Real Estate and Development Power Players

A life-long Queens resident and son of Irish immigrants, Jim Whelan has led REBNY since late 2019. As REBNY president, Jim leads an organization that promotes policies to create more housing, including below market rate units, and good jobs as well as provide for a more vibrant and sustainable city. Prior to REBNY, Jim served in several high-impact roles that have shaped the city we know today, including securing the initial funding to expand Union Square Park, creating the Downtown Brooklyn rezoning plan and devising advocacy strategies for the redevelopment of Hudson Yards, Willets Point, Coney Island and Lower Manhattan.

What is your favorite landmark in New York State?
That is like asking me to pick my favorite child! I can’t answer that without making some member unhappy. They have a lot of great buildings!

What has been your favorite development project and why?
I am most proud of the redevelopment of Downtown Brooklyn. When I started that effort in 1999, not many paid it much attention or thought it would be successful. The rezoning plan has had a profound impact on that area.

What is the current state of commercial real estate in New York? What impact has the pandemic had?
The residential market – both ownership and rental – has bounced back strongly. It is becoming more and more apparent that NYC is not producing enough housing. That needs to change, or our housing crisis will worsen. The commercial market is rebounding; some parts, like Class A office space, is rebounding very nicely. The retail sector, to the extent it relied on the tourist or office market, will take a little longer to recover.

How did you become interested in architecture, real estate, or construction?
In 1995, I left the practice of law and went to work at the 14th Street-Union Square Local Development Corporation and Business Improvement District (now the Union Square Partnership). During my tenure there, we did a lot of great things to turn the neighborhood around. I saw the ability of real estate advocacy groups that operate effectively to produce positive change.

What is your favorite place you’ve ever lived?
I have spent fifty of my fifty-eight years of my life in Queens – split roughly equally between Bellerose and Elmhurst. Hands down, it is Queens!

As senior executive director of LISC NYC, Valerie is responsible for advancing a platform of racial and economic equity by building on $3.1 billion in LISC NYC investments to spur affordable housing, economic development, health equity, and workforce development in underserved neighborhoods. In this role, Valerie leads the team in developing a vision, and advancing strategic policies and programs that foster equity and inclusion in disinvested communities.

What is your favorite landmark in New York State?
I have two. One is Niagara Falls — which I visit each summer. No matter how many times I go, I am in complete awe of the Falls’ beauty and majesty. It’s one of Mother Nature’s finest works. The other is the Rose Hill campus of Fordham University — my alma mater. The history of the rigorous intellectual scholarship and committed symbolism to its motto — Sapientia et Doctrina — emanate throughout the campus.

What has been your favorite development project and why?
The Moynihan Train Station in NYC. It was wonderful watching this amazing structure unfold during my time at Empire State Development. As the EVP and executive director of the NYS MWBE Division, I was thrilled to be a part of the ESD during the development and construction of the station.

What is the current state of commercial real estate in New York? What impact has the pandemic had?
The commercial real estate industry is still full of uncertainty at the moment, particularly for Black and brown property owners. Due to systemic inequities, there have always been far too few BIPOC owners of commercial real estate space. The pandemic has only made that inequity worse – with minority neighborhoods and businesses facing an unprecedented economic setback since the start of the pandemic. Without relief for these property owners in our underserved commercial corridors, I worry we’ll see even fewer Black and brown property owners in the years ahead.

How did you become interested in architecture, real estate, or construction?
Working in the economic development space – both in the private and public sector – two inequities were always glaring to me: the persistent lack of housing and homeownership opportunities for people of color and the challenges Black and brown developers faced in trying to make their mark on the industry. I knew there was more that could be done to address these systemic inequities. Since then, I’ve been working across industries to ensure that BIPOC New Yorkers are no longer marginalized in the city’s housing industry – both in the development of housing and in the ownership of it as well.

What is your favorite place you’ve ever lived?
Brooklyn, no doubt. The culture, opportunity, and communities in Brooklyn are all unrivaled. While I am a native of the Hudson Valley, I’ve been a proud resident of Bedford-Stuyvesant for almost 40 years, and I couldn’t be happier to call it my home.