Registration & Networking Breakfast

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8:45AM – 9:05AM: Keynote Session

Speakers

KEYNOTE

miki naftali

Chairman & CEO

Naftali Group

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Miki Naftali

Chairman & CEO, Naftali Group

Miki Naftali is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Naftali Group, the privately owned global real estate development and investment firm established in 2011, which also includes a lending platform. Over the course of his distinguished 35-year career in the global real estate industry, Mr. Naftali has acquired, developed, and managed over $15 billion and over 31 million square feet in real estate assets across North America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Mr. Naftali is known for recognizing unique opportunities and spearheading projects that raise the standard for creative real estate developments both domestically and internationally. From ground-up development to the meticulous preservation and restoration of landmark buildings, his success has resulted in unparalleled demand and value.

In New York City alone, he has assembled a seminal portfolio of over 25 luxury condominiums to date with a pipeline of several new developments throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn. His most notable project in New York has been the $1 billion, 1-million-square-foot restoration and transformation of the iconic Plaza Hotel into a successful mixed-use development comprising a five-star hotel, private residences, celebrated retail, and a world-renowned food hall. One of the most active developers in New York City, Naftali Group has successfully launched and sold out three record-breaking luxury condo projects in Manhattan since 2020, including The Benson at 1045 Madison Avenue, 200 East 83rd and The Bellemont at 1165 Madison Avenue. Mr. Naftali has several new development projects in the pipeline in Manhattan as well as Brooklyn, where the firm’s waterfront development, Williamsburg Wharf, is currently in progress and recently completed its first phase. The transformative masterplan project includes 1 million square feet of residential, commercial, and a beautiful waterfront esplanade. In addition to his active projects in New York, Mr. Naftali is developing over 3 million square feet of premier residential and mixed-use space across two projects in South Florida, including JEM in Miami and Viceroy Residences in Fort Lauderdale.


Distinguished for his development, marketing and financial prowess, Mr. Naftali is ranked No. 46 on Commercial Observer’s Power 100. He is also ranked No. 18 on New York Observer‘s Top 100 Most Powerful People in New York Real Estate.

MODERATOR

stuart saft

Partner

Holland & Knight Law

9:05AM – 9:45AM: The State of the Residential Market: Market Forces Shaping 2026 & Beyond

Despite increasing development costs and elevated financing, today’s most adept residential developers and investors are leveraging creative financing to deliver some of the most anticipated developments to market. This opening session will provide a high-level outlook on the residential market, including insights on how experts are navigating an increasingly high-cost environment, buyer demand trends, pricing power, foreign and domestic investor sentiment and global capital flows.

Speakers

elysa goldman

Senior Vice President, Development

Extell Development Company

genghis hadi

Co-Founder and Managing Principal

Nahla Capital

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Genghis Hadi

Co-Founder and Managing Principal, Nahla Capital

Nahla Capital is a private real estate developer and investor in U.S. gateway cities, recognized for delivering projects that combine architectural distinction, enduring quality, and a strong sense of place. Led by Genghis Hadi, the firm’s portfolio includes The Raleigh Rosewood Residences Miami Beach, 1122 Madison Avenue, Rosewood Residences Beverly Hills, 152 Elizabeth Street with Tadao Ando, 221 W 77th Street, and Austin Proper Hotel & Residences. With $3 billion in assets under management and $600 million in equity deployed, Nahla Capital builds landmark developments that create lasting value.

Genghis Hadi has over 22 years of real estate private equity experience in the United States. Most recently, he spent seven years with Carlyle Group and worked on several billion dollars of transaction volume including new acquisitions and asset management of existing transactions with a focus on New York City.

Prior to Carlyle, Genghis was part of both the Acquisitions and Asset Management team at Boston Capital. He completed his Masters of Science in Real Estate Development at Columbia University, and his undergraduate studies in Economics at Tufts University. Born and raised in Dubai, UAE, he has now lived in the US for over 26 years. Formerly, he served as an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s Masters of Science in Real Estate Development Program.

ray houseknecht

Executive Vice President of Operations & Head of Residential

Rudin

ravi kantha

Founder & Principal of The Kantha Team | Licensed Associate Real Estate Broker

SERHANT.

jay roberts

Founder & CEO

Prosper Group

9:45AM – 10:10AM: Conversations on Conversions: How to Make them Profitable & What They Mean for NYC Neighborhoods

As adaptive reuse projects and office-to-residential conversion continue to take shape across New York, industry leaders are asking how to make them financially feasible, and what they mean for the city’s neighborhoods. With rising construction costs, do you make conversions pencil? What impact will rezonings have in changing the core personality of a neighborhood? You can develop a residential property in a commercial corridor, but how do you give it the residential and lifestyle characteristics necessary to attract renters and buyers? Join this timely session to hear how the most successful conversion projects are tackling challenges related to profitability and neighborhood positioning.

