2019 Real Estate Symposium
The 12th annual Real Estate Symposium, an exclusive Columbia Business School alumni-only educational forum took place on Wednesday, December 11, 2019 at the Princeton Club of New York.
Please email [email protected] with questions.
*please note that the short presentation "Sea Level Rise and its Impact on Cities" has been replaced by "Virtual Kitchens: Strategic Partnerships and the Impact on Commercial Real Estate"
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 11:45 a.m. | Check-in / Registration Opens Second floor foyer |
| 12:00–1:00 p.m. | Buffet Lunch Alexander Hamilton Room, second floor |
| 1:00–2:00 p.m. |
Opening Discussion:
Kenneth Bernstein BiographyKenneth F. Bernstein is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Acadia Realty Trust, which he co-founded in 1998. Acadia Realty Trust is a real estate investment trust specializing in the acquisition, redevelopment and management of open air retail properties. Acadia owns, or has ownership interest in over 100 properties totaling approximately $4 billion dollars in value.
Acadia is also the manager of a series of discretionary institutional acquisition funds. Acadia recently launched Fund V which is capitalized to acquire $1.5 billion dollars of retail properties. Along with his responsibilities at Acadia, Mr. Bernstein sits on the Board of Trustees of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and served as the 2017/2018 Chairman. Mr. Bernstein served as Chief Operating Officer of RD Capital until its merger with Mark Centers Trust in 1998, creating Acadia Realty Trust. Prior to that, Mr. Bernstein was an associate with the New York law firm of Battle Fowler, LLP. Mr. Bernstein received his BA from the University of Vermont and his JD from Boston University School of Law. In addition to being a member of the World President’s Organization (YPO-WPO), where he was the founding chairman of the Real Estate Network, he currently sits on the Board of Advisors. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of Golub Capital (NASDAQ:GBDC).
Jim Sullivan ’89 BiographyJim Sullivan is President of Green Street's Advisory Group, which provides strategic advice to commercial real estate owners and investors located in the U.S. and around the globe. He has managed the Group since 2014. Clients of Green Street Advisory include private real estate companies considering IPOs, publicly traded and non-traded REITs seeking strategic advice, C-corps considering REIT conversions/spin-offs, operating companies evaluating real estate monetization strategies, as well as investment vehicles including hedge funds, long-only funds, pension funds, private equity firms, and family offices.
Jim joined Green Street in 1994. During the subsequent 20 years, he was Green Street's lead research analyst covering REITs in a variety of property sectors including office, industrial, malls, strip centers, self-storage, health care and manufactured housing. Jim managed Green Street's North American Research, comprised of 30+ analysts covering 80+ REITs, from 2010-2013. Throughout his 24-year career at Green Street he has been quoted widely in the financial media and has been recognized as an All-Star REIT analyst by The Wall Street Journal. He is a member of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (Nareit), the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), and the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate (AFIRE). Prior to Green Street, Jim worked for ten years as a real estate investment banker and construction lender at Bank of America in Los Angeles and Manufacturers Hanover Trust in New York. He earned his MBA in Finance & Real Estate from Columbia University and his B.A. in Economics from Duke University. Jim is a member of the Board of Directors at Bixby Land, a private real estate company. |
| 2:00–2:20 p.m. |
Short Presentation
Chief Executive Officer Kitchen United BiographyJim Collins is the founder, owner and operator of Town Kitchen and Grill in Montrose, CA, a 100 seat new American restaurant that recently won 10 best new American restaurants in Los Angeles. But that’s just his night job. During the days Jim has CEO’d a series of national, venture-backed distributed enterprises including Affinity Internet, a hosting company with more than 500,000 websites and Pictage, a B2B2C enterprise connecting professional photographers and their clients. Today Jim is CEO of Pasadena, CA based Kitchen United, a commercial kitchen outsourcer and operator serving the delivery, restaurant and entrepreneurial food community.
|
| 2:20-2:45 p.m. | Coffee Break Fourth floor foyer |
| 2:45–3:45 p.m. |
Breakout Panel: Moderator: Zach Aarons ’13, MetaPropZach Aarons has been working at the intersection of real estate and venture capital for the past decade. Zach is the most active early-stage PropTech investor in the United States, having funded over 60 startups in the space as an individual as well as 40 startups (and counting) through MetaProp NYC's venture capital funds. In addition to early-stage investing, Zach has worked on large scale mixed-use development projects in cities like Boston and Los Angeles with Millennium Partners. He has experience with real estate development, commercial asset management, property marketing, and commercial leasing.
