NEW YORK CITY-Former Forest City Ratner-executive Deborah Levinson, an instrumental player in Atlantic Yards, has joined the Reznick Group to expand the company’s presence in the New York-metropolitan area, GlobeSt.com has learned exclusively. In her new role, Levinson will focus on increasing the firm’s property management advisory services to clients throughout the five boroughs, Long Island, Westchester, Connecticut and New Jersey.
A native New Yorker and a 30-year veteran of the commercial real estate industry, Levinson describes her move as coming “full circle.” Previously, she served as EVP and CFO of Forest City, where she was a key member of a $4 billion division of Forest City Enterprises, a publicly-held real estate developer and operators. In that role, she was responsible for financial reporting, corporate accounting and budgeting, development and property accounting, cash management and oversight of the IT group. Prior, Levinson served as partner of real estate, hospitality and construction group at Ernst & Young.
“Now at Reznick, I am coming home, but with more experience and more perspective to really help them grow and gain name recognition in the New York marketplace,” she tells GlobeSt.com.
Reznick, with 11 offices nationwide and its headquarters based in Bethesda, MD, has 70% of its total revenues from real estate clients, and Levinson wants to increase that in the Tri-State. “My vision is to really expand their services where they are already touching real estate companies in the New York marketplace, and they are touching a lot,” she says. They are targeting pension funds, a lot of the private investors and a lot of the life groups, and I want to help them solidify their name recognition.”
In developing a commercial real estate platform for Reznick’s Manhattan office, Levinson says her responsibilities will “mirror what the needs of the real estate constituents are,” but due diligence will be a prime focus. “There are a lot of companies with dollars that they’ve raised looking to deploy those dollars, and a lot of funds looking for quality class A properties in gateway cities,” she explains. “There is a lot of money chasing a few assets, making due diligence even more important.” She notes that in the last month alone, the company has completed due diligence reviews for funds in New York on an office building and senior housing assets in the region.
“It plays well to the diversified skill set of the firm,” she says. “Of course, auditing, tax structuring and tax compliance is important, and that goes without saying. But I think there is demand for due diligence and I think the skill set really lend themselves for it.”
The firm also has a long history in multifamily and affordable housing, and Levinson is working out a slew of potential deals. “There is a lot of need and demand in that area,” she says. “There are a number of companies that we are talking to with potential hotel due diligence, so we are really running the gamut in the commercial real estate space.”
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