Sunday Summary: Revved Up for REBNY!

By the time you’re reading this, roads will be closed. Pipes frozen. Winter wonderland reclassified as “class three kill storm.” That means only one thing.

The Real Estate Board of New York’s annual gala!

Yes, last Thursday was the trade group’s annual banquet, and after years at the Hilton in Midtown and then at the Glasshouse on the Far West Side of Manhattan, REBNY opted for a return to opulence. Thousands poured into the newly renovated Waldorf Astoria to rub elbows with the mandarins of the profession as well as the top politicos, including Gov. Kathy Hochul, who addressed the crowd from the dais, alongside honorees including Winston Fisher, Jeff Gural, Kevin Hoey, David Karnovsky, Anita Laremont, Camille McGratty, Christine Quinn and James Wacht.

One important politician not spotted in the throngs of people was the newly anointed mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani.

While many in the crowd who spoke to Commercial Observer sounded a note of peace and reconciliation when asked their thoughts on the new mayor, Mamdani still represents a puzzle for this particular crowd. Certainly, there are things that Mamdani campaigned on that CRE can get behind, like free child care for tots as young as 2. And, if Mamdani really wants to increase the city’s lackluster supply of housing, he could do worse than making alliances with the guests at the Waldorf.

“Nearly 50 percent of the locally gathered taxes in New York City come from real estate to pay for essential services,” Sandhya Espitia, REBNY’s chief operating officer, told CO in a profile. “We are New York City’s No. 1 civic partner.”

And REBNY has taken this to heart. “We’re going to be engaging with the deputy mayor for housing and planning, and items that are on the table coincide with some of the things they’ve announced already,” said REBNY President James Whelan in CO’s cover story.

Indeed, one of the major asks in the room would no doubt be reform to 485x, which is essentially 421a’s less effective sequel and which a lot of developers have been bristling at.

But, beyond the slight tension in the air between mayor and industry, CRE had plenty to be happy about. The numbers have more or less fully trickled in from 2025, and it was an excellent year for office leasing. And, unlike years where one big lease carried a whole market, 2025 saw a larger (and probably healthier) array of smaller leases.

“There’s been a consistent flow of middle-market lease expansions that really have supported the overall marketplace,” said JLL Vice Chairman Paul Glickman. “[These leases] have definitely helped drive this marketplace to where it was in 2025 from a leasing velocity standpoint.”

Oh, and REBNY can also get excited about the future, as represented by the 23 new fellows the group just announced!

And now in Blackstone news…

Not everybody was jockeying for space at the Waldorf. Last week, Blackstone was in the field making deals happen.

First up, in Southern California, their industrial arm, Link Logistics, sold a massive, 265,418-square-foot, Class A industrial building in Torrance to Golden Star Trading for the hefty sum of $123 million.

On the opposite coast, Blackstone laid out a tidy $45 million for the office and retail property at 113 Spring Street in SoHo.

While they were at it, they made some massive internal moves, promoting Giovanni Cutaia to president of Blackstone Real Estate; making Jacob Werner global chief investment officer; naming David Levine as head of real estate for the Americas; and making Mike Forman the new head of Americas acquisitions.

And there was even some non-Blackstone news out there. For example, Apollo just shelled out $220 million in construction and redevelopment financing for Quantum Pacific and Metro Loft Management’s 600-unit planned conversion at 101 Greenwich Street.

In the East Village, Atlas Capital Group purchased the 13-story, 100,000-square-foot, mixed-use property at 250 East Houston Street for $112 million from Dermot Company and Rockwood Capital.

Something to think about instead of snow

Last week we learned data centers were good to the largest industrial landlord in the country — specifically, Prologis, which did 43.8 million square feet in leasing last quarter and a record 228 million square feet in 2025, a hefty chunk of which was due to its data center investments.

All that being said, the question is: Why are data centers so valuable right now? The answer: AI. And while a lot of money is being spent in AI, one can’t help but ask whether AI is being overhyped in certain sectors. Like, say, proptech? Cuddle up next to the fire and read our story.

See you next week.