Prior to joining Millennium and founding MetaProp NYC, Zach was a Senior Associate at ENIAC Ventures, a seed stage mobile technology fund and the founder of Travelgoat, an online and offline walking tour business. He began his career as an analyst at boutique investment bank Peter J. Solomon Company. Outside of work, Zach currently serves on the Board of Trustees of The Tenement Museum. Zach is an Assistant Adjunct Professor at the Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. He is the author of the bestselling book, PropTech 101: Turning Chaos Into Cash Through Real Estate Innovation. He serves on the Technology Committee for the Real Estate Board of New York and the Technology and Real Estate Technology Council for the Urban Land Institute. He graduated Magna Cum Laude with an A.B. from Brown University in Ancient Studies and earned an MBA from Columbia Business School. Zach has been featured in dozens of international publications and media, including The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, The Real Deal, Curbed, Commercial Observer, Propmodo, The Information, TechCrunch, Bisnow, Forbes, The Real Estate Weekly, Crain's, and Cheddar. He is a frequent speaker at global PropTech events including the Urban Land Institute, MIPIM, Realcomm, ICSC ReCon, Argus Connect, SuperReturn International, and the Columbia/Goodwin Real Estate Capital Markets Conference. Panelists: Robyn Beavers, Blueprint PowerRobyn Beavers has been an innovator in clean energy, tech, and real estate for the past 15 years, wearing both entrepreneurial and investing hats. She began her career at Google, reporting directly to the co-founders working on strategic initiatives as they took the company public. Robyn went on to found Google's first business unit focused on incorporating clean energy generation across the company's global operations. Since then she has built new ventures and programs for Vestas Wind A/S in Copenhagen, Dean Kamen at DEKA R&D, the U.S. Department of Energy and NRG Energy, where she was Senior Vice President of Innovation. Most recently, she was an executive at Lennar, where she built the firm’s first corporate venture platform while incubating Blueprint Power Technologies. Today, Robyn Beavers is the CEO and co-founder of Blueprint Power, a new NYC-based real estate tech company that turns buildings into power plants. Robyn holds both a B.S. in Civil Engineering and an MBA from Stanford University.
Anthony Fiore, NYC Division of EnergyAs Chief Energy Management Officer for the City of New York Anthony has overall responsibility for purchasing energy for municipal operations and demand management for all City agencies, cultural institutions, hospitals, and schools and universities. Anthony is responsible for managing a $700 million annual energy supply budget, and a $3 billion 10-year capital budget to develop and implement programs to achieve the City’s One City: Built to Last strategy of an 80 percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Prior to this role Anthony served as the Director of Energy Regulatory Affairs for the City of New York and was responsible for acting as the primary energy policy advocate for the City before numerous State and federal agencies, and providing analysis over a wide range of regulatory and legislative matters related to energy. Prior to this, Anthony was Chief of Staff for Operations at the City of New York’s water and wastewater treatment agency. Operations under his purview included water supply, water and sewer distribution operations and wastewater treatment. Anthony has more than 20 years of service with the City of New York. He received a Bachelors in Science from Binghamton University and a Master’s in Public Health from the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University. Jonathan Flaherty ’07, Tishman SpeyerMr. Flaherty joined Tishman Speyer in 2007 and oversees global sustainability efforts for the company. In this role, he manages sustainability certifications, investor communications, worldwide performance tracking, procurement strategy and technological innovation implementation. Mr. Flaherty joined Tishman Speyer as part of the Leadership Development Program and has held various roles with the company, including in asset management and portfolio management for New York. Prior to joining the firm, he worked as a legislative aide for Senator Schumer in Washington, DC. Mr. Flaherty is on the board of directors for the Building Energy Exchange and is a team leader for the ACE Mentor Program. He holds a BA in political science from Kenyon College, and an MBA and MSUP from Columbia University.
