full service global real estate firm with 5,000 real estate professionals located in 120 offices in 20 countries. Since its inception in 2018, James’ sales team has closed over 50 sales valued at well above $1 billion dollars, resulting in his being named one of Avison Young’s Top Sales Professionals, as well as being on Commercial Observer’s Power 100 list. Throughout his over 20-year career, James has been involved in the sale of approximately 500 property and loan sales for an aggregate value of over $5 billion dollars.
Jennifer Stewart | Global Head of Real Estate, BNY Mellon
Stewart is responsible for a global portfolio of 11.5 million square feet with an annual operating budget of $580 million. Prior to joining BNY Mellon, Stewart was the Global Head of Client Management for JPMorgan Chase & Co., where she worked for over 10 years in both the London and New York offices, and was responsible for delivering cost effective real estate solutions that aligned with the needs of the business and the firm’s overall real estate initiatives.
Marc Zuluaga | CEO of Steven Winter Associates
Marc Zuluaga leads an interdisciplinary team charged with growing the firm as a means to positively impact people and the environment through improved building performance. Marc has served in a variety of leadership positions within the firm, supporting real estate clients within both existing buildings and new construction segments, along with government clients for applied research and development projects.
Show Us the Money:
How Providers Will View Risk and Capital for the Next Five Years
March 18, 2021
The capital pool of foreign and domestic investment in real estate continues to be deep, but what does the future look like? These discussions will tackle the questions of who will supply the private capital, what is the government’s role, and how financial prospects will shape-up over the next five years.
Moderator: Tony Fineman, Senior Managing Director, Head of East and Midwest Originations, ACORE
Mr. Fineman has more than 25 years of experience in the commercial real estate business. At ACORE, Mr. Fineman is responsible for originating, underwriting, structuring and closing commercial real estate financing opportunities, and for managing originations for the East and Midwest Regions.
Prior to joining ACORE, Mr. Fineman was an Executive Vice President with Brickman and a principal at Hillcrest Finance, where he was responsible for originating, underwriting, structuring and closing equity and debt investment opportunities, and financing new and existing equity investments. Prior to Brickman, Mr. Fineman held various positions in commercial real estate finance including a senior role with Wachovia Bank, where he managed, structured, and closed more than $25 billion of complex commercial real estate finance transactions often involving multiple lenders and tranches of debt.
Visionaries
Kevin Davis | Senior Managing Director, Capital Markets, JLL
Mr. Davis is a Senior Managing Director in JLL’s Hotels & Hospitality Group in New York, where he is responsible for raising debt and equity capital for hotel owners, and is one of the leaders of the Hotel Investment Banking group. In this role, Mr. Davis works closely with the lending community, including banks, life insurance companies, debt funds, mezzanine providers and CMBS lenders, as well as institutional owners of commercial real estate.
Kathy Corton | Chief Executive Officer, Chief Investment Officer, and Managing Partner, Hillcrest Finance LLC
Ms. Corton founded Hillcrest Finance in 2013 and serves as its Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer. She has over 30 years of experience in the real estate industry primarily focused on debt investing. Hillcrest is a middle-market investor in commercial real estate debt with over $500 million in assets under management through institutional separate accounts and closed end funds. Prior to establishing Hillcrest, Ms. Corton was Co-Owner and Partner of Brickman, a New York-based real estate equity and debt investment management firm. During her 14-year tenure at Brickman, Ms. Corton was responsible for debt and equity investing through discretionary commingled funds.
Greta Guggenheim | CEO and President, TPG Real Estate Finance Trust
Guggenheim has served as CEO of TPG since 2016 and also serves as partner of TPG, TPG Real estate, Manager, and chair of Manager’s investment committee. TPG is a New York Stock Exchange-listed commercial mortgage real estate investment trust (ticker TRTX) that originates commercial real estate mortgage loans in major markets throughout the U.S. Previously, Guggenheim was co-founder and chief investment officer of Ladder Capital.
John Mechanic | Partner, Fried Frank
As Chairman of Fried Frank’s Real Estate department, Mechanic counsels developers, owners, investors, real estate investment trusts, and lenders in all aspects of commercial real estate transactions. He represents JPMorgan Chase in connection with its approximately $1.6 billion acquisition of 20 Times Square. Mechanic lectures at the Real Estate Board of New York and is a co-author of The Commercial Office Lease Handbook published by the American Bar Association.
