Leading Voices in Real Estate

Rohit Aggarwala, Chief Climate Officer of New York City, discusses the city’s approach to concurrent solutions towards sea level rise, storm water management, transportation, congestion pricing, city infrastructure, and other pressing climate-based issues and the real estate industry’s role in helping build a more sustainable future.

Jackie Brady, Head of Global Debt Solutions for PGIM Alternatives, discusses the state of the commercial real estate debt markets, with challenges, opportunities, and change coming out of the current market.

David Stanford, Founder of RealFoundations, talks about optimizing real estate business platforms for profitable decisions, smart operations, and value creation at both the property and business entity levels.

Kevin Marchetti, Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of Lineage Logistics and Bay Grove, discusses his journey in building the world’s largest cold-storage portfolio. He reveals how acquiring family-owned warehouses has shaped their approach, blending logistics and real estate. Interestingly, he shares a compelling story about strawberries, highlighting their lifecycle from harvest to the consumer. Kevin also emphasizes Lineage's ambitious plans for carbon neutrality and renewable energy, making strides as a leading solar adopter. His insights on innovation and sustainability redefine the cold-chain industry.

Jesse Stein, Global Head of Real Estate at Airbnb, brings us up to date on Airbnb generally and focuses on Airbnb’s partnerships with institutional owners of apartments to facilitate the option for their residents to “Airbnb” their units.

Hamid Moghadam, Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of Prologis, discusses the evolution of logistics real estate, the successful merger during the financial crisis, and the profitability of a business platform beyond assets. He also shares insights on advocating for democracy in Iran and civic activities in San Francisco.

Sharon Wilson Géno, President of NMHC, discusses public policy challenges in the apartment industry, emphasizing the importance of multifamily housing, regulatory hurdles, and addressing housing shortages. The conversation delves into the dynamics of housing development, community representation, property upgrades for sustainability, rent setting processes, taxation impacts, and the warmth of the apartment industry in shaping vibrant communities.

Alice Carr, CEO of Blackstone’s affordable housing operating company, April Housing, shares her “why,” Blackstone’s commitment to preserving this housing long term, and the benefits of scale in this sector.

Francis Najafi, CEO of Pivotal Group, discusses investing through cycles, importance of culture, and navigating real estate complexities. Touches on journey from day trading to real estate, success in technology investments, and philanthropy as an investment. Emphasizes the role of culture in business and the impact of technology on real estate industry.

Exploring real estate capital markets, navigating investments and market dynamics, comparing infrastructure and real estate, succession planning challenges, analyzing real estate business platforms, transitioning to managing a fund, investment trends and technology evolution, balancing personalization, privacy, and ESG in hospitality, resilience in real estate investments, and nurturing relationships in the industry.