Executive of the Month: Schleider, president of Metropolitan Valuation Services: One of the city's only LEED AP commercial real estate appraisers

Going green has gained a lot of ground since its only perceived benefit was good citizenship on a corporate social conscious level. Today, it's a corporate operating philosophy, means of increasing productivity and employee retention, marketing strategy for building owners, gold mine for manufacturers of sustainable products and materials, energy brokers and sustainability consultants and has been embraced into the real estate industry mainstream. Looking back to the future (that being more than a decade ago), Steven Schleider anticipated the profound effect green would have on real estate. That foresight is one of the reasons he is and remains one of the only commercial real estate appraisers in New York City to have earned a LEED-AP BC+D, positioning him far in the forefront of valuing green real estate. It began with what was then a totally innovative and progressive concept: building the very first green residential building in the United States. The Solaire in Battery Park City has filtered, conditioned, humidified air and highly efficient energy usage and water consumption and was the first residential high-rise in New York City to receive LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. (It has since been certified LEED Platinum for an existing building.) Schleider was twice tasked with appraising the environmentally-advanced tower. During the second appraisal, he realized he could breathe noticeably better and had a sense of "well-being" due to the technologies used to enhance indoor air quality. In that moment, Schleider envisioned the future of real estate - and it was green. He began his pursuit to earn a LEED AP which was among the more challenging goals of his professional career. "The material was familiar to professionals such as architects, designers and engineers, but for an appraiser, it was like learning a new language," said Schleider. Schleider is co-founder and president of Metropolitan Valuation Services, a thriving real estate appraisal and consulting firm which serves clients including investment firms, international and domestic pension funds, industrial corporations, foreign and domestic financial institutions, individual investors and law firms. Metropolitan Valuation Services holds a distinct niche in the New York City appraisal market. While most appraisal services are offered through departments of global or national real estate companies or small boutique agencies, Metropolitan Valuation Services is one of very few New York City appraisal firms with a robust number of employees, ranging from those such as Schleider and his partner, Martin Levine, with MAI designations (the gold standard of expertise in the field) to associates in the early phases of their careers. Add in the firm's diversity of assignments and mentoring process and the result is a productive synergy that has fueled growth. Recently, the firm re-branded and doubled its space when it relocated to 44 East 32nd St. The new headquarters provides a full floor presence with windowed private offices, open work areas, conference room and lounge, break areas and features high-end technology platforms as well as energy efficient "smart" lighting and real estate-centric artwork integrated into video displays. Schleider has appraised many of the city's green buildings, but his experience is in-depth and vast. The majority of appraisals relating to the post-recession wave of the mid-1990s for major residential construction, development and re-adaptive use projects in the New York area were conducted by Schleider. Additionally, many large-scale, multifamily complexes for FannieMae and FreddieMac loan portfolios were appraised by his team. Schleider's assignments have included development strategies, valuation and/or feasibility studies for market-rate and subsidized rental facilities, nursing homes, age-restricted and assisted-living residences, cooperative and condominium apartment buildings, development projects in various stages of approval and, valuation modeling/consulting for lower- and moderate-income housing. His experience with HUD-based programs includes Section 8 facilities, MAP, and rent comparability surveys. He is active in the New York Urban Green Council, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (FRICS), is a member of REBNY where he's served on its Housing Committee and chaired the Appraisal Committee and was three times reappointed by mayor Bloomberg to the N.Y.C. Rent Guidelines Board. Dedicated to ongoing education, Schleider leads by example, not only because of his LEED-AP but also by serving as committee chair for Candidate Guidance for appraisers seeking to earn their MAI designations at the Metropolitan New York Chapter of the Appraisal Institute where he is a past president. His firm has also repeatedly served as Education Sponsor of the chapter. As one of the city's leading experts, he feels "Valuing green real estate is a new and complex area of analysis at a level beyond what most appraisers currently possess. Savvy users of, and investors in real estate have embraced the concepts and this puts pressure on those who haven't." Thus, he is heartened that The Green Building Certification Institute, Green Building Research Institute and the Appraisal Institute, among others, are now providing that education. Lest you think Schleider is all work and no play, after hours he can be found in clubs playing bass in jazz and R+B/funk groups. His first love being music, he continues to make use of his degree from the Berklee College of Music, known as the world's foremost institute for the study of jazz and modern American music.