Michael Medvin | Managing Director AIG Asset Management Group
As Managing Director, Medvin circulated $1.5 Billion into the market annually between 2005 and 2007. In addition to his other responsibilities, Medvin originates loans in the New York City market directly. He has been running the national program since June 2010 and the Northeast program since 2000.
Ethan Penner l Managing Partner, Mosaic Real Estate Investors
Ethan Penner has been involved in more than $30 billion of mortgage originations. He is a pioneer in the field of real estate finance with a 35-year career marked by filling voids and responding to unseen or poorly understood opportunities. Penner is credited with being the primary driver in the creation of the commercial mortgage-backed securities market while at Nomura Securities. In 2008, he founded CBRE Capital Partners, a real estate debt investment platform that raised and managed over $600 million from institutional and high net worth investors.
What's Next for the Major Sectors of Commercial Real Estate?
February 18, 12:30 - 1:30 p.m.
Watch What's Next for the Major Sectors of Commercial Real Estate
While the success of individual real estate asset classes can vary depending on larger trends and cycles, all property sectors have been critically impacted by the events of 2020. What’s in store for the real estate industry and what trends will we see in office, multifamily, retail and industrial in the years ahead?
Moderated By
Simon Ziff | President, Ackman-Ziff Real Estate Group
Simon Ziff was named president of Ackman-Ziff Real Estate Group in 1995 and has continued to oversee the firm’s aggressive growth. Ackman-Ziff is the industry’s preeminent boutique real estate capital advisory firm, offering a wide variety of cutting-edge commercial real estate capital markets financing solutions. In business for over 90 years, the privately held company is headquartered in New York City with offices in Miami, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Boston. The firm is highly regarded within the industry for its integrity, creativity, and advocacy on behalf of its clients.
Featuring
Ben Brown | Managing Partner and Head of U.S. Office Brookfield Property Group
Brown is currently responsible for the commercial operations, including acquisition and disposition activities, for the office business in New York and Boston.
Scott Lawlor | Founder, CEO Waypoint Real Estate Investment
Scott Lawlor is responsible for the overall management, strategic vision, and investment activities of the firm. Prior to launching Waypoint, Lawlor founded Broadway Partners, which acquired more than 28 million square feet of office properties throughout the U.S.
Steven McCraney | President and CEO, McCraney Property Company
McCraney and his team have developed more than 15 million total square feet of industrial/distribution and office-flex properties throughout the Southeast. McCraney Property Company, recently named as one of National Real Estate Investor’s 2017 Top 50 National Industrial Owners & Developers, is a leading regional real estate investment firm focused on acquisition, development, and management of industrial properties in the major markets of Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. Headquartered in West Palm Beach, Fla. and Charlotte, N.C., McCraney Property Company has 6,669,817 square feet of active speculative industrial projects under some form of development in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina.
The Real Estate Workforce: Restarting the Engine and Propelling the Economy
January 21, 12:30 - 2 p.m.
Watch The Real Estate Workforce
In the wake of the COVID-19 health crisis, jobs are the economic engine to drive the economy forward. However, like many industries, real estate needs to rebuild and identify how the workforce will function. Where are the job opportunities in this evolving market, and what part will education play? These discussions will focus on the challenges and how they can lead to career opportunities and ultimately community wealth.
Featuring
Dorothy "Dottie" Herman | CEO, Douglas Elliman Real Estate
In only two decades, Dottie Herman has climbed to the pinnacle of the housing industry to become the CEO of Douglas Elliman. Under her leadership, Douglas Elliman is New York’s largest residential brokerage.
Joseph M. McShane, S.J. | President, Fordham University
A native New Yorker, Fr. McShane has been president of Fordham University since 2003. With three campuses on two continents, Fordham prepares roughly 17,000 students to succeed in the workplace, including business and real estate. McShane has overseen major construction projects on all its campuses, including a 468,000-square-foot multi use facility that houses the University’s Law School in Manhattan and a 71,000-square-foot addition as part of a new student center on the Bronx campus.
Louis Mirando | Founder and Principal of Streamline Realty Funding LLC
Mirando is chairman of Fordham Real Estate Institute’s Executive Advisory Council and has more than 35 years of experience in commercial mortgage lending.
Don Peebles | Founder, CEO, Chairman of Peebles Corporation
Peebles built a portfolio of active and completed developments totaling more than 10 million square feet and $8 billion.