Katherine Zamsky ’14, Carbon VenturesKatherine Zamsky is a Managing Partner at Carbon Ventures, an impact venture fund investing in efficient infrastructure. The fund’s focus is on advanced technologies that reduce carbon emissions.
In her prior role, Katherine was an investor at a single family office evaluating and structuring real estate deals for the portfolio and developing strategic partnerships. She had a long career in private equity/hedge fund management, multi-sector portfolio allocations, and structuring transactions and investment vehicles. At Bank of America, she launched and ran private equity and hedge feeder funds for the $65B wealth management platform and built platform’s operational infrastructure and technology. Katherine started her career at AIG hedge fund-of-fund team managing portfolio allocations. She holds a BA from Hunter College and an MBA from Columbia University. |
| 2:45–3:45 p.m. |
Breakout Panel: Moderator: Raphael Sidelsky ’99, W5 Group Raphael Sidelsky is the head of real estate investing for W5 Group which has offices in New York, Miami and Switzerland. Established in 2009, W5 Group is the single-family office of prominent European entrepreneur and real estate investor Ralph Winter. W5 Group seeks long term value creation and invests across asset classes and capital structures with a focus on innovative real estate opportunities including co-living, micro apartments, residential, student housing and lodging.
Mr. Sidelsky has worked on over $6 billion of direct, entity level and joint venture real estate investments across a broad array of sectors and markets in the United States and Caribbean. Prior to W5, he worked as a Senior Managing Director/co-head of equity investments at CIII Capital Partners ($8BN in AUM) and before that as a Managing Director at Fremont Realty Capital, the Bechtel Family Office. He began his career as an architect and worked in Tel Aviv, Berlin, Los Angeles, Johannesburg and then in New York for Skidmore Owings and Merrill. Mr. Sidelsky received a Bachelor of Architecture in South Africa and an MBA from Columbia Business School. He is a board member of the Columbia Business School Real Estate Circle. Panelists: Jason Epstein, SonderJason Epstein joined Sonder as a Regional Director in December 2018. He is responsible for overseeing Sonder’s real estate growth for portions of the East Coast and Midwest, as well as lender outreach. Mr. Epstein has over nineteen years of real estate industry experience. Prior to joining Sonder, Mr. Epstein was a Managing Director at Seligson Properties, a regional real estate developer based in Norwalk, CT, for over four years, where he oversaw acquisitions, asset management and capital markets. Prior to joining Seligson Properties, Mr. Epstein ran has his own commercial real estate investment and consulting company for nearly five years and was a Partner at The Cordish Company in Baltimore, MD for nearly a decade.
Mr. Epstein has acquired, financed and managed over $3 billion in complex real estate transactions throughout the United States, crossing all property types. Some of the projects in which Mr. Epstein played an integral role include The Power Plant and Power Plant Live! in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, Fourth Street Live! in Louisville, KY, The Power & Light District in Kansas City, MO, and the Seminole Hard Rock Hotels and Casinos in Hollywood and Tampa, FL. Prior to starting his real estate career, Mr. Epstein practiced law in New York City, where he concentrated in commercial litigation. He is admitted as an attorney in New York and Maryland. Mr. Epstein graduated from Emory University with a Bachelor of Business Administration and received his Juris Doctor from the University of Miami School of Law. He resides in Larchmont, New York with his wife and two children. Britt Zaffir, KINBritt Zaffir is the CEO of Kin, the first-of-its-kind housing brand designing and operating real estate to meet the changing needs of modern families. Britt started her career at Monitor Deloitte consulting for world-class hospitality companies before transitioning into formative roles at Airbnb, helping to develop localized strategies around marketing and operations analysis, and Amcor Holdings, a Canadian real estate investment and management firm. Prior to starting Kin, Britt spent three years as a senior real estate acquisitions lead at Common, working with real estate partners to expand Common's coliving footprint across the East Coast. In 2019, Britt spearheaded the creation of Kin, a joint venture between Common and Tishman Speyer, securing its first-ever family-focused residential buildings in Long Island City and other markets, to be announced later this year. Today, she oversees every aspect of Kin’s operations, from growth to product development. Britt graduated with an MBA from Harvard Business School and an HBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business. She lives in New York City and loves to travel, trying delicious foods in new cities.
