{"id":115319,"date":"2026-01-28T17:51:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T17:51:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/115319\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T17:51:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T17:51:08","slug":"hochul-comes-to-rebny-gala-says-construction-key-to-citys-future-amnewyork","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/115319\/","title":{"rendered":"Hochul comes to REBNY Gala, says construction key to city\u2019s future \u2013 amNewYork"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than 1,000 builders, brokers, developers, bankers, attorneys and officials involved in the New York City real estate industry<\/a> recently united to honor each other as Gov. Kathy Hochul<\/a> said construction needs to be part of the solution to some of New York City\u2019s problems.<\/p>\n

The crowd at the Real Estate Board of New York\u2019s<\/a> 130th awards ceremony at the newly renovated Waldorf Astoria New York sat in a building whose comeback itself is one of the city\u2019s bigger real estate stories in recent years.<\/p>\n

Attendees walked a red carpet, networked, talked shop and discussed tax abatements, the rising cost of materials, need for affordable housing, and challenges and rewards of building in and beyond New York City.<\/p>\n

Hochul was one of the featured guests and addressed the movers and shakers, saying that \u201cthe future of real estate in New York City is as strong as it\u2019s ever been.\u201d She said that construction needs to be a key part of building a still better future for New York City, and vowed to work \u201cwith all of you as an ally and to break down barriers.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not going to be wasting time anymore, my friends. We\u2019re going to build, baby build here in the great city of New York and I\u2019m going to be your partner,\u201d Hochul said. \u201cYou never gave up on us. And therefore I will never give up on you.\u201d<\/p>\n

REBNY looks to \u2018meet the opportunities and challenges\u2019<\/p>\n

REBNY President James Whelan said this was a moment to look at how to \u201cmeet the opportunities and challenges facing our City\u2019s economy in 2026 head on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing you all share is that you believe in this city and invest in it and plan and build for its long-term success,\u201d he told the crowd. \u201cNew York can be a tough place. But as the phrase goes, when the going gets tough, the tough get going.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"REBNYREBNY President James Whelan said this was a moment to look at how to \u201cmeet the opportunities and challenges facing our City\u2019s economy in 2026 head on.\u201dPhoto by Ramy Mahmoud<\/p>\n

Although construction can breed controversy, this was a night when the real estate industry focused on successes, as well as struggles.<\/p>\n

REBNY Chairman Jed Walenta said the 130th REBNY annual awards for the real estate trade association founded in 1896 provide \u201can excellent opportunity to take stock of our industry\u2019s goals, the challenges New York City faces,\u201d and how leaders can \u201cmake our city the best it can be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some discussed how taxes, inflation and new regulations could make development more difficult, even as advocates not in the room sometimes call for change.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

But many talked about a robust real estate market and a desire to live and work in New York City amid a post-pandemic recovery.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a great time to build and buy,\u201d said Hal Fetner, CEO of residential developer Fetner Properties. \u201cThere\u2019s an insatiable demand to live in New York City. We have not created a lot of new supply.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fetner said he had built 1,100 units in New York City over two years, including many in Long Island City, although he said he relied on tax incentives and certain financial forces constrained construction.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not the regulation that\u2019s killing us,\u201d Fetner said. \u201cIt\u2019s construction costs and taxes.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Others talked about New York City and, in particular, Manhattan as having a local and global appeal to businesses, as well as residents, driving demand in a post-pandemic economy.<\/p>\n

\u201cFinancial service firms are booming. Law firms are booming. Tech firms are back in force, especially AI,\u201d said Mary Ann Tighe, a commercial broker and CEO of the New York Tri-State Region for CBRE.\u00a0 \u201cWhere do they want to be? In Manhattan.\u201d<\/p>\n

David Shechtman, senior executive managing director at Meridian Investment Sales, said he had sold $4 billion in real estate in two decades.\n<\/p>\n

He added that the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA) giving certain nonprofits the first right to buy certain real estate could delay deals\n<\/p>\n

\u201cFinancing is good for 30, 60, 90 days,\u201d Schechtman said, adding that \u201ca 6\u2013 to-12-month pause\u201d for a nonprofit could destroy transactions. \u201cNo contract will stick with a first right of refusal,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Schechtman added that capping limits on reimbursement for renovations of rent regulated apartments could disincentivize work.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy would the city say the landlords have to bear the lion\u2019s share of that?\u201d Schechtman asked.\n<\/p>\n

One REBNY report found housing production in the Big Apple not on track to meet the goal of 500,000 new units by 2034 after about 66,000 units since the first quarter of 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe current tools for housing production are not adequate to meet the needs of New York City,\u201d Whelan said as he called for \u201cnew incentive programs and comprehensive rezonings\u201d to help to build 500,000 new homes by 2034. \u201cThis city needs a much more aggressive set of proposals to drive new housing production.\u201d<\/p>\n

There, however, were positive signs from RBNY\u2019s Building Construction Pipeline Report for the third quarter of 2025, showing an \u201cuptick in overall construction\u201d as multifamily housing surged, particularly with 99-unit projects.<\/p>\n

There were 507 new building filings, up 56% year over year and 11,746 proposed multiple dwelling units in 207 proposed buildings, up 69% from the previous quarter and the fourth most proposed units since the third quarter of 2015.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

REBNY Executive Vice President of External Relations and Advocacy Zachary Steinberg said these \u201cstrong results come following a decade-plus of underproduction.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than 1,000 builders, brokers, developers, bankers, attorneys and officials involved in the New York City real estate…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":115320,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[433,1489,4215,32014,1861,51148,48036,426,13850,9,24,55,54,18723,51149,56,51150,22437,17525,33436,23341,51151],"class_list":["post-115319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-affordable-housing","tag-commercial-real-estate","tag-construction-costs","tag-construction-industry","tag-housing-policy","tag-housing-supply","tag-james-whelan","tag-kathy-hochul","tag-manhattan-real-estate","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-new-york-city-real-estate","tag-new-york-economy","tag-ny","tag-post-pandemic-recovery","tag-real-estate-board-of-new-york","tag-real-estate-development","tag-rebny","tag-tax-incentives","tag-zoning-and-rezonings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115319\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}