2025 Power Players in Real Estate

Dean J. Shapiro is Oxford’s global head of development, overseeing global development activities and serving on the Executive and Investment Committees. Previously, he led U.S. Development, managing a 25-person team responsible for 30+ projects, including Hudson Yards and St. John’s Terminal. With over 35 years in real estate, Dean was a partner at Building and Land Technology, transforming South Stamford, CT, and held leadership roles at CBRE in NYC.

Is there a project you are excited to work on or see completed in 2025?
We are excited to announce the creation of our new U.S. headquarters at Hudson Yards in New York. This move will unify all OMERS groups on a single floor, creating a cohesive and integrated presence in one of our key markets. This development is integral to our brand and marks a significant statement of our OMERS and Oxford presence in the U.S.

How do you see real estate evolving in the future?
Real estate has always been, and will continue to be, an extremely popular asset class. It will keep evolving as it has throughout history.

What is the most important lesson you’ve learned in your career so far?
Protect your reputation at all costs; it is your most valuable and highly perishable asset.

Eddie Shapiro is the visionary leader behind Nest Seekers International, a global force in luxury real estate. Under his leadership, Nest Seekers has grown to over 70 offices with more than 2,100 agents and employees in top markets worldwide. The firm also brokers private jets, yachts, and fine art, creating a full-scale luxury ecosystem. Eddie has redefined how the ultra-wealthy buy, sell and experience assets, positioning Nest Seekers as the ultimate global luxury brand.

Is there a project you are excited to work on or see completed in 2025?
We’ve been carefully developing EVA AI, our proprietary platform designed to elevate how agents work and serve clients. EVA AI is voice-activated with sentiment analyzers and customized LLM and GLM models that replicate the ultimate agent experience. It activates and optimizes both client and agent performance for maximum efficiency. It’s designed to replicate the best agents in the world and regenerate skills, service, techniques, and quality into every agent. A true game changer.

How do you see real estate evolving in the future?
Real estate is on the verge of transformation. AI, automation, and immersive digital experiences will redefine how people buy, sell, and interact with properties. Soon, AI will deliver hyper-personalized recommendations, create virtual environments, and manage everything from staging to contracts. The future is a borderless market, where global transactions are seamless. Blockchain and digital assets will enable buyers to move between properties worldwide. Nest Seekers isn’t just adapting – we’re leading, with storefronts in top global wealth hubs.

What is the most important lesson you’ve learned in your career so far?
Adapt or get left behind. Real estate isn’t just about properties – it’s about people, technology, and timing. The market shifts, consumer behaviors evolve, and innovation changes the game overnight. If you’re not thinking ahead, you’re already behind. At Nest Seekers, we’ve built a culture of relentless innovation. We don’t wait for change – we drive it. That mindset has fueled our success and will continue to define the future of real estate.

Lisa is the CEO of Silverstein Properties, and oversees the firm’s capital, existing assets, new initiatives and corporate strategy. From acquisitions, investment, and fund management to new development, she has worked beside her father, the founder and chairman for over 25 years. A graduate of NYU, with two degrees, Lisa sits on the Board of Trustees of NYU and other philanthropic and financial organizations and institutions.

As chief executive officer of Tishman Speyer, Rob Speyer has led the firm’s global expansion and diversification strategy, growing its assets under management to more than $65 billion and launching new business lines including housing, industrial, life science and venture investing. Rob is also co-chair of the Partnership for New York City and is serving as chair of the Advisory Board of the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City under his third mayoral administration.

Michelle Stoddart is the senior vice president of community development for Resorts World Casino, New York City. She was a member of the executive opening team that handled record-breaking attendance during the casino’s debut weekend in October 2011. In her role, Stoddart has been managing community affairs, public relations, local business partnerships, and corporate philanthropy. Under her guidance, Resorts World has supported more than 300 nonprofit organizations in the New York metropolitan area.

With extensive experience in navigating government and tackling difficult challenges, including the Housing Crisis, Ahmed Tigani is indispensable to both HPD and the City. Tigani, recently appointed HPD’s acting commissioner, leverages his experience to further HPD’s success in producing and preserving housing in record numbers. Prior to his tenure at HPD, Tigani served in senior roles at the Department of Buildings, the Mayor’s Office, the Manhattan Borough President’s Office, and NYC Council.

Is there a project you are excited to work on or see completed in 2025?
I am deeply committed to building on the groundwork HPD laid over the past three years. After creating and refining the necessary tools – from groundbreaking zoning reforms and new state tax incentives to expanding homeownership –  my focus now shifts to turning years of planning and preparation into results. For me, this isn’t just a step forward – it’s a crucial moment to transform promises made into lasting change, ensuring more families have safe, affordable housing.