Andy Levin, OllieAndrew is Director of Real Estate Partnerships for Ollie, where he is responsible for sourcing and closing strategic partnerships. Prior to joining Ollie, he spent 7 years at Lehman Brothers & Barclays Capital, where he was a Vice President on the institutional equity sales desk, and most recently worked at The Ackman-Ziff Real Estate Group underwriting debt and equity transactions on behalf of developers. He has led fundraising efforts for the Camp Cedar Scholarship fund which provides underprivileged children scholarships to attend camp, and is a mentor with Year Up. Andrew graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
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| 2:45–3:45 p.m. |
Breakout Panel: Moderator: Ronald Dickerman ’87, Madison International RealtyRonald is President and Founder of Madison International Realty, a global, fully integrated real estate private equity firm providing joint venture and preferred equity to commercial real estate owners and investors within all major asset classes who are looking to recapitalize investments, restructure balance sheets, provide existing partners with an exit strategy or redeploy capital for new investments. His primary responsibilities include investment strategy, capital formation and risk management. Since its founding in 2002, Madison has raised more than $5.4 billion in capital commitments for investment in commercial real estate under Ronald’s guidance.
Mr. Dickerman has over 30 years of experience focused on the analysis, acquisition, financing, management and disposition of income-producing assets such as real estate, mortgage products, healthcare properties, leased equipment, media properties, oil & gas, as well as other specialty assets. Prior to founding Madison in 2002, Mr. Dickerman was President and Founder of First Equity Realty, LLC, a real estate investment firm specializing in the acquisition of under-performing real estate assets from financial institutions. He is an active member of numerous real estate industry trade organizations and a frequent speaker on the topic of secondary investments and liquidity at real estate conferences and universities throughout the country. During the period from 1987 to 1991, Mr. Dickerman was an investment banker in the Real Estate / Partnership Finance Group at Smith Barney, Harris Upham & Co., Inc., where he was responsible for the origination, analysis, structuring, acquisition, asset management, disposition and marketing of real estate and other limited partnerships. Mr. Dickerman serves on the board of directors of the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate (AFIRE) and is an active member of INREV, the Zell Lurie Institute, and a frequent speaker on the topic of secondary investments and liquidity at real estate conferences throughout the world. Mr. Dickerman earned a MBA degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business and a BA degree from Tufts University. Panelists: Lisa Kaufman ’92, LaSalle InvestmentResponsibilities
Ms. Kaufman is Chief Executive Officer of LaSalle Investment Management Securities with twenty-eight years of real estate experience. She is the portfolio manager for North American real estate securities programs. Ms. Kaufman’s responsibilities include portfolio management and overall group management. She is a member of the Global Securities Advisory Committee, the Portfolio Management Oversight Committee, and LaSalle Investment Management’s Global Management Committee. Experience Ms. Kaufman joined LaSalle in 1994 and the Securities group in 1998. Ms. Kaufman’s previous responsibilities at the firm include serving as a senior analyst covering US retail, US industrial and Canadian retail companies and acting as the Deputy Portfolio Manager for North America. Prior to joining the Securities group in 1998, Ms. Kaufman worked in LaSalle’s private equity group where she focused on entity level investments in real estate. These transactions included recapitalizing existing portfolios, private real estate companies and public REITs. Education and Affiliations Ms. Kaufman received an M.B.A in finance from Columbia University’s Business School and an A.B. in Urban Studies and Political Science from Brown University. Ms. Kaufman serves on the Real Estate Investment Advisory Council (REIAC) and the Dividends through Diversity Steering Committee at NAREIT. Tom Shapiro, GTISTom Shapiro is the President and Founder of GTIS. In addition, Mr. Shapiro is the Chief Investment Officer responsible for overseeing all investment activity and strategy of the firm. Mr. Shapiro is also Chairman of the General Partner’s Investment Committee and is a member of the Board of Directors of Brazil Hospitality Group, one of the largest owners of hotels in Brazil.
