Circulated: Real Estate & Lifestyle Podcast

Today we are joined by Joey Chilelli and Brett Geffner of The Vanbarton Group. Founded in 2010, Vanbarton has established itself as a key player in the commercial and residential property markets, focusing on value-added investments and innovative development strategies. Recently, the firm has pivoted towards converting office spaces into residential units, responding to the city's evolving needs amidst changing work patterns. These conversion projects not only aim to revitalize underutilized office assets but also to address New York City's ongoing housing shortage.  Joey is a Managing Director of Vanbarton Group, where he oversees the asset management of office, multifamily, and mixed-use assets. Joey has played a pivotal role in driving the firm's transition toward residential conversions, leveraging his expertise in market analysis and project management. Brett is an Associate in Asset Management at Vanbarton Group, where he oversees hotel, office, multifamily, and mixed-use asset classes located throughout New York City. Brett is also a key member of the firm's East Coast Acquisitions initiatives. 

James Nelson of Avison Young is back to the show where we discuss our Q3 Investment Sales Report. James is the Principal and Heads of Avison Young's Tri-State Investment Sales group where he leads a team of three dozen professionals selling multi-family, office, and development deals. He has 20 years of experience and his team is part of Avison Young's Top Sales Professionals. James has also been included on the Commercial Observer's Power 100 list and has been named as one of CoStar's Power Brokers.

On Today's show we are joined by James Rodriguez Senior Real Estate Reporter at Business Insider and Kenny Lee Economist from Streeteasy. We cover rent rebound from COVID, new household formations, Streeteasy's Data Dashboard, rent growth in the South Bronx/Queens, and amenity competiton amongst new development rentals across the country. Kenny holds a master's degree in Data Science from Columbia University and a bachelor's degree in Economics from New York University. James is a graduate of the McCombs School of Business at UT Austin.

On Today's show we have Kenny Lee economist from Streeteasy. As an Economist at StreetEasy, Kenny uses data to answer important questions about the NYC housing market to help New Yorkers find and win their dream homes and industry experts serve their clients more effectively. Before joining StreetEasy, Kenny worked as an economist in the financial services industry for six years, using data and econometrics to make forecasts for the U.S. economy and help investors stay ahead of financial market trends. Kenny holds a master's degree in Data Science from Columbia University and a bachelor's degree in Economics from New York University. He is also a proud resident of Queens.

PEAK is a vertically integrated real estate company led by founders Alex Rabin and David Gomez. They are focused on acquiring and redeveloping value-add multifamily/mixed-use assets in prime New York City neighborhoods. All real estate transactions require a hands-on and systematic approach. Our team has consistently delivered results through intense focus and care for our buildings and investors. Over the years, we have created beautifully designed homes for our residents, and achieved above-market returns for our investment partners. Peak leverages knowledge and experience to perform at a high-level. Our team was built on a foundation of trust, integrity, and intelligence. This has and continues to create exceptional partnerships.

Scott is the President & CEO of Douglas Elliman and has been a leader in the industry for nearly three decades. He is a driving force behind the globally recognized brokerage's ranking as one of the largest independent residential real estate firms in the United States. From the outset, Scott has helped oversee expansion efforts in New York, Florida, California, Massachusetts and Texas, and has restructured operations in Westchester, Connecticut and the Hamptons. He has also led the development of a more streamlined and strategic operations team, bringing together top-tier talent across a range of disciplines including public relations, marketing and technology. Previously, Scott enjoyed a 26-year tenure at The Corcoran Group, where he was a protégé of Barbara Corcoran. He quickly earned a number of esteemed titles, including Chief Operating Officer and Senior Managing Director of the Chelsea Flatiron office, which ranked among the company's top 10 locations nationwide during his 11 years of leadership.

Steven Sutton is the founder and CEO of Devoción. Originally from Medellín, Colombia he opened Devoción's Williamsburg location in 2013 and has since added other locations in Dumbo, Boerum Hill, and Flatiron. Devocion is known for its “origin to cup delivery”, fresh coffees, and beautifully designed coffee shops. Here at Circulated we're big coffee lovers so we've been looking forward to this one for a while.

