Following the success of its recent summit, the Think Bigger Innovation and Technology Hub at Columbia Business School has begun organizing a series of “innovation workshops”. These sessions are tailored to encourage in-depth discussions and develop practical solutions for specific emerging issues. By convening a diverse group of experts from business, academia, and various industries, the workshops aim to bridge theoretical insights with real-world application, fostering innovative thinking and actionable outcomes in a range of fields. The initiative represents a concerted effort to leverage collaborative expertise in addressing some of the challenges of our time.
On Friday, December 8th, 2023, The Hub, the new think tank of Columbia Business School (“CBS”), and the Paul Milstein Center for Real Estate at CBS, hosted “The Future of NYC Real Estate: A Think Bigger Innovations Workshop” to discuss these challenges and explore potential solutions. The workshop was hosted by Sheena Iyengar, the S. T. Lee Professor of Business and Academic Director of the Think Bigger Innovation and Technology Hub at CBS and Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh, the Earle W. Kazis and Benjamin Schore Professor of Real Estate and Professor of Finance at CBS.
The workshop invited representatives from varying backgrounds including government, urban planning, real estate, finance, architecture, the arts and other fields to engage in an open discussion around the future of real estate in New York City. The participants included the following individuals:
Workshop Representatives
- Kai-Uwe Bergmann, BIG
- Chris Byrns, CBS Student, Milstein Center
- Joey Chilelli, Managing Director, Vanbarton Group
- Hally Chu, Housing Committee Director, NYS Senator Brian Kavanagh’s Office
- Ken Davenport, Broadway Producer
- Burke Davis, Managing Director, JPM Chase
- Jacob Dinetz, Director of Real Estate and New Business Development, Union Square Hospitality Group
- Carolyn Grossman Meagher, Director of Economic Development and Regional Planning, NYC Department of City Planning
- Ingrid Gould Ellen, Professor of Urban Policy and Planning, NYU
- Arpit Gupta, Associate Professor of Finance, NYU Stern School of Business
- Judy Herbstman, Vice President for Real Estate, Settlement Housing Fund, Inc.
- Sheena Iyengar, Host; Professor of Business in the Management Division, CBS
- BJ Jones, Executive Director of “New” New York
- Brian Kavanagh, NY State Senator
- Phil Kirschner, Senior Expert and Associate Partner, McKinsey
- Shawn Lese, Chief Investment Officer and Head of Funds Management, Nuveen
- Andrew Lim, Director, New York Research Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. (JLL)
- Candy Martinez, Finance PhD Candidate, Columbia Business School
- Chris Mayer, Professor of Real Estate & Co-Director Milstein Center, CBS
- Stephan Meier, Professor of Business & Chair of the Management Division, CBS
- Grace Rauh, Executive Director, 5BORO
- Andrew Rein, President, Citizen Budget Commission
- Mellisa Roman Burch, Chief Operating Officer, NYCEDC
- Hilary Sample, Professor of Housing Design, Columbia GSAPP
- David Sherman, CBS, Co-Director Milstein Center
- Hilary Spann, EVP, New York Region, BXP
- Brian Steinwurtzel, Co-CEO and Principal of GFP Real Estate; CBS alumnus
- Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh, Host; Professor of Real Estate & Professor of Finance, CBS
- Mac Wilcox, President of Hanover Community Bank
The participants spent the morning discussing the problem and exploring potential solutions. Participants were broken up into four smaller groups for open discussion that explored the following topics:
- Creative space use and future cities: Turning Midtown and Downtown into More Vibrant Neighborhoods
- Resolving Commercial Real Estate Distress: Financing Solutions
- Stimulating Office Conversions
- Affordable Housing
Each smaller group worked to arrive at around four or five ideas to present back to the broader workshop. After a representative from each of the four small groups presented their ideas to the broader group, all individuals within the entire workshop selected three ideas they thought to be particularly innovative, forward thinking, or effective. The votes from all individuals were tallied, and the top five ideas were then expanded upon by the broader workshop group.