2015 Year in Review - Belinda Schwartz

How will you be supercharging your productivity in 2016? At a certain point in your career, it’s hard to supercharge your productivity – your time is a finite resource and there are many competing demands for that time. But I think every real estate professional can benefit from advanced networking, where you harness the power of your network to create opportunities for everyone around you. I’m always introducing our clients to development and acquisition deals, joint venture partners and other real estate investment opportunities. They value that matchmaking, and it sets Herrick apart from other law firms. Doing that takes time, but I’ll be committed to it in 2016. What emerging trends will drive investment and development in 2016? Brooklyn and Manhattan will remain compelling places to develop, but land is finite, development costs are high, and there’s an imbalance between supply and demand. So I think we’ll see many more real estate investors turn their eyes to the Bronx. We took a group of developers on a trolley tour of the Bronx this fall, and everyone perked up. They saw great public transportation, a big supply of development sites, and capitalization rates that are two points higher than Manhattan, and a point higher than Brooklyn on average. I think we’ll see much more investment there in 2016.