Visionary Series Speakers
Ben Brown | Managing Partner, Brookfield
Brown is currently responsible for the commercial operations, including acquisition and disposition activities, for the office business in New York and Boston.
Kathy Corton | Chief Executive Officer, Chief Investment Officer, and Managing Partner, Hillcrest Finance LLC
Ms. Corton founded Hillcrest Finance in 2013 and serves as its Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer. She has over 30 years of experience in the real estate industry primarily focused on debt investing. Hillcrest is a middle-market investor in commercial real estate debt with over $500 million in assets under management through institutional separate accounts and closed end funds. Prior to establishing Hillcrest, Ms. Corton was Co-Owner and Partner of Brickman, a New York-based real estate equity and debt investment management firm. During her 14-year tenure at Brickman, Ms. Corton was responsible for debt and equity investing through discretionary commingled funds.
Kevin Davis | Senior Managing Director, Capital Markets
Mr. Davis is a Senior Managing Director in JLL’s Hotels & Hospitality Group in New York, where he is responsible for raising debt and equity capital for hotel owners, and is one of the leaders of the Hotel Investment Banking group. In this role, Mr. Davis works closely with the lending community, including banks, life insurance companies, debt funds, mezzanine providers, and CMBS lenders, as well as institutional owners of commercial real estate.
Dan Dilella | CEO and President, Equus Capital Partners Ltd.
Equus is a multifaceted national real estate investment company with expertise in development, investment, asset management, and property management.
Michael Dowling | CEO and President, Northwell Health
Michael Dowling is one of health care’s most influential voices, taking a stand on societal issues such as gun violence and immigration that many health system CEOs shy away from. As president and CEO of Northwell Health, he leads a clinical, academic and research enterprise with a workforce of more than 75,000 and annual revenue of $14 billion. Northwell is the largest health care provider and private employer in New York State, caring for more than two million people annually through a vast network of more than 830 outpatient facilities and 23 hospitals.
Mr. Dowling’s leadership has been invaluable to Northwell’s consistent expansion and prominence. In 2020, he successfully navigated the health system through the first COVID-19 epicenter in the US, detailing his experiences in Leading Through a Pandemic. Northwell innovated through the crisis, expanding hospital bed capacity (adding 2,000 beds in two weeks), 3D-printing nasal swabs for COVID testing and converting BiPAP machines into mechanical ventilators. Northwell was the first person in the US to receive the historic COVID vaccine in December 2020.
Tony Fineman | Managing Director and Head of Eastern Region Originations, ACORE
Fineman is responsible for originating, underwriting, structuring, and closing commercial real estate financing opportunities at ACORE, as well as managing originations for the Eastern and Midwest regions.
Guthrie Garvin | Managing Director, JLL Capital Markets – NY
As a managing director at JLL, Guthrie Garvin focuses on representing New York City building owners in the sale of their properties. Garvin has been involved in the sale of properties with an aggregate value exceeding $2.4 billion. Prior to his role at JLL, he was executive managing director at Cushman & Wakefield. Previously, he was a senior vice president of sales at Massey Knakal Realty Services, where he handled the largest sale in Massey Knakal history for $282 million.
Greta Guggenheim | CEO and President, TPG Real Estate Finance Trust
TPG is a New York Stock Exchange-listed commercial mortgage real estate investment trust (ticker TRTX) that originates commercial real estate mortgage loans in major markets throughout the U.S. Previously, Guggenheim was co-founder and chief investment officer of Ladder Capital.
Dorothy "Dottie" Herman | CEO, Douglas Elliman Real Estate
In only two decades, Dottie Herman has climbed to the pinnacle of the housing industry to become the CEO of Douglas Elliman. Under her leadership, Douglas Elliman is New York’s largest residential brokerage.
James Houlihan | Managing Principal, Houlihan-Parnes Realtors, LLC
James J. Houlihan is the managing principal of his multifaceted, commercial real estate firm, Houlihan-Parnes Realtors LLC. He is also a partner in Houlihan Parnes Properties, a commercial property management company, and HP Capital, a mortgage service company. Houlihan is active in the commercial real estate industry throughout the U.S. with a main emphasis on the tri-state area. In 2000, he was honored as a recipient of the prestigious Ellis Island Medal of Honor for his varied humanitarian efforts.
