NEW YORK CITY-Members of the Real Estate Lenders Association got a glimpse inside the mind of a developer on Monday, at a breakfast in Midtown East, when Steven Witkoff, chairman and CEO, the Witkoff Group, was interviewed on stage by Michael Stoler, managing director, Madison Realty Capital.

In a wide-ranging discussion, Witkoff revealed some of the thinking behind numerous projects currently being worked on by his firm. First up was 701 Seventh Ave., a massive mixed-use project that's slated to include a 500-room hotel. “This property was always going to be mixed-use, and the hotel was the key to the deal,” he said. Also included in the hotel is 50,000 square feet of meeting space/food and beverage operations.

Stoler, noting that no one in the past could make a go of the Park Lane Hotel—“not even when she was alive,” he said, referring to Leona Helmsley—asked about Witkoff's plans for the property, which he bought for $650 million earlier this year. “We're going to operate it as a hotel for at least two years, with an unlevered return of at least 4%, and then see where we're going to do,” said Witkoff, noting that a future incarnation likely still would have a hotel component, as well as condominiums. “The best income you want is hotel,” he asserted, “because it can be turned off with 24-hour notice.”

The two presenters also talked about 150 Charles St., with Witkoff saying of the West Village, “it's a pretty hot market.” Purchased in 2003 with Lehman Brothers, developers grappled with some delays on the project during the recession but by sticking it out, Witkoff said, “we were able to get a better price,” and developers enlarged the units by knocking out slabs to create duplexes.

The developer also made modifications at 1107 Broadway. For starters, Witkoff said, the building has been rebranded as “10 Madison Square Park West,” prompting chuckles from the audience. “It sounds tonier,” he admitted. Purchased in 2011 from Lehman Brothers for $191 million, the former office building is becoming a condominium tower. However, Witkoff noted, “it has large floor plates that weren't efficient for condos, so we cut a hole in the building and carved it out, then put all that FAR on top. We created better views.”

In terms of financing, he added, “loans today comprise 55-60% for us, we believe in lots of equity.” Witkoff also touted the virtues of EB-5 financing, a round of which was just completed for the first time. Slated to fund a hotel project on Christie street, Witkoff said of the mechanism, “we went to China and lined up $80 million in two weeks, that's why you do EB-5.”

He did, however, offer up one warning about the tool. “Some regional centers 'gimmick up' the job count,” he said, referring to the job creation requirement that is a condition of securing EB-5 funding.

But developers can breathe easy over at least one aspect of securing financing, according to Witkoff. “Construction costs aren't going to go up as much as people think. For one thing, some people are using non-union construction."

And Witkoff sounded one other note of reassurance on the upcoming mayoral election. “Bill DeBlasio is going to be much better than people think. He's going to be all about jobs.”

He closed the session by extoling the virtues of New York City. “Financing in New York City is more efficient than in other parts of the country,” Witkoff said. “And New York is actually compared to London and Hong Kong; you can't buy real estate in Hong Kong for $25 a square foot. I believe in New York City.”