Mr. Shapiro’s experience in the real estate industry began in 1988. Prior to starting GTIS, Mr. Shapiro was a Senior Managing Director at Tishman Speyer and a member of the firm’s Investment and Management Committees. Most recently, Mr. Shapiro was responsible for Tishman Speyer’s global equity capital markets and dispositions groups. Previously, Mr. Shapiro ran GTS Properties, an acquisitions joint venture between Tishman Speyer and Goldman Sachs. Mr. Shapiro serves on the Board of Trustees of Horace Mann School. He also serves on the Undergraduate Executive Board for The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania from which Mr. Shapiro received a B.S. and graduated magna cum laude. Peter Sotoloff, Mack Real Estate Credit StrategiesMr. Sotoloff co-founded MRECS in 2014 and serves as a Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer, as well as member of the Investment Committee. Prior to joining MRECS, he was a Managing Director and Head of U.S. Originations of Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies (BREDS), was a founding member of the Blackstone affiliate that advises such funds, and contributed to the launch of Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE: BXMT). Over 7 years, Mr. Sotoloff helped BREDS become a well-respected platform with $10 billion of equity capital and was closely involved in more than 90 discrete investment transactions representing more than $30 billion in total transaction value. Mr. Sotoloff oversaw structured finance transactions including both loan originations and investments in legacy loan portfolios and CMBS. He also sourced several transactions for the Blackstone Real Estate Partners equity investment program. Mr. Sotoloff served on the Investment Committee for Blackstone Mortgage Trust, the Review Committee for the Blackstone Tactical Opportunities Fund, and the Board of Directors of Landmark Apartment Trust. Prior to joining Blackstone, Mr. Sotoloff was a principal at Tribeca Associates, and before that worked for Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. Mr. Sotoloff is a member of the Real Estate Board of New York, the Urban Land Institute, the CRE Finance council and the International Council of Shopping Centers. He graduated with highest honors from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and completed the International Business Strategies Program at the London School of Economics.
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| 3:45–4:00 p.m. |
Coffee Break |
| 4:00–5:00 p.m. |
Keynote Fireside Chat
Scott Rechler BiographyScott Rechler is the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of RXR Realty LLC (“RXR”), a multi-billion dollar private real estate company which was formed subsequent to the sale of Reckson Associates Realty Corp (“Reckson”) to SL Green in January 2007, one of the largest public Real Estate management buyouts in REIT history.
Mr. Rechler served as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board during Reckson’s dynamic growth throughout New York City, Long Island, New Jersey, Westchester and Connecticut. Mr. Rechler was the architect of Reckson’s $300 million IPO in 1995 and $6.0 billion sale in 2007 generating over 700% total return to Reckson shareholders. Since its formation in January 2007, Mr. Rechler has led RXR in becoming one of the largest owners, managers, and developers in New York City and the surrounding region. The RXR platform manages 74 commercial real estate properties and investments with an aggregate gross asset value of approximately $17.7 billion, comprising approximately 23.7 million square feet of commercial operating properties and approximately 6,000 multi-family and for sale units in various stages of development in the New York Metropolitan area as of September 30, 2017, adjusted for transactions through October 18, 2017. In June 2011, Mr. Rechler was appointed by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to serve on the Board of Commissioners of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and served on such Board until October 2016. During his Board tenure Mr. Rechler served as Vice Chairman of such Board, and as Chairman of the Port Authority’s Capital Planning Committee with responsibility for the Port’s $30 billion capital budget, including the World Trade Center redevelopment. In May 2013, Mr. Rechler was appointed to represent Governor Cuomo on the Board of The National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center Foundation, Inc. In June 2017, Mr. Rechler was appointed by Gov. Cuomo to serve on the Board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and served as commissioner until March 2019. Mr. Rechler prides himself on enhancing the communities where RXR operates. As such, he serves as Chairman of the Regional Plan Association, is a member of the Real Estate Board of New York, a Board member of The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, and a member of the NYU Real Estate Institute Advisory Committee. In addition, Mr. Rechler serves on the Board of many of the region’s top cultural institutions such as the Tribeca Film Institute where he serves as its co-Chairman of the Board, 9/11 Memorial & Museum Board of Directors, serving as Co-Chair of the Finance & Investment Committee, the Long Island Children’s Museum, and the Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the Drum Major Institute, Board of Directors for Convene and Chairman of the Center for Social Innovation. Mr. Rechler is a graduate of Clark University. He also earned a Masters of Science degree in Real Estate at the New York University Schack Institute.
