Bronx Chamber convenes first real estate and housing agency forum

Bronx, NY The Bronx Chamber of Commerce convened the first Bronx Real Estate & Housing Agency Forum on August 13, drawing 91 registrants, including property owners, managers and housing professionals, for a direct, practical exchange with the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) on the rules that shape their work.

The forum, a program of the Chamber’s Real Estate and Housing Policy Council, exceeded expectations for a mid-August program organized on a compressed timeline, reflecting strong demand among local housing providers for direct access to the agencies that regulate them.

“The owners and operators who maintain the Bronx’s housing are overwhelmingly small businesses, and giving them clear, direct access to the agencies they work with every day is exactly the kind of practical support the Chamber exists to provide,” said Lisa Sorin, president and CEO of the Bronx Chamber of Commerce.

“By bringing the Department of Buildings and HPD into the same room as our members, we are helping property owners get real answers and build stronger, more productive relationships with the agencies that regulate their businesses.”

Over the course of the morning, DOB and HPD representatives walked members through current procedures and answered questions submitted in advance on the issues Bronx housing providers encounter most often, including permitting and inspection timelines, gas-service restoration and Local Law 152 compliance, the pace of violation clearance and the city’s enhanced-enforcement programs. After the presentations, agency staff remained for office hours and resource tables, where members could raise individual buildings and circumstances directly.

The Bronx is home to roughly 570,000 housing units, according to the New York State comptroller, and about eight in ten Bronx households rent their homes, which is the highest share of any New York City borough, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

The owners and managers who maintain that housing are, in most cases, small businesses whose impact reaches well beyond their buildings. Each occupied building sustains a wide network of local jobs and enterprises, including building staff and superintendents; the plumbers, electricians, painters, carpenters, roofers and boiler and elevator technicians who keep buildings running; and the professional services housing depends on, from insurance brokers and attorneys to architects, engineers, accountants and property managers. When Bronx housing providers are stable, that entire ecosystem, and the livelihoods it supports, stays strong.

The Chamber launched the Real Estate and Housing Policy Council in February 2026 to give the borough’s property owners, managers, developers and contractors a coordinated voice on the policies that shape their work. Thursday’s forum, moderated by council members Sandra Erickson and Matt Engel, was the council’s first public program.

“This is exactly what we set out to do when we formed the Council: create a focused, practical venue where the people who own, manage and build housing in this borough can work through the real operational issues with the agencies alongside them,” said Mackenzie Forsberg, co-founder and chief operating officer of Genesis Realty Group and chair of the Real Estate and Housing Policy Council. “The businesses I work with every day want to get compliance right, and the Bronx Chamber is helping to develop a direct line to the people who can help us do that.”

The forum also drew participation from elected offices at the state and city levels. State senator Nathalia Fernandez and assembly member Yudelka Tapia attended in person, and the offices of Council members Kevin Riley and Justin Sanchez were represented by staff, hearing directly from Bronx building owners and managers about the day-to-day realities of maintaining housing in one of the most heavily regulated environments in the country.

“Bronx housing providers are small businesses that keep our neighborhoods stable and our neighbors housed, and they deserve a government that works with them, not around them,” said state senator Nathalia Fernandez. “I was glad to join this forum to hear directly from the owners and managers in our community about what they need to keep doing that work and to keep housing affordable.”

“The people who own and operate housing across the Bronx carry real responsibility, and forums like this make it easier for them to navigate the rules and get answers directly from the agencies,” said assembly member Yudelka Tapia. “I thank the Bronx Chamber for creating a space where industry and government can solve problems together.

The forum is the start of a sustained effort. The chamber plans to offer follow-up virtual sessions with the agencies for Bronx Chamber members, and additional in-person forums, open to both members and prospective members, are being planned to extend this kind of direct access across the borough’s housing and development industries. 

The forum was made possible by its sponsors, led by the New York Apartment Association, along with Diamond Property Group, Azimuth Development Group, Jerome Environmental Services, Chatham Management and Start Elevator.