Downtown Manhattan continues to flourish as large development and revitalization projects finally come to fruition. Driven by competitive rents, creative firms and TAMI tenants have flocked downtown, changing the face of a neighborhood once dominated by the finance industry. In response, savvy owners are making significant capital improvements to court tenants and compete with new inventory. The New Face of Downtown will examine how owners small and large are taking advantage of the renewed interest in New York City’s venerable downtown, what’s working and what’s not, and how downtown landlords are competing with other large-scale projects in Midtown and Hudson Yards.

HOST SPONSOR: L&L Holding Company, LLC

L&L Holding Company, LLC is a privately-owned real estate investment company with a current portfolio exceeding 6 million square feet of office space primarily in Manhattan. Through joint ventures with select institutional partners, L&L’s strategy is to identify, acquire, and develop prime but underperforming real estate for the purpose of maximizing its value. L&L provides a broad spectrum of services to its partners including acquisition, disposition, asset management, leasing, accounting, design, construction, and financing. L&L is currently working on two of the most exciting development projects in the city; 425 Park Avenue will be the first new office building on Park Avenue in 50 years and 390 Madison is the largest re-massing of an office building in history.

Aggressive Energy

At Aggressive Energy we’re striving to power New York and beyond with affordable fuel oil, biofuels, natural gas and electricity. In addition to competitive pricing, we’re committed to our customers and have been offering reliable energy service for more than 30 years. As a leading energy supplier throughout the northeast, we promise to uphold our premium service while doing what’s right for our environment and our economy.

Barclays Center Elite

From the luxury of the suites to the excitement of having the action in your face, Barclays Center Elite offers a unique premium experience at one of the world’s most popular arenas. Home of the Brooklyn Nets and New York Islanders, Barclays Center welcomes the world’s biggest artists, along with championship boxing and college basketball, with the prestigious ACC Tournament returning to Brooklyn in March 2018.

Barclays Center Elite offers the opportunity to customize a premium experience from our calendar of premier events. We’ve reimagined our premium ticketing and hospitality options with an emphasis on flexibility to give fans precisely the experience they’re looking for. They can rise above it all in one of our luxury suites, with customizable packages that provide access to all of Barclays Center’s biggest events. Courtside and Rinkside tickets bring fans up close to the action and all its intensity. Loge Boxes offer the best of both worlds, with a luxury experience in the heart of the crowd.

The 40/40 CLUB & Restaurant by Tanduay Rum, Billboard Lounge and the Calvin Klein Courtside/Rinkside Club offer exclusive dining experiences.

CompStak

CompStak creates transparency in commercial real estate markets by gathering information that is hard to find, difficult to compile, or otherwise unavailable. Since 2012, CompStak has delivered this unmatched insight to a network of tens of thousands of members and clients, including Tishman Speyer, Wells Fargo, Vornado, Boston Properties, Equity Office Properties, and every major brokerage nationwide. CompStak Exchange is an exclusive platform for CRE brokers, appraisers, and researchers to get analyst-reviewed commercial lease and sales comps at no charge. Through CompStak Enterprise, lenders, landlords, and investors can access granular CRE transaction information and market analytics.

Cushman & Wakefield

Cushman & Wakefield is a leading gobal real estate services firm that helps clients transform the way people work, shop, and live. Our 45,000 employees in more than 70 countries help occupiers and investors optimize the value of their real estate by combining our global perspective and deep local knowledge with an impressive platform of real estate solutions. Cushman & Wakefield is among the largest commercial real estate services firms with revenue of $6 billion across core services of agency leasing, asset services, capital markets, facility services (C&W Services), global occupier services, investment & asset management (DTZ Investors), project & development services, tenant representation, and valuation & advisory. 2017 marks the 100-year anniversary of the Cushman & Wakefield brand. 100 years of taking our clients’ ideas and putting them into action. To learn more, visit www.cushwakecentennial.comwww.cushmanwakefield.com or follow @CushWake on Twitter.

Fried Frank

Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP’s Real Estate Department is the top in its field. With broad experience in all aspects of commercial real estate law, we are capable of successfully representing our clients in all facets of commercial real estate transactions. Our clients are industry powerhouses that are responsible for contributing to the development and reshaping New York City's skyline and other major cities around the world. Our team advises on the acquisition and disposition of single assets and portfolios; mortgage, mezzanine, and construction financing and restructuring on behalf of borrowers and lenders; leasing on behalf of landlords and tenants; joint ventures; real estate investment trusts; real estate litigation; environmental; and land use and development. We work closely with, and regularly advocate before, various NYC agencies. By collaborating with our tax, restructuring and insolvency, and litigation attorneys, we are able to address all challenges that impact a transaction. The Firm advises the world's leading corporations, investment funds and financial institutions on their most critical legal needs and business opportunities. Our approximately 500 lawyers are based in North America and Europe.

Friedman LLP Accountants and Advisors

Founded in 1924, Friedman LLP Accountants and Advisors brings a profound understanding of the real estate industry — the result of more than 8 decades serving clients involved in a wide variety of real estate entities spanning commercial, retail, residential, and more. We have built long-term relationships with some of the largest and most sophisticated privately owned and publically held real estate companies in the New York area and beyond. Our dedicated Real Estate Group brings a rare combination of highly specialized knowledge and vast experience in the tax, accounting, and business planning aspects of real estate ownership, investment, operation, and development.

Beyond our core audit, assurance, and tax services, Freidman provides several unique services customized to our real estate clients' specific needs. Our State and Local Tax Services Group is well versed in helping real estate organizations manage compliance demands that arise from multistate activities. Our dedicated International Tax Practice brings broad experience and deep expertise advising inbound investors into U.S. real estate and outbound U.S. investors into foreign real property. We provide real estate clients with the tools and cutting-edge insight that they need to evaluate opportunities, make critical decisions, and achieve their strategic objectives. When a transaction is on the table, we ensure that our clients are armed with the most accurate and useful information and analyses— from valuing acquisition and merger targets to structuring deals to meet financial, tax, and reporting objectives to providing restructuring and/or divestiture/exit advice.

For more information, visit http://friedmanllp.com/industries/real-estate.

MG Engineering

For over 25 years MG Engineering (MGE) has provided best-in-class, full service MEP engineering and technology design services. Their experience covers a broad range of sectors including corporate, residential, hospitality, retail, healthcare and building infrastructure. The firm has been named one of the top 500 design firms nationwide for the past five years and one of the best places to work in NYC by Crains NY.

Zetlin & De Chiara LLP

Zetlin & De Chiara LLP, a leading construction law firm, provides sophisticated legal counsel and business advice to real estate owners and developers as well as architecture and engineering firms in the New York Metropolitan area and around the country. Many of its attorneys have direct experience with construction and design issues through their work as in-house construction counsel, education and training as architects and engineers, and by earning LEED accreditation. The firm provides counsel throughout the planning, design, and construction process — from drafting and negotiating contracts to advising on risk management strategies. Zetlin & De Chiara represents clients in litigation and alternative dispute resolution, and also advises on business formation, licensing and corporate issues.