David Sherman ’82 BiographyDavid M. Sherman is a Co-founder and Managing Director of Metropolitan and Chairman of Metropolitan’s investment committee. Mr. Sherman has more than 30 years of real estate finance and analytical experience. In 2000, Mr. Sherman founded D. Sherman & Company, Inc., an advisory firm focused on strategic issues and transactions in the real estate securities industry.
Previously, Mr. Sherman was Managing Director of Salomon Smith Barney’s REIT research team, which covered more than 60 stocks and supported the firm’s $15 billion of REIT offering activity. At Smith Barney, Mr. Sherman created a new approach to evaluate global real estate securities and initiated global coverage of the sector. The team received recognition from Institutional Investor Magazine in 1998 and 1999. Mr. Sherman also held other positions in real estate finance, investment banking, and strategic planning at Smith Barney, The Harlan Company, First Boston, and Paine Webber, including acting as the Chief Financial Officer of Paine Webber Properties. In addition, Mr. Sherman is the Co-Director of the Paul Milstein Center for Real Estate at the Columbia University Graduate School of Business Administration and the former Chairman of the Pension Real Estate Association (PREA) Institute Committee. Previously, Mr. Sherman was an Adjunct Professor of Real Estate Finance at Columbia Business School for seven years. Over the years, Mr. Sherman has published numerous articles in periodicals including American Banker, PREA Quarterly, Shopping Center Business, and National Real Estate Investor. Mr. Sherman served as a panelist for Institutional Limited Partners Association for its first member educational webcast on private equity real estate. Mr. Sherman currently serves as an independent director on the board of Brookfield Residential Properties. Mr. Sherman received an A.B. in Mathematical Economics (magna cum laude) from Brown University and an M.B.A. in Finance from Columbia Business School. |
| 5:00–6:30 p.m. | Networking Reception Alexander Hamilton Room, second floor |
Kenneth Bernstein
President & CEO
Acadia Realty Trust
Jim Sullivan ’89
President
Green Street Advisors
Jim Collins
Chief Executive Officer
Kitchen United
Scott Rechler
Chairman & CEO
RXR
David Sherman ’82
Senior Advisor & Co-Founder, Metropolitan Real Estate
Co-Director, Paul Milstein Center for Real Estate, Columbia Business School
Zach Aarons ’13
Co-Founder & Partner
MetaProp
Robyn Beavers
Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder
Blueprint Power
Ronald Dickerman ’87
President
Madison International Realty
Jason Epstein
Regional Director
Sonder
Anthony Fiore
Chief Energy Management Officer
NYC Division of Energy
Jonathan Flaherty ’07
Senior Director of Sustainability and Utilities
Tishman Speyer
Lisa Kaufman ’92
Global CEO, North America Portfolio Manager
LaSalle Investment Management Securities
Tom Shapiro
President and Chief Investment Officer
GTIS
Andy Levin
Director of Real Estate Partnerships
Ollie
Raphael Sidelsky ’99
Chief Investment Officer, Real Estate
W5 Group
Peter Sotoloff
Managing Partner & Chief Investment Officer
Mack Real Estate Credit Strategies
Katherine Zamsky ’14
Managing Partner
Carbon Ventures
Britt Zaffir
CEO
KIN
Zach Aarons ’13
Co-Founder & Partner
MetaProp
Louis D’Avanzo ’91 (co-chair)
Vice Chairman, Managing Principal - Manhattan
Cushman & Wakefield
Ronald Dickerman ’87
President
Madison International Realty
David Dowell ’04
Managing Principal
Arliga Capital Advisors
Jacob Feingold ’14
Vice President
Canyon Partners Real Estate
Edward Gormbley '09
Managing Principal
Workforce Partners
Gentry Ashmore Hoit ’90
Founder
GAH Real Estate
Christopher Mayer
Paul Milstein Professor for Real Estate
Co-Director, Paul Milstein Center for Real Estate
Columbia Business School
Tom Ortinau ’09
Head of Acquisitions
GFP Real Estate
Mark Portner ’99
Managing Director, Investment Group – East
Shorenstein Properties
David Sherman ’82
Senior Advisor & Co-Founder, Metropolitan Real Estate
Co-Director, Paul Milstein Center for Real Estate, Columbia Business School
Ross Smotrich ’83
Managing Director & Senior Research Analyst, Equity Research, Americas
Barclays
Robert Stern ’88 (co-chair)
Founder & Managing Partner
Castle Hill Investors
Kristin Svenningsen
Managing Director, Paul Milstein Center for Real Estate
Columbia Business School
"The advice I always give women is to stay.