On this episode we are joined by Peter Greenspan, the Global Head of Real Estate for WeWork as well as Christophe Garnier, founder and CEO of Upflex. WeWork is the worlds largest provider of flexible memberships and turnkey offices that fit all budgets and hybrid strategies. Upflex is the premier SaaS provider of hybrid workspace solutions and helps make distributed work seamless, secure, and more sustainable for companies, brokerages and space operators. Peter first joined WeWork in 2014 and has served as WeWork's Global Head of Real Estate since November 2018.  Prior to joining WeWork, Peter spent nine years at NBCUniversal serving as Vice President of Corporate & Transaction Law. Christophe is a visionary technology entrepreneur & executive, corporate officer, and management board member with P&L experience driving large-scale growth by leveraging cutting-edge technologies and strategies. He was recently named one of GlobeSt.'s 2023 Influencers in CRE Tech. 

On today's episode we are joined by Amir Korangy. Amir is the founder and publisher of The Real Deal the premier real-estate news outlet in the US, reaching millions of professionals daily through digital, print, social media and events bringing readers breaking news, market intelligence, custom research, proprietary rankings, deal analysis, profiles, trends and much more. Amir is also an adjunct associate professor of media and Real estate at NYU and produced the PBS documentary, "Building Stories", about architect Costas Kondylis.

On this episode we're joined by Ben Lowell- the Owner/Operator of Hanoi House. Located in the East Village, Hanoi House is a relaxed destination for Vietnamese dishes and imaginative cocktails. They first opened in 2017 and recieved high praise from the likes of The NY Times, Infatuation, and Eater. This marks our first episode focusing on Hospitality/Food/Beverage and will kick off a series of conversations with operators in the space.

Mike Sroka is the cofounder and CEO of Dealpath. Dealpath is the real estate industry's leading and most trusted cloud-based deal management platform. Investment, development, and lending firms leverage Dealpath as their command center for smart pipeline tracking, powerful deal analytics, and collaborative workflows integrated in a modern real estate tech stack to focus on value-add work that produces optimal risk adjusted returns. The Dealpath platform has supported over $10 Trillion in transactions globally with leading institutions across the world and is backed by a combination of top tier VC firms and strategic industry operators including: Morgan Stanley, Blackstone, JLL and Nasdaq Ventures.

On todays episode we are joined by Arie Barendrecht. Arie is the Founder and CEO of WiredScore. WiredScore is the organization behind the WiredScore and SmartScore certifications which assess, certify and improve digital connectivity and smart technology in homes and offices on a global scale. It helps landlords design and promote buildings with powerful digital connectivity and smart capabilities. WiredScore was founded in New York in 2013 by leaders in real estate, technology and telecommunications, with an endorsement from Mayor Bloomberg, to improve the city's technology infrastructure, and support its entrepreneurs who are driving technological advances and creating jobs.

We collaborated wth UrbanDigs to cover the state of the Sales and Rental market. This episode features Ryan Serhant of SERHANT, David Maundrell of Corcoran and Adrian Savino of Living New York on a panel discusson hosted by Noah Roseblatt- Founder/CEO at UrbanDigs (Data & Market Insights platform for NYC Real Estate Professionals and their Consumers).

Andrew Cohen is responsible for managing BRP Development's new construction and acquisition rehab transactions. Since 2013, Andrew has been responsible for over $2.5B in development comprising over 4,600 units of mixed-income affordable rental housing and over 200,000 SF of commercial space. He previously held various positions at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD). Most recently, Mr. Cohen served as the Director of Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) Preservation where he oversaw the legal and financial restructuring of over 5,000 residential dwelling units, comprised of over 50 separate transactions. In this role, Mr. Cohen originated over $50M in construction and permanent debt and leveraged over $100M in bond financing, over $80M in equity, $17M in conventional debt, and refinanced over $150M in existing debt.

Jed Resnick is the CEO of Douglaston Development. He brings 18 years of real estate finance and development experience to the company where he oversees best-in-class execution across Douglaston's various development projects, ensuring excellence in project planning, design, finance, and legal structuring. He also leads site acquisition efforts to strengthen the company's project pipeline, as well as critical asset management activities and other strategic business development initiatives. Prior to joining Douglaston Development, Mr. Resnick was a founding principal at Grafton Street Capital, a boutique real estate firm. He also spent ten years at LeFrak in New York City, serving in numerous roles including Senior Vice President for Real Estate Capital Markets and Acquisitions, and where he focused on project finance, ground-up development, and significant adaptive reuse projects. Mr. Resnick holds his B.A. from Harvard University and his M.B.A. from Columbia University.

