Real Estate REality Check | Real Estate & Business Career Success Education and Training Leasing REality & Larry Haber: Real Estate Entrepreneur

Today on Real Estate REality Check, I have a rather easy assignment, given that I am going to attempt the not-so-impossible by bringing our guest out from his shell. The not-so-shy, the always informative and truly effervescent reformed yet long recovered attorney, who is now the Senior Executive Managing Director of Investment Sales for Meridian Capital Group, spends his days not only representing many of the name players in our industry, but also the true stars and integral backbones of NYC, namely the mom-and-pop owners of multifamily, industrial, office and retail properties. Yes my real estate brethren, I give to you the one and (definitely) the only David Schechtman. Thanks for joining us my friend, just a few days after your recovery from a perspective changing moment in your life which we will get to a bit later ... needless to say David, we have some things to talk about, here beside the rising and to many, not so rising tide of real estate, life and the consequential tumult from the pandemic.

Today we are fortunate to have with us on Real Estate REality Check someone who I consider to be (pun intended) not only on the cutting, suburban and urban edge of real estate professionally speaking, but also, without dating myself too much, a friend whose persona reminds me of the title of the 1980’s song “Cool Cat” by Freddie Mercury and Queen ... yes my real estate brethren, I give to you the Executive Vice President and COO of Urban Edge Properties, Chris Weilminster.

Today we have with us on Real Estate REality Check, two renowned leaders who have played an integral role during their illustrious careers in making a difference for their clients, those that they work with, as well as for the CRE industry, namely the dynamic duo and vice chairpersons of investment sales and retail leasing, respectively, for Compass, my dear friends Adelaide Polsinelli and Robin Abrams. Thank you so much for joining us, and for being the charter members of our new series called “The Mothers of REinvention,” which plays off of the name of music legend Frank Zappa’s old band, “The Mothers of Invention.”

Today on Real Estate REality Check we have with us someone who less than a decade ago took on a U2 like “I Will Follow” mindset when it came to his passion to make something out of nothing, notwithstanding that at the time, he then possessed the equivalent of the title of an Elvis Costello song called “Less Than Zero” when it came to his base of knowledge in the world of CRE. In spite of those challenges, he went on to build a “value-added tech driven data engine employing sophisticated algorithms and artificial intelligence” that some may describe as a “CRE data democracy.” He did (and I may add, continues to do) so by not only subconsciously embracing the song titles “Harder Better Stronger Faster” by Daft Punk and "It's in the Way That You Use It" by Eric Clapton, but also by heeding the wisdom of, among others, Jeff Bezos and his “Day 1” mindset, so as to minimize the chances of Reonomy meeting up with the business equivalent of the schoolyard bully who wants to take its lunch and give them a metaphorical wedgie, to that of Ben Franklin’s mantra of “Diligence is the mother of good luck,” and W.B. Yeats as well, who said “There are no strangers here, only friends you haven't yet met,” all of which he employed to ultimately co-found Reonomy (which, as a consequence of a networking play date, with props out to an old Grateful Dead tune and his co-founder, because “Mr. Charlie” told him so). I give to you my real estate brethren, from the streets of London, the one language shy of being a polyglot and the man who had the business he co-founded in college become the subject of a 60 Minutes segment, the truly fascinating CEO of Reonomy, my new friend Rich Sarkis.

Today we have with us a native New Yorker possessing a multitude of degrees, the first being that of street smarts earned while pounding the pavement of NYC, followed by a degree in Psychology from Boston University, a Master of Arts in Sports Management from NYU, and then in community service, including his 9 years as a senior member of the management team which helped establish Chelsea Piers as the third largest tourist attraction in New York City. Bill Abramson, in line with the Muhammad Ali mantra of “Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth,” has served as Co-Chairperson of the Union Square Partnership and Treasurer of The Village Alliance among many other community minded endeavors, is the Director of Brokerage for the renowned full service management and brokerage firm Buchbinder & Warren.

Today we are fortunate enough to have with us on Real Estate REality Check someone who has personified my Albert Einstein (“Try not to be a man [or woman] of success, rather be a man [or woman] of value”), Snoop Dogg (“Master your craft”), Drake (“Started From the Bottom”) and Beastie Boys (“Skills to Pay the Bills”) mantras, yes my real estate brethren, Alyssa Zahler. Alyssa, who over her career has built a foundation of knowledge, experiences and relationships working in production on programs and for media companies such as Hardball with Chris Matthews, the Beijing Olympics, CNN, and Bloomberg LP, parlayed those experiences by joining Newmark’s commercial leasing department. Once there, she played an integral role in growing the development portfolios of a number of landlords, while simultaneously representing high growth companies in the media and technology spaces. In early 2020, Alyssa parlayed her skillset to become the Director of Commercial Leasing for Brooklyn based and family owned Two Trees Management, owners of a $4 billion real estate portfolio containing among other properties, 3MM square feet of office, retail and industrial product.