The Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY)’s annual gala was held this year on January 16 on Manhattan’s Far West Side. The evening was a celebration of widespread industry success and included appearances by Governor Kathy Hochul, Mayor Eric Adams, U.S. Congressmembers and dozens of elected officials.
Representing the region’s top commercial and residential owners, developers, brokers and managers, REBNY’s leadership sees the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic not too distant in the rearview mirror and is steadfast against relenting on any progress in 2025.
“There were many positive steps forward for our industry and, in turn, the city in 2024, but we can’t take our foot off the gas now,” James Whelan, who has served as REBNY’s president since 2019, told “Mann Report” in an exclusive interview that discussed the organization’s outlook for 2025.
From reactionary residential and commercial migration to changing corporate office attendance mandates to construction cost and interest rate shocks, the pandemic was a generational disruption for the real estate industry. Five years later, the ripple effects are still being felt.
Riding the Flight to Quality
According to REBNY’s Office Building Visitation reporting, office visitations have surpassed 2019 baselines only one week since the pandemic and then only within Class A+ buildings. Despite strong demand and fundamentals, average retail asking rents along Manhattan and Brooklyn’s primary shopping corridors have still not returned to prepandemic peaks, as noted in REBNY reports.
“We’ve seen incremental growth for office visitations nearly every month of 2024 across submarkets and asset classes, and retail is trending in a positive direction, but these sectors are still not where they were pre-pandemic,” Whelan observed. “Strong office, retail and residential activity are the legs that hold up our economy and power vibrant, resilient neighborhoods. When one leg wobbles, we are all at risk.”
REBNY’s reporting has brought public data to back up widely felt market sentiment that investments in the highest quality office designs and amenities are translating to higher leasing activity and building visitations, which drive up tax revenues for the city and foot traffic for retail business. In Q3 2024, office leasing activity was up 25% year-over-year and vacancy finally dropped for the first time in over two years.
In line with these trends, REBNY secured a significant win for the office sector in 2024 when the governor and state legislature extended the Industrial & Commercial Abatement Program (ICAP), which offers property tax abatements for commercial buildings that are modernized.
REBNY is now aggressively advocating to extend and expand the Relocation and Employment Assistance Program (REAP), which entices employers to move jobs to areas of the city with less established office hubs.
Charting a Path for the Next Generation of Housing Development
To keep the industry and city one step ahead, REBNY was a key supporter of the Adams Administration’s City of Yes zoning initiative. Passed in stages over 2024, City of Yes is the most expansive change to New York City’s Zoning Resolution since 1961 and will unlock new opportunities for housing production and economic activity across all five boroughs.
This includes expanding outdated office inventory to much needed housing, allowing for greater density in several zoning districts, eliminating costly parking mandates that challenge new development and increasing the opportunity for accessory dwelling units, town center zoning and transit-oriented development. REBNY played a key part in the legislation’s passing, giving expert testimony to public officials and rallying public support for the plan.
“With City of Yes, we now have the pathway for development in line with urban planning best practices for decades to come,” said Whelan, adding that the initiative was also key for realizing a new incentive program to support office-to-residential conversions and pathways to create more density that REBNY had advocated for in the last state budget. “Successful utilization of these zoning changes will now depend on fine tuning incentives for development to make the math work.”
The state housing deal last spring included a valuable deadline extension for projects vested under 421a, the state’s former tax incentive for the creation of new rental housing. A successor program, 485-x, was agreed upon during the same session but has been met with lukewarm enthusiasm from the industry.
Whelan said that he does not expect 485x to be as effective as its predecessor but doesn’t use that as a scapegoat for giving up on the goals set by the Mayor and Governor to create over 500,000 new units by 2030.
REBNY is also calling on state legislators to publish more data related to rent-regulated housing in 2025 to better understand the impact of recent incentives and regulations to determine where they can be improved.
Doubling Down on Social Impact
Looking at REBNY’s membership, Whelan is trying to bring in new blood to the industry that is reflective of generational succession and the makeup of the city REBNY serves. This includes adding many younger members to REBNY’s executive committee and board of governors membership in 2024 and continuing to expand investment in REBNY’s social impact initiatives.
“Simply put, we need new perspectives in our industry and organization,” said Whelan. “This includes continuing investment in attracting professionals of diverse backgrounds to the industry but also provide them the tools and mentorship to make it to the c-suite.”
To nurture diverse talent in the industry, REBNY conceived and launched the REBNY Fellows program in 2020 based on an overarching initiative led by REBNY’s Diversity Committee, which works to create professional opportunities and improve and promote the diversity of the trade association’s membership and the real estate industry at large.
The program brings in real estate professionals from diverse backgrounds for a high-impact, six-month training curriculum designed to help elevate their careers and prepare them for opportunities to increase their impact on the industry and its future. In addition to gaining networking exposure and advocacy and civic leadership training, REBNY Fellows become part of a lifelong professional network that supports their continued success. More than 100 Fellows have entered the program to date.
This past summer, REBNY partnered with the New York City Department of Youth & Community Development to place 138 talented young people in paid real estate industry internships at member firms through New York City’s Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP). Additionally, REBNY partners with Building Skills NY to connect under-represented New Yorkers with jobs and training to create new career pathways into the construction industry.
“Real estate was by and large far too late to the game when it comes to investing in Social Impact,” said Whelan. “While others may be in retreat on these initiatives, the message from our membership is clear: double down.”
When it comes to sustainability, REBNY members are also vocal on the need to decarbonize the built environment. Whelan believes that government must be a better partner in this area by providing a green energy grid and doing a better job of giving building owners tools to comply with regulations like Local Law 97.
Don’t Take the Basics for Granted
Whelan emphasized that quality-of-life issues underly almost every issue the real estate industry faces. In 2025, REBNY plans to continue to vocalize support for public officials focused on getting crime levels back to pre-pandemic norms and advancing compassionate supportive services for those with mental health and addiction issues. The organization has also called for the state to finalize a thoughtful, long-term approach to funding the MTA, Whelan said.
“If New Yorkers can’t rely on getting to and from work, home or social activities safely and efficiently, investment will not follow,” he said.
In addition to advocacy and promoting market research, REBNY provides its members informational, technical and technological resources; networking and charitable service opportunities; qualifying and continuing education courses; professional education programs, seminars and designations; career-changing awards; legal advice and a wide range of additional member benefits.