"I would encourage folks to get a holistic perspective of the industry.
"It is important to be at a place that invests in you and wants to see you grow and succeed."
"Your goal is to change the world. Change the structures. Disrupt everything and do it quickly."
"Columbia is a great first step if you know you want to transition to real estate."
Neville Rhone ’00 is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Arc Capital Partners.
Julie Wong ’03 is a Partner of GreenOak, where is responsible for global capital raising.
David Neithercut ’82 is the President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Trustees of Equity
Philippe Visser ’04 is the Senior Vice President of Development, Hudson Yards, at Related. In a recent interview with Mark Abramowicz ’18, Mr. Visser discussed his background and what drew him to real estate, the allure of large, complex projects, and gave advice for current Columbia Business School students aspiring to have careers in real estate.
Olshan Properties
Andrea Olshan ‘04 serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Olshan Properties. In a recent interview with Morgan Mann '17, Ms. Olshan discussed market trends and areas of disruption, joining the family business, strategies for the future, and gave advice for current Columbia Business School students aspiring to have careers in real estate.
Savanna
Nicholas Bienstock '96 discusses trends in creative office development in Brooklyn, starting his own business, and gives advice for Columbia Business School students aspiring to have careers in real estate.
Dune Real Estate Partners
Cia Buckley Marakovits ’93 discusses trends in the real estate industry, provides highlights of her professional experience, and gives advice to Columbia Business School students aspiring to have careers in real estate.
Formerly with Milstein Properties
Bob Berne ’62 discusses trends in real estate and gives advice for students aspiring to have careers in real estate.
Chief Executive Officer, Berkadia
Hugh Frater ’85 discusses business strategy and opportunities, commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), and career development.
by Katie Hogan '22
By Michael Beer ’23 and Christine Yang '23
Diane Hoskins, Co-CEO and Chairperson of Gensler joins the 2021 Annual Real Estate Symposium as keynote speaker sharing trends in the design profession. The conversation was moderated by Ross Smotrich ’83 Principal at RE Strategic Advisors.
By Jack Davis ’22 and Gianmarco Rea ’22
The Columbia Business School Real Estate Association (REA) is pleased to announce the AVPs for the 2021-22 academic year. The officers were elected by the REA membership. Meet the Board!
The Paul Milstein Center for Real Estate is pleased to welcome the following new alumni to the Real Estate Circle: Matthew Neisser ’14 and Arthur Romeo ’12 as Leaders and Maureen Devenny ’21 as an Associate.
The Paul Milstein center for Real Estate sat down with the incoming Real Estate Association (REA) Co-Presidents Katie Hogan ’22 and Dan Vasserman ’22 to learn more about what brought them to the MBA Real Estate Program at Columbia Business School, into leadership positions in the REA, and beyond! Read more to get the inside scoop on the lives of Katie and Dan!
The Paul Milstein Center for Real Estate is pleased to welcome the following new alumni to the Real Estate Circle: Jeremy Cooper ’21, Andrew Kim ’21, John Millett ’21, Justine Murphy ’21, Angela Wang ’21, and Lisa Weingarten ’21 as Associates.
