Will Weinfeld, 27

Will Weinfeld knows he wouldn’t be in the world of New York City commercial real estate if it wasn’t for the influence of his father, who ran a one-man boutique real estate investment firm in Baltimore, Md. 

As they’d drive to baseball games, his father would point out industrial warehouses he had managed along the highway, or he would take Will with him to improve the roofs of certain assets and help with some old-fashioned on-site manual labor.  

“Growing up, it was one of the things my dad and I would always talk about,” he said. “It grew into a passion and intellectual curiosity and something I wanted to pursue throughout my entire life.”

Weinfeld’s curiosity has translated into the books he reads, which are mainly real estate biographies. After spending a few years working at AXA Investment Managers (now BNP Paribas Asset Management), he read Larry Silverstein’s autobiography The Rising and saw parallels between his own life and Silverstein’s youth. He applied for a job immediately. 

Weinfeld now leads Silverstein Properties’ asset management of three commingled Opportunity Zone funds, which today stand at 15 mixed-use multifamily assets totaling 4,800 units. They required a $1.2 billion equity raise and even higher development costs with joint venture partners.  

“For the most part, we’re focused on leasing and optimizing expenses within the office, but multifamily is a totally different story given that it’s true ground-up development,” said Weinfield. “It’s a true long-term hold as we’re in Opportunity Zone funds, so it takes a lot of focus.”

Weinfeld noted that Silverstein has had several different construction loan maturities across its office portfolio, so he’s spent most of his time in recent months replacing them with bridge and permanent mezzanine financings. 

This has included a $175 million bridge loan to refinance senior construction debt on a mixed-use tower in Salt Lake City and $122 million in credit tenant lease financing in Philadelphia. 

“Silverstein has a long and distinguished track record of office asset management, so when I have questions and need support, it’s very easy to get help from within,” Weinfeld said.