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Columbia University Business School Paul Milstein Center for Real Estate

Alumni in the News

Real Estate Alumni in the News  

Here is what your fellow Columbia Business School Real Estate Alumni are doing this month. If you don't see your news mentioned, please let us know.

Evan Abrams ’13

Hunt Investment Taps Abrams to Lead Third-Party Capital Growth

Evan Abrams has joined Hunt Investment Management as SVP, based in the company’s New York office. He’ll lead the firm’s marketing and investor relations functions, and will also work on continuing to attract outside capital to partner with the Hunt family across equity and debt real estate investments.

Connect New York: Commercial Real Estate News

Matthew Baron ’07

Is Co-Living Growing Up?

My partner Jonathan Simon and I were actually one of the first investors in Ollie, so we’ve been big believers in the concept for a long time. Co-living is not, from my perspective, a new business model. But it is definitely a shift in how we’re approaching the shared housing model. We’re delivering the product people are already looking for, but [we’re] making it better, more relevant.

The Real Deal

Tom DeRosa ’88

Brookdale, Welltower to Part Ways on 63 Communities

Welltower CEO Tom DeRosa said the news is positive for both the REIT and Brookdale “and is further demonstration of [Brookdale] CEO Cindy Baier's commitment to drive Brookdale to be an action-oriented and results-focused operator. Welltower is uniquely positioned to facilitate a transition of this scale with minimal disruption to our income stream because of the quality of our Brookdale real estate and deep bench of operators and relationships,” he added. “We believe there is significant upside to the portfolio that our shareholders will enjoy for years to come.”

McKnight’s Senior Living

Jack Foster ’01

Park Madison Partners Hires Jack Foster as Principal

Park Madison Partners, a New York-based real estate placement and advisory firm, today announced that Jack Foster has joined the firm as a Principal. Mr. Foster will be a part of Park Madison’s distribution team and will be based in the firm’s New York headquarters.

BusinessWire

Howard Fiddle ’87

Evercore Expands HQs At Park Ave. Plaza To 350,000 SF

[The landlord,] Fisher Brothers, was represented in-house by Marc S. Packman and Charles P. Laginestra, as well as by Howard Fiddle, Peter Turchin, Christie Harle, Roger Griswold and Benjamin Joseph of CBRE. Russ Rabinovich and Maura Gallagher of Haynes and Boone, LLP provided landlord legal services.

Globe Street


Financial Advisory Company Evercore Expands Its Park Avenue Plaza Office

The firm has been in Park Avenue Plaza since 2006. The landlord, Fisher Brothers, was represented in-house by Charles P. Laginestra and Marc S. Packman, and by CBRE’s Howard Fiddle, Roger Griswold, Christie Harle, Benjamin Joseph and Peter Turchin.

Commercial Observer

Craig Leupold ’92 & Jim Sullivan ’89

Interview with Green Street’s Executives on Real Estate and Capital Markets

In this in-depth interview, Craig Leupold and Jim Sullivan share insight on Green Street’s approach to research, the outlook for commercial property, public-private market pricing, M&A, capital flows and more. (Video)

Green Sreet Advisors

Clelia Peters ’09

To Snag Clients, Resi Brokers Are Going All in on #Branding. But does it Work?

“All the same opportunities and rules that apply to luxury brands also apply to real estate,” said Clelia Peters, president of Warburg Realty. To that end, Warburg has committed to investing in personal branding at the individual level. The firm’s six-person marketing team creates a brand development plan for each agent. What that means can vary dramatically—sometimes it’s focused more on social media and digital tools, and others rely on handwritten notes and dinner parties. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach, Peters said.

The Real Deal

Robert Reffkin ’03

Compass CEO Reveals How Much His Company Pays to Acquire Brokerages

Robert Reffkin divulged part of his company's strategy at Inman Connect San Francisco.

Inman


Compass is Spending “Billions” of Dollars on an End-to-End Platform

By 2028, Compass CEO Robert Reffkin wants agent commissions to account for only 20 to 30 percent of their earnings. The rest can come from title and mortgage, escrow and move-in services—and even furniture sales. To get there, the venture-backed brokerage will spend “billions” of dollars to create a platform for agents so that buyers will go to Compass for more than just homes.

The Real Deal

Megan Sheehan ’99

New York Road Runners Expands With Direct Deal at CitySpire

Tishman Speyer owns the office portion of the building, or 370,000 square feet, up to the 23rd floor. The remainder of the building, up to the 72nd floor, is comprised of residential condominium units. In the Road Runners deal, Tishman Speyer was represented in-house by Megan Sheehan and Samantha Augarten.

Commercial Observer

David Soles ’88

The Top 10 NYC Office Leases in June

New York University, 1 MetroTech Center, Dumbo – 58,000 square feet. The university renewed and expanded its lease to 58,000 square feet of office space at 1 MetroTech Center. David Soles and Janine Wilcox represented the tenant in house, while Ali Esmaeilzadeh and Jesse Cooperman of Forest City represented the landlord in-house.

The Real Deal

Jim Sullivan ’89

Remarkable Signals from the Listed Market (article)

Jim Sullivan on the Signals from the Listed Real Estate Market (video)

Jim Sullivan, President of Advisory & Consulting, explains why all real estate investors should look to the public market for signals on property operating fundamentals and valuations.

—Green Street Advisors article & video

Constantine Valhouli ’03

Housing Inventory Woes Are Far From Over, New Data Shows

“In the most dynamic cities, the increased demand will likely have an effect on prices and negotiations,” said Constantine Valhouli, CEO and cofounder of real estate research firm NeighborhoodX. “With more demand competing for a relatively limited supply of properties, we will likely see more bidding wars in the most desirable neighborhoods, offers above asking and likely more cash offers and removal of contingencies in order to sweeten one's offer.”

Forbes


Which Region Will Woo Amazon’s HQ2?

Amazon won’t command as much political and economic clout in areas that many other corporate behemoths already call home, said Constantine Valhouli, CEO of NeighborhoodX, a real estate data and analytics firm. “In some ways, Boston and New York City are the expected choices. But if Amazon locates HQ2 there, it would not have as much of an effect on those cities, as it would in a place where it might be a new regional center of power, innovation and employment,” he said. “The advantage that the Midwest and Southern cities have is significantly lower real estate prices and a lower cost of living. This means that salaries either get adjusted downward—representing a savings to Amazon—or employees end up with a significant boost in earnings power.”

Forbes

David Von Spreckelsen ’89

Perchwell Strikes Deal with Toll Brothers, Marking First Developer Client

Perchwell—the analytics and listings management firm that’s brought on brokerage clients like Sotheby’s International Realty and CORE—has struck its first developer deal. Toll Brothers City Living has signed on to use the startup’s platform for sales at its New York City projects, the companies said in a statement. The developer will begin using Perchwell’s services later this month.

The Real Deal

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