Ken Weissenberg, EisnerAmper LLP

What was the best thing that happened to you or your firm in 2014? In October we hosted our second Annual EisnerAmper Real Estate Private Equity Summit at the McGraw-Hill Conference Center in New York. The event attracted over 600 attendees including over 50 speakers and a special presentation by Sam Zell. The day-long conference featured panels on topics such as forecasting the real estate private equity market, foreign investment, driving deal flow, raising funds, joint ventures, and deal structuring, among others. The feedback has been tremendous, and we are happy to offer resources and opportunities for the leaders in this marketplace to connect. What was your most notable project, deal, transaction or personal achievement in 2014? EisnerAmper's real estate team has been able to provide thought leadership to the industry and serve as a connector for dealmakers. We continued to grow our practice and made great strides forward in the areas of real estate transactions, corporate finance, fund services, hospitality advisory services and REITs. To top off an already great year, I was honored to be the recent recipient of The Young Jewish Professionals (YJP) Leadership and Achievement Award at its annual Real Estate Deal Maker Summit in November. What are you looking forward to accomplishing in 2015? We are working on several exciting new projects with our clients; from developing creative condominium conversions of historic office towers to assisting foreign clients in acquiring US property, from helping clients start new opportunity funds to adding new clients to our firm roster at a rapid pace. We will also be expanding conferences to include a West Coast edition of the EisnerAmper Real Estate Private Equity Summit, as well as speaking at local and national real estate events throughout the year. What are some of your real estate predictions for 2015? The commercial market is beginning to show substantial signs of life and growth will continue into 2015 and beyond. Condominium developments in gateway cities will continue to set records for sale prices, both for square footage and total price in 2015. The hospitality market will continue to grow strongly as well. Urban retail will continue to outshine its suburban counterpart in the coming year.