Speakers

whitney arcaro

EVP, Chief Revenue Officer, Residential

RXR

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Whitney Arcaro

EVP, Chief Revenue Officer, Residential, RXR

As the Chief Revenue Officer, Residential Ms. Arcaro is responsible for the overall revenue strategy and its implementation for RXR’s extensive residential portfolio, across multiple regions in the United States. She oversees an integrated workstream across Operations, Development, Marketing, Sales/Leasing, and Portfolio Management to enhance the product, create brand premium, and drive revenue streams above competitive assets in each market.

Ms. Arcaro joined RXR in 2017, serving as Executive Vice President – Head of Marketing and Retail Leasing for the company. She was responsible for overseeing the marketing and communications of RXR’s 25.6 million square feet of commercial assets in Manhattan and the surrounding region, as well as the concepts, design strategy, marketing and strategic branding initiatives for more than 6,200 multi-family units in planning across the region at the time. As the Head of Retail Leasing, Ms. Arcaro oversaw the strategy and implementation for the 1.1 million square feet of retail space across RXR’s New York City and Tri-state portfolio.

Prior to joining RXR, Ms. Arcaro served as Managing Director of Business Development for SHVO, a luxury real estate company, where she was integral to key elements of the business, comprising capital raising, EB5 financing, hotel partner relations, retail activity and sales/marketing efforts. Ms. Arcaro was a senior member in the company’s strategic growth initiatives, effectuating a $3.5 billion investment and development pipeline in a 24-month period. Previously, Ms. Arcaro served as Senior Vice President of Marketing at Vornado Realty Trust, one of the largest publicly traded REITs in the U.S. with over 100 million square feet across multiple markets during her time there. At Vornado, Ms. Arcaro was responsible for creating and implementing marketing strategies including office, retail, residential, and hotel properties, new developments and major asset repositions. Ms. Arcaro oversaw Vornado’s major branding initiatives. Among her accomplishments includes building an interdisciplinary, multi award-winning marketing program for Vornado’s corporate, New York, and street retail platforms, which included innovations in digital marketing and technologies, as well as industry-leading sales centers and product positioning. She oversaw the marketing and communications plan of the company’s nationally recognized sustainability program, and also created a successful public holiday tradition in partnership with the San Francisco 49ers in California.

Before Vornado, Ms. Arcaro was a commercial real estate broker working on tenant representation, landlord agency, consulting services and investment opportunities for multinationals and institutional organizations.

Ms. Arcaro has been listed as one of New York’s Real Estate Power Women in each year since 2018. She is a member of the Leadership Committee of the American Lung Association. Ms. Arcaro has produced award-winning feature length and short films featured at SXSW and Sundance Film Festivals, including a critically and politically hailed feature on conditions of Veterans, which garnered over 12 awards and coverage in the Washington Post, International Herald Tribune, and the New York Times.

daniel berman

Executive Director

MetroLoft

william S. macklowe

Chief Executive Officer

William Macklowe Company

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William S. Macklowe

Chief Executive Officer, William Macklowe Company

William S. (Billy) Macklowe is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of William Macklowe Company (WMC), a vertically integrated real estate development, investment and operating company. WMC’s business centers on the acquisition, development and redevelopment of prime commercial, medical, and residential assets in New York City and the boroughs, real estate correlated investments, portfolio acquisitions, and third-party management.

WMC redeveloped the office buildings at 636 Avenue of the Americas, 386 Park Avenue South, 311 West 43rd Street and 156 William Street, which it successfully repositioned as Downtown Manhattan’s premier medical office building. WMC recently developed the medical office building 333 East 61st Street, leased entirely to Memorial Sloan Kettering, and both completed and sold 100% of the units at 21 East 12th Street, a luxury, 23-story condominium designed by Annabelle Selldorf. WMC is currently developing Paseo on Fifth, a ground-up -275,000 square foot (sf) mixed-use complex in prime Park Slope Brooklyn, as well as an office to multifamily conversion at 291 Broadway in Tribeca.