Raise is a technology-powered commercial real estate brokerage helping companies re-imagine the workplace. By pairing expert brokers and workplace leaders with powerful technology, Raise provides companies the best way to find and manage their workplace. Founded in 2016 in San Francisco with additional offices in Silicon Valley and Los Angeles, Raise clients range from established, publicly traded organizations like Palantir to high-growth startups like Brex and Notion.

Greg Tannor is an Executive Managing Director & Principal at Lee & Associates New York Office. He has been in the business for 20+ years and specializes in retail/office leasing as well as investment sales and has represented key brands including SoulCycle, and Primark. Most recently Greg has focused his attention on leasing space to Cannabis operators throughout Manhattan/Brooklyn.

Created by Rick McGuire, @SubwayCreatures + @WhatIsNewYork are the popular social media pages that celebrate the funny, outrageous, & bizarre things seen on the subways and city streets around the world. This page hosts original content such as pop-up music performances from famous artists and subway buskers.

Lee J. Brodsky is the CEO of BEB Capital, a privately held, multifaceted real estate company. Since its formation in 2013, Lee has led BEB to become an institutional-grade owner and operator of industrial assets along the East Coast. In addition to their industrial portfolio, BEB owns and manages numerous Multifamily assets and development sites in the New York City Region and just got ranked #9 on The Real Deal's list of top NYC Developers.

Neil B. Garfinkel is the partner-in-charge of the real estate and banking practices at Abrams Garfinkel Margolis Bergson, LLP, a full service law firm which has offices in New York and California. Neil's legal experience is diverse and his practice focuses on all aspects of commercial and residential real estate, title and banking and lending law. Mr. Garfinkel's clients include commercial banks, mortgage bankers, mortgage brokers, real estate brokers, real estate developers, condominium associations, cooperative corporations, landlords, tenants, title companies, borrowers and purchasers and sellers of residential and commercial real estate. Neil B. Garfinkel serves as Residential Counsel to the Real Estate Board of New York, New York City's leading real estate trade association.

David is the Founder and CEO of Urby, an innovator in hospitality-focused residential real estate with a community of 4,000 residents and growing. After launching in 2016 in NYC, David has scaled Urby into one of the fastest growing real estate companies with projects across the country in urban centers including New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Texas, DC, Florida, and Pennsylvania, among others. Outside of Urby, he has helped build and launch Notable projects including Standard East Village, Pod Hotel in Williamsburg, 10 Bond and the W Hotel in Hoboken. Episode Mentions: Ironstate Development Habitas Standard East Village Catch 

James Nelson and Brandon Polakoff are Principals and Heads of Avison Young's Tri-State Investment Sales group where they lead a team of three dozen professionals, selling multi-family, office, and development deals. They have combined 30 years experience and their team is part of Avison Young's Top Sales Professionals. James has also been included on the Commercial Observer's Power 100 list and has been named as one of CoStar's Power Brokers.  James Podcast- https://jamesnelson.com/podcast (new book info can be found here) Avison Young Podcast- https://www.avisonyoung.com/podcast

Ryan Serhant is a star of MDL and one of the most successful real estate brokers in the industry. He recently founded SERHANT, a brokerage firm that drives success through innovative content and amplification. The Serhant Team consisted of more than 60 experienced agents and marketing support staff. Ranked the #1 Sales Team in New York by the WSJ for three straight years and among the top teams in the nation for the better part of a decade, The Serhant Team closed over $4B in sales across New York, Los Angeles, and Miami. Ryan was born in Houston, Texas, grew up outside Boston, and graduated from Hamilton College in 2006. He currently lives in Brooklyn, New York with his wife, Emilia, and their daughter, Zena. Episode Mentions: https://www.serhant.com/ https://www.nevelhaus.com/ New York By Design- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-mq8ll5PrQ&t=900s

On today's episode we are joined by Ken Fisher of Fisher Brothers. Fisher Brothers is a full service real estate firm with 6.5 million square feet of commercial and residential property under management. They have another 1.5 million under development and are exploring experiential opportunities with the development of Ease Hospitality their amenity/lifestyle brand as well as Area15 in Las Vegas their immersive art, event and entertainment district. They are considered one of the “Royal Families” in New York City real estate alongside names like the Rudins, Tishmans and Dursts. https://www.fisherbrothers.com/ https://area15.com/

