REBNY124 Honorees: Henry Celestino; Kevin Wang; Robin Fisher; James
Whelan, REBNY President; Jodi Pulice; William Rudin, REBNY Chairman; David Greenbaum.
NEW YORK CITY – The Real Estate Board of New York held its 124th Annual Banquet at the New York Hilton in Midtown, and the commercial real estate industry at large came out in droves from every facet of the sector including, brokers, developers, investors, mortgage brokers, lenders and the like for a night they call the "Oscars of commercial real estate."
GlobeSt.com had the opportunity to turn out and mingle with some of the most prominent stakeholders in the industry to discuss what 2019 has shown them and what insight it will bring in 2020. Attendees discussed diversity initiatives and a change in attitude from one of trepidation to optimism about the investment sales market.
The year 2019 was a transitional one in New York commercial real estate with sweeping legislation that went into effect, such as tighter rent control regulations impacting the investment sales market, Bob Knakal, vice chairman of investment sales at Jones Lang LaSalle, tells GlobeSt.com.
Mariah Brown, east coast reporter and bureau chief and Bob Knakal, vice chairman of investment sales at Jones Lang LaSalle.
At the end of the third quarter of 2019, investment sales went downhill and were running at a pace down by 35 percent from 2018 and down 67 percent from the peak of the market in 2015. However, the market turned around in the fourth quarter and became more robust, which has contributed to current market optimism, he said.
"In 2019 we were transitioning from a correcting market in which now we'll have more activity in terms of dollar volume of sales and number of properties sold. And I'm hoping this activity will pull volume up," Knakal said. "Volume may flatten out and increased volume may take place in 2021, but I think we're on the verge of change in what has been a 52-month market correction in New York City market sales," he said.
Peggy Schecter, vice president of insurance & real estate market leader at GlobeSt.com, Joanne Podell, executive vice chairman of retail services at Cushman & Wakefield and Mariah Brown, east coast reporter and New York bureau chief at GlobeSt.com.
Joanne Podell, executive vice chairman of retail services at Cushman & Wakefield, had some big deal closing in 2019, brokering the Times Square lease for the Pele store, a soccer-gear retail chain named after prominent Brazilian soccer player Pele, in the former Empire Theater building at 1560 Broadway. She tells GlobeSt.com that 2020 is looking brighter than 2019, optimism has replaced an attitude of fear in the market.
"It was an interesting year for clients both landlords and tenants and a lot of trepidation," Podell said. "But today I think there's a lot more confidence because they see people are leasing and there's business out there."
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Mariah Brown
Mariah Brown is the New York Bureau Chief and Real Estate Reporter for GlobeSt.com, covering the New York Metro area, Northeast region and national real estate trends. She is responsible for producing multi-media content, including articles, podcasts and video. Before joining the GlobeSt team, she served as a New York Times fellow, reported for the Associated Press in New York and Philadelphia and several other New York City-based outlets.
