Jennifer Ogden, Avison Young

Name: Jennifer Ogden

Title: Senior Director, Office Leasing

Company Name: Avison Young

What was your greatest professional accomplishment in 2020?
I was proud to be part of the Avison Young team that REBNY honored with its Edward S. Gordon Memorial Award as one NYC’s Most Ingenious Deals of the Year. We were recognized for “The Trinity of Sales: How Three Charities Coordinated Sales for the Benefit of New York.” This transaction also was named Avison Young’s “Global Best Case Study” and our team, which included James Nelson, Jon Epstein and Susan Kahaner, was named Avison Young’s “U.S. Client Team of the Year.” In this transaction, Weill Cornell Medical College purchased a development site for medical housing at 1393 York Ave., enabling the seller, The Church of the Epiphany, to simultaneously purchase 351 East 74^th St. from Jan Hus Presbyterian Church. We then arranged Jan Hus’ acquisition of 1745 First Ave.

What was the most challenging part of working during the pandemic?
As the pandemic has caused massive slowdowns in the commercial real estate sector, many of us have adopted to working from home and incorporating Zoom in our day-to-day lives. Technology has allowed us to function and virtual tours have kept the space search and deal process alive. As a tenant rep broker the past nine months have been extremely challenging for obvious reasons but one has been particularly vexing. Governor Cuomo’s decision on March 7 to declare a state of emergency led to a moratorium on unsolicited telemarketing calls. The livelihood of a broker is dependent on making calls. I would argue, now more than ever, tenant’s need unbiased and expert information on what is happening in the market and guidance on what opportunities exist to help them reduce their operating costs. We are living through unprecedented times and I would argue transparency and access to information is needed.