NEW YORK CITY—Mayor Bill de Blasio has named Rick Chandler, an engineer, as commissioner of the Department of Buildings. An assistant VP of facilities at Hunter College, Chandler brings years of large-scale management experience and deep expertise in the building code and zoning resolution, according to the city.
Chandler served as a borough commissioner of Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx from 1995-2002. As commissioner, he will be tasked with ensuring the safe and lawful use of more than 975,000 buildings and properties in New York City by enforcing the Building Code, Electrical Code, Zoning Resolution, and state labor law and multiple dwelling law.
“I could not be more humbled,” says Chandler of the appointment. “The stakes of this work are incredibly high. We're there to make sure New Yorkers' homes and workplaces are safe. We're there to help get more affordable housing and job-creating construction underway. We're going to advance those priorities safely, responsibly and fairly for all New Yorkers.”
Joseph Dabbah has joined TerraCRG as VP of investment sales. He will be focusing primarily on the sale of multifamily and mixed-use assets in East Flatbush and other emerging neighborhoods of South Brooklyn. Previously, Dabbah was president of JMD Capital, where he developed and brought over 160,000 square feet of luxury condominium and single family homes to Park Slope and Bergen Beach.
“I know these neighborhoods like the back of my own hand from living in the area for over 25 years, and I'm excited to grow within the TerraCRG team and watch the South Brooklyn neighborhoods continue to develop,” he says.
Cohen Real Estate has added two brokers to its growing team. Guy Saban joins the firm as investment sales broker, and will leverage his experience working with foreign and domestic investors to provide real estate advisory and investment services to buyers and sellers who are seeking to expand, optimize, and/or diversify their real estate portfolios. Max Garelick joins as real estate associate, and will market retail, mixed-use and multifamily properties in Manhattan.
Previously, Saban administered his own company, servicing foreign investors and diplomats abroad. Garelick was at Massey Knakal Realty Services in the Lower Manhattan division.
The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America's real estate investments team has hired William Engel as a senior director. Engel's primary focus is to continue the growth of Guardian's equity real estate portfolio.
Engel joins Guardian from MetLife, where he most recently led acquisitions and joint venture efforts in MetLife's northeast regional office. He has 15 years of experience in commercial real estate, having closed over $2 billion in market value/development cost of core acquisitions and opportunistic development deals across office, multifamily, industrial and hospitality assets under both wholly owned and joint venture investment structures. In addition to sourcing new business, Engel has managed asset sales, originated debt and asset-managed CBD and suburban office, multifamily and hospitality properties.
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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.
