NEW YORK CITY-One day in and—already—there's news that may give the real estate industry reason to breathe a collective sigh of relief.
Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio has appointed Carl Weisbrod, partner at HR&A, a real estate consultancy, as one of two co-chairs of his transition team, according to Crain's New York Business. It's also worth noting that Weisbrod is a former aide to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, as is the other co-chair, Jennifer Jones Austin, CEO and executive director of the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies.
Weisbrod is the founding president of the city's Economic Development Corp. under Mayor David Dinkins. His other past positions include president of the 42nd street development project (a subsidiary of the NYS Urban Development Corp.) and executive director of the New York City Department of City Planning. Weisbrod was the founding president of the Alliance for Downtown New York.
He is a director of three major government authorities: the lower Manhattan Development Corp. (as an appointee of Bloomberg), the Trust for Governors Island, and the Convention Center Development Corp. (as an appointee of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver).
For six years prior to 2011, Weisbrod served as president of the real estate division for Trinity Church and EVP of Trinity Church-St. Paul's Chapel, where he managed a huge portfolio and had a reputation as a hard-nosed negotiator over property rights. He is a former trustee of the Urban Land Institute and of the Ford Foundation. While at EDC, he helped orchestrate the revitalization of Times Square.
But DeBlasio, who clearly is planning to deploy a liberal agenda, cautions observers about viewing these appointments as indicative of a change of heart. "Both of these individuals have very broad experience,” he says, “so I wouldn't put a simple label on either of them.”
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Rayna Katz
Rayna Katz is a seasoned business journalist whose extensive experience includes coverage of the lodging sector, travel and the culinary space. She was most recently content director for a business-to-business publisher, overseeing four publications. While at Meeting News, a travel trade publication, she received a Best Reporting award for a story on meeting cancellations in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
