2025 Year in Review: Andrew Steiker-Epstein, Charney Companies

What accomplishment, milestone, project or transaction stood out for you or your firm in 2025? 

The standout was launching Union Channel, our 224-unit rental building in Gowanus and the first piece of our four-building Gowanus Wharf campus. We deployed a fully rebuilt tech stack, new resident-experience tools, and a social-forward marketing strategy that resonated immediately. The result was a six-month lease-up that outperformed neighborhood comps by ten to twenty percent on a per-foot basis. It became proof of concept for how Charney integrates design, tech, and hyper-local branding to drive results.

What emerging trends or shifts will shape opportunities for you, your firm, or market sector in 2026? 

Data and technology will define 2026. We’ve been building a proprietary tech stack that merges brokerage, leasing, resident engagement, and AI-driven insights into one ecosystem. This positions us to lead a more modern, tech-enabled brokerage model where consumer behavior, building performance, and marketing strategy live in one feedback loop. The ability to personalize experiences, target more intelligently, and support developers with real-time data will create enormous competitive advantage across our projects and the broader CRE landscape.