2023 Year in Review: Christopher Turner, Denham Wolf Real Estate Services

What person, project, transaction, or market trend had the greatest impact on your industry this year? Vacancy rates vary by location and building quality in NYC. A general flight to quality by tenants has left more limited pickings amongst the best Class A office buildings but left tremendous opportunities for tenants, like our nonprofit clients, looking for solid Class B space in New York’s secondary neighborhoods.

What emerging trends will drive investment and development in 2024? Construction cost inflation caused by global supply chain disruption during the pandemic means replacement values have been surging above property values. As a result, owner-occupiers, which often includes nonprofits, can pay bigger premiums for an existing property that closely matches their physical requirements, and still be cheaper than new construction.

What was your greatest professional accomplishment or most notable project, deal, or transaction in 2023? Our client, a foundation, purchased 287 East 10^th St. in 2019, intending to run an RFP process to select a community-focused nonprofit to sell the property to at a 50% discount. The sale to the Joyce Theatre Foundation closed this year. It’s a template for a new approach to philanthropy.