New York’s top real estate agents, brokers, and developers came together for Haute Residence’s second annual New York Luxury Real Estate Summit, which took place November 18 in The Oak Room of The Plaza Hotel, where they discussed current luxury real estate trends, success stories, and what’s next for The Empire State’s booming real estate market.
The event featured three panels, “East Coast Titan Developers”––which was moderated by Gerri Willis, business news anchor and reporter for Fox Business––and “New York Real Estate Power Players” and “Next Generation of Power”––which were both moderated by Seth Semilof, co-founder and publisher of luxury publications Haute Living, Haute Residence, and Haute Time.
"East Coast Titan Developers" Panel: (from left to right) William Zeckendorf, Francis Greenburger, Robert Gladstone, Miki Naftali, Michael Stern, and Don Peebles
Kicking off the summit, big-name developers Robert Gladstone, Francis Greenburger, Miki Naftali, Don Peebles, Michael Stern, and William Zeckendorf on the “East Coast Titan Developers” panel focused on defining what a “luxury” property is and the factors that classify it.
“I think 15 Central Park West set the standard, captured the essence I think of what a luxury building is.” – Don Peebles
Don Peebles––real estate entrepreneur, best-selling author, and political activist, as well as founder, chairman, and CEO of The Peebles Corporation––led with, “I think 15 Central Park West set the standard, captured the essence I think of what a luxury building is.”
“I think the truth is that when you create a certain project, you have a certain market demographic in mind, and I don’t think that it’s one size fits all.” - Francis Greenburger
Furthermore, Francis Greenburger, founder of Time Equities, Inc and owner of Sanford J. Greenburger Associates, Inc., stated that it’s not so black and white: “I think the truth is that when you create a certain project, you have a certain market demographic in mind, and I don’t think that it’s one size fits all.”
"New York Real Estate Power Players" Panel: (from left to right) Beth Fisher, Dolly Lenz, Shlomi Reuveni, Leonard Steinberg, and Neal Sroka
After a catered lunch by the Todd English Food Hall at The Plaza, luxury real estate brokers Beth Fisher, Stephen Kleigerman, Dolly Lenz, Shlomi Reuveni, Neal Sroka, and Leonard Steinberg of the “New York Real Estate Power Players” panel discussed their outlooks on the state of the market.
“I think what we have to start maybe reconsidering is the concept of national and international and local and actually start thinking about this asset class of people, who are a global community.” - Leonard Steinberg
Leonard Steinberg, corporate broker and president of Compass, would like more focus on both national and international buyers as a whole: “I have great belief in the American economy and I have great belief in a national buyer, but I think what we have to start maybe reconsidering is the concept of national and international and local and actually start thinking about this asset class of people, who are a global community.”
"I believe that the continued and heightened instability in the Middle East is going to push more Middle Eastern money to the states, and I think that will also trickle through to Europe." - Stephen Kliegerman
On an international note, Stephen Kliegerman, broker and president of Halstead Property Development Marketing, added, “Certainly the Asian marketplace is still some place where we’re seeing a lot of cash flow come in. We’ve seen a lot of South American money come in lately. I believe that the continued and heightened instability in the Middle East is going to push more Middle Eastern money to the states, and I think that will also trickle through to Europe.”
"Next Generation of Power" Panel: (from left to right) Oren Alexander, Lisa Lippman, Cathy Franklin, Cathy Taub, Stan Ponte, and Matthew Breitenbach
The summit wrapped up with a discussion from the “Next Generation of Power” panel––which consisted of Oren Alexander, Matthew Breitenbach, Cathy Franklin, Lisa Lippman, Stan Ponte, and Cathy Taub––about their predictions for the luxury real estate market in the upcoming year.
"There’s a lot more product for buyers to look at and consider… We just have to manage expectations for both sellers and buyers." - Cathy Taub
Cathy Taub, broker at Stribling & Associates, says, “The catch word for me now is ‘velocity.’”
“I think that the market is strong,” she said. “We have a healthy market. It’s just we’re so accustomed and sellers are accustomed to expecting that their properties will sell very quickly… There’s a lot more product for buyers to look at and consider… We just have to manage expectations for both sellers and buyers.”
“I think we’re just going into a winner’s and a loser’s market... The best product and the best location will win.” - Oren Alexander
Oren Alexander, real estate agent and developer of The Alexander Team at Douglas Elliman, followed with, “I think we’re just going into a winner’s and a loser’s market. There’s no longer the day where every developer’s a winner. There will be winners and there will be losers. So, the best product and the best location will win.”
Summit attendees received a departing gift bag, which included a copy of the premiere issue of Haute Residence magazine as well as a gift card for luxury menswear retailer Angelo Galasso.
Photos by Craig Barritt