How do you see real estate evolving in the future?
The future of housing is full of both promise and challenges. We face rising costs and federal uncertainties, but over the last three years, we’ve built a foundation by strengthening partnerships, modernizing zoning, streamlining regulations, and creating deeper affordability requirements. But there is much more work ahead. We can’t afford to rest –  we must act to deliver on our promises and ensure affordable housing for all New Yorkers.

What is the most important lesson you’ve learned in your career so far?
As a son of this incredible City – with its diversity and wonderful nuances – I’ve learned there is no one answer for any problem. But after serving in many government offices and working with countless partners from developers to community advocates and tenant organizations, I believe more than ever in the power of government. Government can create balance, providing opportunities to not just live but thrive – that starts with ensuring fair housing opportunities for all.

During her remarkable career of more than four decades in commercial real estate, Mary Ann Tighe has been credited with transforming New York’s skyline. She has been responsible for more than 125.5 million square feet of commercial transactions, and her deals have anchored more than 14.4 million square feet of new construction in the New York region – believed to be a record in commercial brokerage. Mary Ann has been CEO of CBRE’s New York Tri-State Region since 2002, a region of 4,400 employees.

Is there a project you are excited to work on or see completed in 2025?
There are several significant deals in the works that I hope to complete in 2025, but when I think broadly about the year ahead, I hope that we see more plans activated for building in Midtown East.  When I was chair of the Real Estate Board of New York, I introduced the radical idea of rezoning the area of the City with our most valuable properties. Midtown East’s skyline had been unchanged for decades and companies were increasingly desirous of the benefits brought by new design and construction. It took 5 years and a change of administration but when the rezoning became official it was embraced by our industry. In 2025, the new JPMChase tower will be complete, the first skyscraper created under the new zoning, the first of many.  New York’s skyline will officially enter a new era.

How do you see real estate evolving in the future?
The next 10 years will be transformational in NYC; of the 420 million sq. ft. of existing office space, 170 million sq. ft. is considered better buildings that are new and need no modifications. That leaves 250 million sq.ft. that will be broken into three different categories. The first will be buildings that obtain capital for renovations, the second will be office to residential and the last will be torn down and prepared for redevelopment.

What is the most important lesson you’ve learned in your career so far?
If you shape the team to address the assignment, if you bring together the right skill sets and temperaments to meet the mission, you won’t fail. Casting is as important in real estate as it is in movies.

Cea Weaver is the director of the NYS Tenant Bloc and coalition director of Housing Justice for All. She led campaigns that won rent control expansions, eviction moratoria, and Good Cause Eviction Protections. Most recently, she launched the NYS Tenant Bloc, organizing 250,000 tenants into a voting force. She also co-founded the Crown Heights Tenant Union and teaches organizing methods. She holds a master’s in Urban Planning from NYU and lives in Brooklyn.

Is there a project you are excited to work on or see completed in 2025?
Combining tenants’ economic power and sheer political majority into a united force that can transform New York state politics. Tenants are half the state and the majority in every major city: the Tenant Bloc can take back power from the real estate industry over our homes, neighborhoods, and democracy. The first step is building a tenant voting bloc in NYC to elect a mayor who will freeze the rent for over 2.4 million tenants.

How do you see real estate evolving in the future?
Too many politicians work for the real estate industry – and the result is that millions of New Yorkers are rent burdened and one in four say they cannot afford basics. It’s time for New York’s housing system to put the public good first through rent control expansion and social housing investments. Success doesn’t look like high profits or returns on investment – it looks like all New Yorkers living in safe, stable, and affordable homes.

What is the most important lesson you’ve learned in your career so far?
The tenant movement’s solutions are popular: a new poll found 88% of Democrats and 75% of Republicans back rent control measures. But the deep pockets of the real estate industry mean that it’s not enough to have good ideas. That’s why tenants are talking to our neighbors and inviting them to take action on something they believe in. That’s how we’ll build a unified bloc of hundreds of thousands and reshape New York politics.

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

How do you see real estate evolving in the future?
The current ad-hoc approach to planning and land use in New York City frustrates community members and developers alike. It’s unpredictable, lacks transparency, and it’s often unclear what development projects will or ought to bring to help advance our neighborhoods and city. What NYC needs is comprehensive planning to reform and ensure equitable development, addressing inequality, exclusion, and displacement effectively.

What is the most important lesson you’ve learned in your career so far?
Historically NYC’s real estate policies and systems have largely been harmful to and at the expense of its marginalized communities and neighborhoods. We should pursue policies and planning in collaboration with the people and communities that are too often silenced and ignored. The power to achieve lasting transformative change comes from movements, not big idea thought pieces isolated in a report.