Bob Knakal | Senior Managing Director Head of New York Private Capital Group, JLL Capital Markets
Bob is Head of the NY Private Capital Group within JLL Capital Markets in New York City. Bob was Chairman and Founding Partner of Massey Knakal Realty Services, New York’s #1 building sales firm. He started his real estate career in 1984 at CB Richard Ellis where he met Paul J. Massey Jr. They both left CB in 1988 to form Massey Knakal.
From 1988 through 2014, Massey Knakal closed over 6,000 transactions with an aggregate value in excess of $23 billion. To date, Bob has been personally responsible for the sale of over 2,230 buildings (generally considered to be the highest total ever for a single broker in New York) and over $20.4 billion in sales. With respect to development sites, Bob has personally handled the sale of over 250 development site transactions totaling over $7 billion in sales.
In 2014, Cushman & Wakefield acquired Massey Knakal. At Cushman & Wakefield, Bob served as Chairman of New York Investment Sales. He was ranked the top originating investment sales broker at Cushman & Wakefield, globally, in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Bob joined JLL in September of 2018 as Chairman – NY Investment Sales.
Since 2009, Bob has written a regular column on the New York City Real Estate Market called Concrete Thoughts for the Commercial Observer.
Hugh F. Kelly, Ph.D., CRE | Principal, Hugh Kelly Real Estate Economics
Kelly is a leading real estate economist, consultant, teacher, and public speaker. As chief economist for Landauer Associates, Kelly authored the annual “Real Estate Market Forecast” and developed its tools for projecting cycles and quality ratings for commercial property markets.
Scott Lawlor | Founder and CEO | Waypoint Real Estate Investments
Scott Lawlor is responsible for the overall management, strategic vision, and investment activities of the firm. Prior to launching Waypoint, Lawlor founded Broadway Partners, which acquired more than 28 million square feet of office properties throughout the U.S.
Jeffrey Levine | Founder and Chairman, Douglaston Development LLC/Levine Builders/Clinton Management
Levine has directed the new construction and rehabilitation of thousands of residential units, including both affordable and luxury housing, student housing, hotels, senior living, health care facilities, and millions of square feet of commercial retail, office, and institutional space.
Paul Massey | Chief Executive Officer, B6 Real Estate Advisors
Paul J. Massey is the CEO of B6 Real Estate Advisors, a commercial real estate investment sales company that lives at the intersection of people, data, and technology. B6 is a leader in investment sales and provides commercial real estate owners and stakeholders with next-generation experience to optimize their investments through territory-specific investment sales.
Paul Massey was born in Boston, Massachusetts where he attended the Roxbury Latin School. He graduated from Colgate University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics, in 1983.
Mr. Massey began his career at CBRE and soon became head of the market research department in Midtown Manhattan, then as an investment sales broker. He founded Massey Knakal Realty Services together with his colleague Robert A. Knakal, whom he met at CBRE. The company became the New York metropolitan area’s dominant commercial investment sales brokerage firm. With over 225 employees serving more than 200,000 property owners, Massey Knakal Realty Services was consistently ranked New York’s #1 investment sales firm in volume for 14 consecutive years.
As CEO of Massey Knakal, he led the development of the firm’s strategic initiatives including geographic expansion as well as the growth of the firm’s service lines. At the end of 2014, Cushman & Wakefield acquired Massey Knakal and Mr. Massey was appointed President, New York Investment Sales.
In 2017, Paul Massey ran as a Mayoral Candidate for New York City, primarily focusing on education, housing and homelessness while also providing solutions for how to improve quality of life in the city.
In July 2018, Mr. Massey and his partners launched a new commercial brokerage firm, B6 Real Estate Advisors, short for “Building By Building, Block By Block”. The investment sales and capital advisory firm specializes in middle-market ($1-$200 million). The firm employs a distinct Territory Network model, that ensures sub-market expertise for its agents along with an owner-aligned philosophy and a technology-forward platform.