Previously, as President of Macklowe Properties, Billy was responsible for the firm’s successful development and redevelopment of over 25 million square feet, valued in excess of $15 billion, including, the office buildings at 340, 400 and 540 Madison Avenue and 140 West 57th Street, the high-rise multifamily buildings at 777 Sixth Avenue and Longacre House, and the highly successful residential condominium projects at 310 E. 53rd Street and 145 E. 76th Street. Additionally, he played a major role in re-establishing The General Motors Building as the preeminent office tower in the world. Billy was the point of direct oversight of a 14 million square foot portfolio of Class A, midtown Manhattan office buildings and 3,000 multifamily units.

MODERATOR

jason hershkowitz

Partner

Belkin Burden Goldman

10:10AM – 10:30AM: Networking Break

10:30AM – 11:10AM: Designing for Lifestyle: The Innovative Amenities Driving Differentiation

Today’s most affluent buyers and renters want more than just a view, they want a full suite of lifestyle experiences and wellness-driven design. Evolving lifestyle preferences are playing a greater role than ever in shaping unit designs and layouts, amenities, and property programming. Owners are leaning into smart-home technologies, sustainability, and hospitality-inspired services, while savvy sellers are leveraging creative storytelling, placemaking and digital marketing. Join this session as experts unpack how the most successful luxury projects are being marketed and sold.

Speakers

Joshua benaim

Founder & CEO

Aria Development

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Joshua Benaim

Founder & CEO, Aria Development

Joshua Benaim is Founder and CEO of Aria, an award-winning real estate company focused on next generation multifamily, value investment and special situations investing, and creative real estate development. Benaim founded Aria in 2009 with partners David Arditi and Timothy Gordon to generate outsized risk-adjusted returns by marrying traditional hands-on real estate to classic value investment principles. With Benaim at the helm, Aria’s development portfolio has grown to more than 4,000 units and $1.5 billion of institutional-grade multifamily assets across the United States, including value add, special situations and opportunistic investments. Aria specializes in transforming illiquid and underutilized real estate in great locations into cash flowing multifamily.

Prior to founding Aria, Benaim was a Managing Principal at Square Mile Capital Management LLC. He learned real estate development and old world business values with Manocherian Brothers, his family organization with a seventy-year track record as a multifamily owner/operator in New York City.

Benaim has a passion for thought leadership in our industry serving as Co-Chair of the HBS Real Estate Alumni Association during the initial development of that organization, and as an advisor to Professor Arthur Segel in the creation of HBS’s first online real estate course. Benaim is the author of Real Estate: A Love Story, which has been described as “a must-read for aspiring entrepreneurs, investors, and real estate lovers.” He’s also an operatic baritone who has appeared with the Metropolitan Opera. Benaim received his A.B. in Social Studies from Harvard University and his MBA from Harvard Business School. He lives in New York City with his wife and three children.

rebecca gromet

Principal

KPF

jason hill

Director of Marketing

Domain Companies

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Jason HIll

Director of Marketing, Domain Companies

A seasoned real estate professional with over 22 years of experience, Jason Hill is a marketing director known for leading strategy, brand development, and marketing innovation across the real estate sector. A graduate of Indiana University, Jason began his career collaborating closely with industry leaders, building a proven track record in marketing institutional developers and their assets across New York City and beyond. Jason has successfully launched and leased up more than 30 transformative mixed-use residential developments spanning all five boroughs, Miami, and other major urban markets, guiding each project from the conceptual phase through stabilization and ensuring the perfection of every detail. Among his most notable projects are Summit NY, a 429-unit high-rise in Midtown East; Jasper, a 499 unit development in Long Island City; 1 QPS Tower, a 391-unit high-rise in Long Island City; and 19 Dutch, a 460-unit high-rise in the Financial District, each setting new high-watermarks at lease-up.Known for synthesizing vision with execution, Jason has built a career leading high-performing teams and delivering record-setting results for institutional owners, developers, and partners. His deep understanding of New York City’s ever-expanding neighborhoods, developed over more than two decades in the industry, now drives the marketing strategy he brings to The Domain Companies, where his expertise in market dynamics, consumer behavior, and brand storytelling shapes campaigns that captivate and engage at the highest level. Jason’s cross-disciplinary approach, rooted in creativity, data, and long-term impact, continues to set the standard for how exceptional developments are brought to market.

