If you weren’t at The Real Deal’s NYC Real Estate Forum this week, you missed out. If you were there, then it’s a great time to reflect on the year’s most pivotal real estate gathering.
Let’s run through the highlights:
Jeff Blau recommits to New York City
The Related Companies CEO kicked off the day with an impassioned defense of New York City and the company’s belief in the Big Apple, pointing to success at Hudson Yards, while criticizing the 485x tax program and advocating for regulatory reform.
But his talk was interrupted, not once, not twice, but three times by protestors opposed to a contentious $2 billion tax break for further Hudson Yards development.
Pam Liebman clashes with Bess Freedman
Corcoran’s Pam Liebman and Brown Harris Stevens’ Bess Freedman brought the fireworks to their session, clashing over Compass’s private listing network and the use of “Participants Only” features; Freedman advocated for industry-wide transparency and Liebman defended seller choice.
With the top executive at Bally’s in the building, Liebman and Freedman decided to become gamblers themselves. Liebman bet Freedman $1 million that Corcoran will remain a distinct brand following its parent company’s merger with Compass.
While the debate felt contentious at times, the two brokerage executives were united on one front: both CEOs expressed strong opposition to Governor Kathy Hochul’s proposed pied-à-terre tax on luxury homes, arguing it fails to address affordable housing and is already cooling high-end sales.
“When you pass something like that, it’s only the first of many to come,” Liebman said. “None of this is solving what the greatest problem is, which is affordable housing.”
Vornado “ready to roll” at 350 Park
One of the more newsworthy moments of the event came courtesy of Vornado’s co-head of real estate, Glen Weiss. A day after Steve Roth railed against politicians on a company earnings call, Weiss found a way to both support his boss and double down on the firm’s commitment to 350 Park Avenue.
“Everyone could agree that for a government leader to do a video like that is not a good thing,” said Weiss, referring to Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s video where he used Griffin’s penthouse at 220 Central Park South as backdrop to promote Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposed pied-à-terre tax,
“We’ve started demolition and we’re ready to roll,” Weiss added. “There’s a lot of rhetoric, a lot of stuff in the media that’s not accurate, quite frankly.”
“You should assume we’re in.”
HPD’s Dina Levy to landlords: “We are not enemies”
HPD commissioner Dina Levy spent her time on the stage stressing her desire to repair the agency’s relationship with landlords.
“I know there are folks who think maybe the agency or the administration is hostile to the for-profit real estate industry — I would say that’s not true,” Levy stated.
“We at HPD do not want to be seen as on opposite sides of landlords who are trying to do the right thing, developers trying to help us build our way out of the housing crisis. We are not enemies.”
“We want to be seen as a place where people come to get straight answers, get good information, and where we can get to ‘yes’ pretty quickly.”
Time will tell if the audience was receptive to the message.
Mamdani administration acknowledges RGB flaws
Earlier in the day, Leila Bozorg, deputy mayor for housing, acknowledged the Rent Guidelines Board’s single-number approach is flawed but did not endorse the “split” hike, which would differentiate rent increases based on building age. Instead, she suggested the city will invest in other initiatives.
“The rent-stabilized stock is very diverse and the RGB increases are a very blunt tool,” Bozorg said.
Bally’s Soo Kim gives inside look at casino bid
Bally’s chairman Soo Kim went one-on-one with columnist Erik Engquist, attributing the company’s casino victory in the Bronx to strategic site selection, his New York City roots and “laying low” during the RFP process.
Kim addressed the bruising political fight surrounding the project. Bally’s initially faced opposition from the City Council despite an earlier rezoning approval. Kim suggested rival bidders launched opposition campaigns once Bally’s emerged as a credible contender.
A veto from then-Mayor Eric Adams salvaged the bid.
Kim also defended legalized gaming by stating that society must “legalize it and tax the shit out of it” as a response to activities of free choice that have negative externalities.
Josh Zegan, Adi Chugh on private credit, big checks
Madison Realty Capital’s Josh Zegen took credit for helping to invent the private credit market, his business going back more than two decades.
“When we started 22 years ago the word[s] private credit didn’t exist,” Zegan said. “We had to kind of create the market in many ways.”
TYKO Capital’s Adi Chugh, on the other hand, is relatively new to the scene but has already made one of the biggest office loans in Miami history in 2024 when he lent $565 million to refinance 830 Brickell, and last year cut a $1 billion check to finance Gary Barnett’s 655 Madison office tower in Manhattan.
He’s been on both sides of the broker/lender relationship.
“I don’t think either side of the business is less sexy or more sexy,” he said. “I think that’s just a preconceived notion that being a lender is so much more fun than the other side.”
Resi players discuss rise of outer borough luxury
Sam Charney, Jasper Wu and Susan de França graced the stage to discuss the markets in Brooklyn and Queens. The panelists noted that luxury developments in outer boroughs are attracting buyers from Manhattan due to a “real preference” for these evolving neighborhoods, in the words of Charney, not merely because of discounts.
“People are coming into Long Island City, not because it’s cheaper, but because it’s really evolved into a neighborhood in and of itself,” Wu added of the spot where his company is based.
The city’s residential condo market has been in a yearslong slump; the city’s new development inventory has dwindled as developers have struggled to find projects in Manhattan that will pencil.
The panelists didn’t mince words about city policy, but they did find common ground on what buyers are interested in these days: wellness amenities.
“The clientele today is all about health,” de França said.
Read more
Resi players on the rise of luxury in the outer boroughs
Josh Zegen, Adi Chugh talk private credit and writing big checks
“Legalize it and tax the sh-t out of it”: Bally’s Soo Kim on gaming