Mr. Massey is a member of numerous organizations including REBNY and The Lower East Side Tenement Museum. He is also an amateur boxer and an avid skier. He and his wife, Gretchen, have three children; son, Paul III, and daughters, Sarah and Greta. He resides in Larchmont, NY.
Steven McCraney | CEO and President, McCraney Property Company
McCraney and his team have developed more than 15 million total square feet of industrial/distribution and office-flex properties throughout the Southeast.
Joseph M. McShane, S.J. | President, Fordham University
A native New Yorker, Fr. McShane has been president of Fordham University since 2003. With three campuses on two continents, Fordham prepares roughly 17,000 students to succeed in the workplace, including business and real estate. McShane has overseen major construction projects on all its campuses, including a 468,000-square-foot multi use facility that houses the University’s Law School in Manhattan and a 71,000-square-foot addition as part of a new student center on the Bronx campus.
John Mechanic | Partner, Fried Frank
Chairman of Fried Frank’s Real Estate department, Mechanic counsels developers, owners, investors, real estate investment trusts, and lenders in all aspects of commercial real estate transactions. He represents JPMorgan Chase in connection with its approximately $1.6 billion acquisition of 20 Times Square.
Michael Medvin | Managing Director and Head of Originations, AIG Investments, New York
In addition to his other responsibilities, Medvin originates loans in the New York City market directly. He has been running the national program since June 2010 and the Northeast program since 2000.
Daniel Mee | President, Dillon Capital Advisors, LLC
Mee brings extensive operational and investment experience with a broad range of financial services companies. A results-driven investment executive and operations leader passionate about capital markets, investor relations, corporate strategy, capital allocation, strategic planning and risk management, Mee successfully grew SEC registered investment advisor to over $1 billion in managed assets. He was also a key member of senior management that launched a blind pool public mortgage REIT and capitalized it to $250 million.
Christopher Mills | CEO and President, Electra USA
Christopher Mills has served for more than three decades managing notable projects at Plaza Construction, and he currently serves on the company’s board of directors. As an industry innovator, he has applied his technical competence and experience to managing large, complex, and significant construction projects, including 99 Hudson Street (New Jersey’s tallest building) and the award-winning Fulton Center in New York City, as well as New York’s newest super-tall structures at 45 East 22nd Street and 111 Murray Street. He has been involved in managing more than 10 million square feet of construction throughout New York City, with projects spanning across the educational, residential, cultural, transportation, and power/energy market sectors.
Louis Mirando | Founder and Principal of Streamline Realty Funding LLC
The founder of Streamline, Lou has over 35 years’ experience in CRE lending and acquisitions, initially with Chase Manhattan Bank and later, The Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York, both in leadership roles.
Lou has expertly formalized strategic alliances with major firms; including Morgan Stanley, CSFB and Nomura Securities. In 1996, Lou Co-founded as CEO Transatlantic Capital Company, a joint venture with Deutsche Bank, and predecessor to Deutsche Mortgage Banc. In these endeavors his leadership led to 3 nationally recognized origination loan groups.
In 2001, he became Co-Head and Managing Director of CMBS Originations for Eurohypo AG. In the last 8 years Lou has been operating under the Streamline Group as its Manager, including a JV with Fortress, Streamline Realty Funding, River Oak capital manager of a proprietary debt Fund. He was a Founding member of Villanova’s Real Estate Center, after 10 years he stepped down to become a member Fordham’s Executive Advisory Council for its Real estate Institute, where he was elected Chair in 2019. He is a 1981 graduate Villanova Business School.
Lou was a Volunteer Fireman for 20 years in the Rockville Centre, NY FD; he is currently an associate member of Woodlands Engine 4.
James Nelson | Principal and Head, Tri-State Investment Sales Group, Avison Young
James Nelson leads a group of three dozen professionals in the sale of multifamily, office, development, and retail properties. Nelson has been involved in the sale of property and loan sales for an aggregate value of more than $5 billion dollars.