anna zarro

President of Sales

One Wall Street

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Anna Zarro

President of Sales, One Wall Street

Anna Zarro serves as President of Sales at One Wall Street, where she leads the sales, marketing, and strategic direction for the $2B transformation of the iconic Art Deco tower at Wall Street and Broadway—the largest office-to-residential conversion in New York City. Under her leadership, the project has become a model for repositioning commercial assets into high-performing, lifestyle-driven residential destinations. With over 20 years of experience and $15B+ in luxury real estate oversight, Anna’s experience through multiple market cycles, spans every stage of the development cycle—from pre-development planning to market launch, absorption strategy, and repositioning. She has played an integral role in the design, development, and marketing across a range of assets from boutique SoHo lofts to landmark adaptive reuse projects and ground-up developments in the multi family, luxury, ultra luxury, and branded residential categories. Anna has held senior leadership positions at several brokerage and development firms, including Extell and Town Residential, where she directed the sales and marketing of more than 7,000 units citywide. She is the founder of AZ&Co., a consulting firm specializing in new development, hospitality, and branded residential strategy; often fusing them with subtle alchemy.

MODERATOR

samantha Sheeber

Managing Partner

Starr Associates LLP

11:10AM – 12:00PM: Building Affordability: The New Playbook for Workforce & Affordable Housing in NYC

New York’s housing landscape is shifting rapidly as state and city leaders advance reforms designed to accelerate production and expand affordability. This panel breaks down the tools shaping the next wave of development from financing innovations to zoning flexibility to new partnership structures. A key focus will be the role of public agencies in unlocking supply, including how the MTA is leveraging its real estate portfolio and under‑utilized sites to support transit‑oriented, mixed‑income housing across the region. Attendees will gain a clear view of what’s working, what’s emerging, and where the greatest opportunities lie for builders and investors.

Speakers

noah hale

Managing Director and Head of Development

Fairstead

miriam harris

Head, Transit-Oriented Development

MTA

jennifer sun

Executive Vice President of Planning

EDC

MODERATOR

sheila pozon

Partner

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer

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Sheila Pozon

Partner, Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer

Sheila M. Pozon represents private developers and property owners, cultural, educational, health care and nonprofit institutions, lenders and investors in the planning, acquisition, development, and financing of major projects throughout New York City. Sheila advises clients on municipal law issues, the development potential of sites, and the land use and environmental review processes. She has appeared before and secured approvals from key New York City agencies, including the New York City Board of Standards and Appeals, the New York City Department of Buildings, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, the New York City Department of Finance, the New York City Economic Development Corporation, the Landmarks Preservation Commission and the City Planning Commission, in a variety of land use actions including zoning changes, special permits, complex tax lot mergers and apportionments, landmark proceedings, authorizations, certifications and variances. Sheila has extensive experience representing both developers and sellers in zoning lot mergers for the purchase and sale of development rights. Her work includes drafting and negotiating complex transactional documents, including purchase and sale agreements, zoning lot development and easement agreements, and license and access agreements. Among her most notable recent work, Sheila represented Extell Development Co., one of the most active developers in New York City, in its acquisition of development rights from multiple owners for its development sites throughout Manhattan, including the International Gem Tower, One57 and 215 West 57th St. (also known as the Nordstrom Tower, which is the tallest residential building in the western hemisphere).

12:00PM-12:30: Closing Fireside Chat: Rarity and Responsibility: Developing in Manhattan’s Most Iconic Neighborhoods

Join Victor Sigoura, Founder and CEO of Legion Investment Group, for a conversation on what it means to develop in neighborhoods where history, character, and architectural legacy are already deeply established. Legion’s current portfolio spans the Upper East Side, West Chelsea, Greenwich Village, and Gramercy Park: four of Manhattan’s best-known neighborhoods, where supply is constrained, and demand remains among the highest in the city.

Legion’s presence in these neighborhoods is not incidental. It is the direct result of a development process defined by strategic site selection, relentless rigor, exacting analysis, and deep collaboration. Victor speaks to the responsibility Legion holds itself to as a developer: careful stewardship, a genuine understanding of what each site demands architecturally and contextually, and a standard of quality and execution primed for permanence.

Speakers

Victor sigoura

Founder & CEO

Legion Investment Group

MODERATOR

Kelly Mack

President

Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group

12:30 PM : Event Concludes