2024 Power Players in Real Estate

Jed is one of New York’s most innovative developers of vibrant, mixed-use communities. Under Jed’s leadership, Two Trees has grown to oversee over four million square feet of commercial and residential real estate. Key projects include the Refinery at Domino, Domino Park, and the upcoming One Domino Square and Domino Square. Jed also launched the David Prize, which gives $1 million annually to local unrecognized entrepreneurs with big ideas to improve New York City.

Is there a project you are excited to work on or see completed in 2024?
This year, Two Trees will unveil the completion of One Domino Square and Domino Square, a milestone in our vision for a vibrant 24/7 community along the Williamsburg waterfront. One Domino Square will offer the first-ever waterfront condominiums and market-leading rental housing. As an extension of the public Domino Park space, Domino Square sits at the base of the Refinery at Domino, the development’s newly repositioned Class A office space.

What is your favorite part of working in real estate?
The beauty of the real estate industry is that we’re completely tied to the health and welfare of the city. This reality compels us to act in ways that improve the city long-term.

What qualities do you believe make up a successful real estate professional?
Real estate revolves around people more than anything else. The key to dealing with people effectively lies in communication and relationship-building. Integrity, honesty, and active listening are crucial. Understanding and respecting differing perspectives, which stem from personal experiences, is essential.

Cea Weaver has worked as a tenant organizer, campaign researcher, and housing policy advocate in New York State for over 10 years. She is from Rochester, New York, and holds a master’s degree in urban planning from NYU.

Is there a project you are excited to work on or see completed in 2024?
Housing Justice for All recently launched our campaign for a Social Housing Development Authority – a new public developer that can build and acquire mixed-income, permanently affordable, decommodified housing in our state.

What is your favorite part of working in real estate?
Making New York’s government more accountable to people and less beholden to real estate executives.

What qualities do you believe make up a successful real estate professional?
Homes for New Yorkers are more important than profit

Barika X. Williams is the executive director of Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development (ANHD), a leading nonprofit focused on ensuring affordable housing and economic justice for all New Yorkers. She is a leader in community development in marginalized communities that advance racial justice. Barika serves on the US Treasury’s Advisory Committee on Racial Equity and previously served as the assistant secretary for housing for the state of New York, worked at the Urban Institute, and in development in Washington, DC.

Is there a project you are excited to work on or see completed in 2024?
Nonprofit affordable housing developers, notably Community Development Corporations (CDCs), are pivotal to New York’s affordable housing inventory and neighborhood vitality. Serving predominantly low-income individuals, people of color, and immigrants, they offer rentals averaging below $1,000. Securing Emergency Preservation Funds is crucial to stabilizing their portfolios, ensuring New York’s affordable housing remains financially sound. This enables them to advance their mission and sustainably provide secure housing to vulnerable New Yorkers.

What is your favorite part of working in real estate?
At ANHD, I engage in policy and planning to empower marginalized communities and neighborhoods in New York. Historically, communities of color have borne the brunt of long-standing extractive and discriminatory real estate practices and policies. My favorite part of the work lies in driving large-scale policy changes and fostering community movement building to shape the future development of these underserved and silenced neighborhoods.

What qualities do you believe make up a successful real estate professional?
The real estate and urban development sector has long overlooked opportunities to address equity, race, and oppression. A successful real estate professional must understand the historical biases embedded in built environment practices and projects. We must rethink our assumptions of housing projects and ask questions such as how do we accommodate multi-generational families, offer accessible spaces for seniors, and ensure affordability for households earning under $80k annually in New York?

Jumaane Williams is a first-generation Brooklynite of Grenadian heritage. He graduated from public school and earned a master’s degree from Brooklyn College. He began his career as a community organizer at the Greater Flatbush Beacon School and later served as the executive director of NYS Tenants and Neighbors. In the NYC Council, Jumaane championed landmark legislation that transformed policing in NYC. He was the former co-chair of the council’s Task Force to Combat Gun Violence.

Alex Zablocki, executive director of the Public Housing Community Fund, has a rich history in public service. Formerly leading the Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy, he managed vast parklands in Brooklyn and Queens through a public-private partnership. His earlier positions include senior program manager at the NY Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery and director of community relations at NYC’s Department of Homeless Services. In his current role, Alex has successfully raised over $14m for NYCHA communities.

Is there a project you are excited to work on or see completed in 2024?
Our groundbreaking work to invest in NYCHA’s open spaces, art, and community centers is bringing about positive change across NYCHA communities and will continue to be scaled over the next decade to serve even more residents of public housing.

What is your favorite part of working in real estate?
The people we serve!

What qualities do you believe make up a successful real estate professional?
As the leader of a nonprofit supporting public housing communities, the most important job I have is balancing the needs of a half-million residents with limited funding while executing projects quickly and effectively to improve quality of life and positively support community health.