David M. Otto | Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Martin Davis, PLLC
David M. Otto has been practicing law for over thirty-three years, focusing on corporate finance, securities, mergers/acquisitions, corporate governance, and capital market matters. He received his B.A. from Harvard University in 1981 and his J.D. from Fordham University School of Law in 1987. He is the founding Managing Partner at Martin Davis, PLLC (“Martin Davis”), a boutique law firm based in Seattle, WA, a Founder and General Partner of CounterPointe Ventures (“CounterPointe”), a blockchain technology fund, and a Founder and Principal of CounterPointe Sports Group (“CSG”), a company dedicated to tokenizing interests in professional sports franchises.
David is a leader in the effort to streamline the contractual and legal processes necessary to launch innovative blockchain technology projects, decentralized applications, and tokenized business models. He focuses on entity formation, transactional structure, token allocation, token-economics, contracts and legal documentation, tokenization platforms, legal opinions and memoranda, analysis regarding token payment/utility/asset-backed functionality, and Federal and State regulatory compliance.
Don Peebles | Founder, CEO, Chairman of Peebles Corporation
Peebles built a portfolio of active and completed developments totaling more than 10 million square feet and $8 billion.
Ethan Penner l Founder, Managing Partner, and Chief Investment Officer, Mosaic Real Estate Investors
Ethan Penner is involved in more than $30 billion of mortgage originations. Penner is credited with being the primary driver in the creation of the commercial mortgage-backed securities market while at Nomura Securities
Donna Redel | Angel Investor, Blockchain-Digital Assets Adjunct Professor, Fordham Law
Redel has managed global organizations, working especially in financial performance and governance issues, for over 30 years. Redel served as Chief Information and Technology Officer for both the International and Derivatives divisions of Prudential Securities. In 2000, Redel joined the World Economic Forum as Managing Director and Board Member. She is also a speaker at global conferences on regulatory and business issues, and is an advisor in blockchain, having co-founded The Fordham Law Blockchain Regulatory Symposium: Regulation and Innovation. Redel is a board member of NY Angels where she co-founded and co-chairs the Blockchain Committee and was a former member of both Women Corporate Directors and Golden Seeds – Angel Investors for Women Entrepreneurs.
Jennifer Stewart | Global Head of Real Estate, BNY Mellon
Stewart is responsible for a global portfolio of 11.5 million square feet with an annual operating budget of $580 million. Prior to joining BNY Mellon, Stewart was the global head of client management for JPMorgan Chase.
Blair Welch | Co-Founding Partner, Slate Asset Management
Blair co-founded Slate Asset Management in 2005. Slate is a global alternative investment platform focused on real estate with assets under management across Canada, the United States and Europe. The firm manages two TSX-listed public REITs and numerous private investments vehicles spanning opportunistic, value-add, core-plus and debt strategies.
Blair has over 25 years of real estate industry experience working in direct investment, investment banking, development and securitization across North America, Europe and Asia. He has been fortunate to work with exceptional people at pioneering firms such as Fortress Investment Group, Bankers Trust, First National Financial Corporation and Brazos Advisors (now Lone Star).
Blair co-chairs Slate's Investment Committee, together with Brady Welch, and is a member of Slate's Management Committee. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Slate Office REIT and Slate Grocery REIT.
Blair holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of British Columbia.
Simon Ziff | President and Co-Founder, Ackman-Ziff Real Estate Group
Simon Ziff was named president of Ackman-Ziff Real Estate Group in 1995 and has continued to oversee the firm’s aggressive growth. Ackman-Ziff is the industry’s preeminent boutique real estate capital advisory firm, offering a wide variety of cutting-edge commercial real estate capital markets financing solution.
Marc Zuluaga | CEO of Steven Winter Associates
Marc Zuluaga leads an interdisciplinary team charged with growing the firm as a means to positively impact people and the environment through improved building performance. Marc has served in a variety of leadership positions within the firm, supporting real estate clients within both existing buildings and new construction segments, along with government clients for applied research and development projects.