Ryan Simonetti is the CEO and co-founder of Convene. Convene creates dynamic work experiences through a network of 25+ premium meeting, event, and office locations and digital meeting technology. Founded in 2009 to help planners focus less on logistics and more on having great meetings, Convene has since expanded into flexible workplace locations, Virtual Meetings, and Hybrid Meetings. Convene combines beautiful designs, technology, and a focus on hospitality to create your best day of work, wherever it happens. The company has been named one of America's 100 Most Promising Companies by Forbes and a Best Workplace by both Inc. and Fortune Magazine. https://convene.com/

On this episode of Circulated we are joined by Marcela Sapone and Jessica Beck of Alfred. Alfred is the leading national residential experience company. Their mission is to free up resident's time and headspace by building trusted help and hospitality directly into homes. They are partnered with global leaders in real-estate and are currently available in 52 cities across the U.S. and Canada. https://helloalfred.com/ https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/alfred-acquires-hom-301301104.html https://helloalfred.com/blog-alfred-acquires-rkw/

Jarrod Whitaker is the Senior Vice President of Residential Operations at RXR. He oversees all Multifamily Residential Operations for their $22 Billion dollar portfolio and is helping them deliver innovative projects across the country. Prior to joining RXR, Jarrod served as Vice President at Bozzuto Management Company and also served as both Director of Maintenance Operations/Resident Experience for the Durst Organization. He has successfully executed ground up construction projects and lease ups of luxury residential projects in excess of $3 Billion. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies and Political Science from Columbia University and Master's in Real Estate Development from NYU's Schack Institute of Real Estate.

On this episode we're joined by Brian Braiker. Brian is an award-winning journalist with 20-plus years experience in writing, reporting and editing for an array of national and local media outlets including Newsweek, Rolling Stone, Digiday, Adweek, ABC News, New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe and others. He started Braiker Communications in 2017 which works with brands like Facebook, Time Magazine and Roku and is the President and Editor In Chief of The Brooklyn Magazine.

Bryan Colin is CEO and Co-Founder of View Labs, a technology provider that revolutionized the 360° video sector by building autonomous robots capable of filming up to 25,000 square feet of space per hour. Bryan has guided strategy, business development and sales for View Labs since its founding in 2016. The company now employs more than 40 professionals and supports leading businesses in real estate, construction, entertainment, retail, hospitality, technology and enterprise services. An early innovator of augmented virtual reality and virtual reality technology, Bryan has guided View Labs in the development of five interconnected products that help businesses collaborate more effectively, create interactive and immersive marketing experiences, increase user engagement and gain insight into customers. Bryan earned his bachelor's degree in Business Management from Skidmore College and holds a patent for Immersive Capture and Review.

Eddy Boccara is the Founder and CEO of Corofy. Corofy is a Real Estate Education Platform that provides an end-to-end immersive learning experience for individuals looking to get their real estate license. It uses a proprietary algorithm to match high potential students with the best real estate brokerages. Eddy first started his real estate career as a sales director at Remax where he took a team of only 4 agents to 35 in just under 18 months. He helped rapidly scale his firm in size and reputation and his team was top 1% by sales volume company wide. After amassing valuable experience, Eddy struck out on his own and founded Corofy. Corofy was adopted by the industry-leading residential brokerages, bringing innovation and transparency to the education and hiring process. Mentions- https://corofy.com/

On this episode of Circulated we will be discussing development in West Chelsea/Hudson Yards and the Warehouse Lending Model. Today we are joined by Sorabh Maheshwari. Sorabh is a founding partner of Churchill Real Estate Holdings Churchill which has an investment track record in New York City in excess of $4B. His team focuses on equity investments, recapitalization and distressed debt purchases. Prior to founding Churchill, he was a principal at Onex Real Estate where he ran their rent-regulated housing portfolio and High Yield Debt Fund- which invested in distressed debt opportunities. Sorabh worked as an investment banker at Credit Suisse in the real estate investment banking group and holds a B.A. in Economics/Finance from the University of Maryland and an M.B.A. from Columbia Business.  Mentions: Pacaso- The modern way to buy and own a second home via their fully managed co-ownership model.   

On this episode of Circulated we will be discussing the history and modern day application of zoning. Today we are joined by Heather Moore. Heather is the Managing Director for Greystar and oversees 50 class A properties in the Greater New York Area. She focuses her time on the operation of lease-ups and repositioned assets for institutional clients ranging from Goldman Sachs to UBS. Mentions: Books- The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert A. Caro