James Whelan and Jed Walentas

The Real Estate Board of New York’s president, James Whelan, and incoming chairman, Jed Walentas, have their work cut out for them.

REBNY had a rough spring in Albany. The real estate trade group pushed for a deal on subsidies for office-to-residential conversions, which fell apart when the state Assembly wanted affordable housing requirements with no subsidy. And there is not even a whisper of a deal to replace the 421a tax exemption, which propped up rental development in many parts of New York City. 

“It produced 70 percent of the rental housing in New York City over the past 10 years,” said Whelan. “You’re going to see very little rental housing production in New York City without it.”

REBNY is also pushing for a tax abatement that would make it easier for condos, co-ops and some office buildings to finance energy-efficient renovations to comply with Local Law 97, the city’s emissions cap law. 

Part of the organization’s frustration could be centered on the fact that they haven’t for years had such great allies in Albany and Gracie Mansion as they do now. Both Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams are staunch allies of REBNY, and yet their plans keep getting thwarted on a more granular, legislative level.

However, the organization did manage to negotiate extensions for a handful of tax credit programs, including ones that encourage redevelopment in Lower Manhattan and on brownfield properties.

REBNY also last summer rolled out a residential listing service, Citysnap, and has expanded its Building Skills construction training program, which now places 300 New Yorkers a year on job sites. 

Whelan has been at the job since 2019, just before the industry reached a particularly low ebb. Walentas is expected to be named chairman at the board’s meeting in June and will take his seat on Jan. 1. 

But Walentas, the head of developer Two Trees, is an interesting choice for the organization. The son of  Two Trees founder David Walentas, he has managed to navigate the landmines of the last three years without too many pitfalls.

He said in a statement that, “when the city succeeds, our industry succeeds, and REBNY needs to be a leader in fighting for issues that really matter to New York’s future, like sustainability and addressing the housing crisis.”