Sustainable Real Estate Development Breakfast Forum Presented by the Center for Real Estate Studies at New York Law School
New
York, NY (October 8, 2009)—The
Center for Real Estate Studies at New York Law School will present the
Third Annual Breakfast Forum on “Sustainable Real Estate
Development” with a focus on Responsible Property Investment (RPI)
on Thursday, October 15 at 8:15 a.m. at the Law School, located at 185
West Broadway.
“The practice of Responsible Property
Investment allows real estate investors, owners, and lenders to achieve
success with a focus on the ‘triple bottom
line’—profits, planet, and people,” Professor
Andrew R. Berman, Director of the Center for Real Estate Studies, said.
“I expect this forum will help show many real estate professionals
that proper RPI strategy can lead to equivalent levels of profitability,
while simultaneously reducing the ordinary and detrimental impacts of the
real estate industry. We hope this forum will help to make the topic of
Responsible Property Investment one of mainstream
application.”
Since the Center’s inception in 2007, it has hosted this annual forum with the goal of introducing real estate practitioners to the concept of sustainable real estate development and to demonstrate that the incorporation of sustainability goals need not interfere with the real estate industry’s goals of profitability, customer satisfaction, and corporate integrity.
This year’s forum will feature a panel of three distinguished speakers who will discuss how the companies they work for incorporate principles of Responsible Property Investment in their business strategy.
William G. Lashbrook III is Senior Vice President of PNC Real Estate Finance in the PNC Financial Services Group, where he is responsible for operational metrics and portfolio management for PNC’s direct loan portfolio, which exceeds $30 billion. Lashbrook is a member of the U.S. Green Building Council, where serves on the Board of the New Jersey Chapter. He is also member of the chapter’s speakers bureau; in this capacity he has met with representatives of local governments and the state government in Trenton, New Jersey on green buildings. Lashbrook is a member of the Urban Land Institute and the organization’s Policy and Practice Committee, as well as its newly formed Responsible Property Investing Council.
Cherie Santos-Wuest is Director of Global Social and Community Investments at TIAA-CREF. She is responsible for managing the company’s Corporate Social Real Estate Investment Program. She serves on several advisory committees of real estate funds in which TIAA-CREF is invested. She is Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors for Impact Community Capital, a for-profit corporation that structures and manages insurance company investments financing affordable housing, community facilities, economic development, and other socially responsive investments in communities within California and nationally. Santos-Wuest is also a full member of the Urban Land Institute, where she serves as Vice Chair for the Responsible Property Investing Council. She is active with the Institute for Responsible Investment, Wall Street Without Walls, and the Women’s Bond Club of NY, and has spoken on numerous panels on urban revitalization, sustainability, and pension fund investments across the country.
Nathan Taft is Director of Acquisitions for Jonathan Rose Companies, where he was instrumental in creating the Rose Smart Growth Investment Fund I, L.P., one of the first national funds to focus on creating value for investors through the acquisition and green transformation of existing buildings. He has led the Fund’s efforts to acquire, green, and reposition portfolio properties, leveraging Jonathan Rose Companies’ longstanding experience with green building and its commitment to investment in smart growth and mass transit accessible locations. Taft is an expert in financing, design and construction management, marketing, and leasing. Taft is a member of Pension Real Estate Association and the Urban Land Institute, where he is a member of the Responsible Property Investment Council. He has been a featured speaker on the greening of existing historic buildings in both the U.S. and Canada.
This event is free and open to the public. Register by calling the Center for Real Estate Studies at 212.431.2135 or visiting: www.nyls.edu/realestate. Press may RSVP to LaToya Jordan at LaToya.Jordan@nyls.edu or 212.431.2191.
About the Center for Real Estate
Studies
The Center for Real Estate Studies (CRES) at New
York Law School provides students with a unique educational opportunity to
study both the private practice and public regulation of real estate.
Leveraging the School’s location in the prime real estate market of
New York City, the Center enables students to gain practical experience in
the real estate community and make contacts for future employment. Launched
in 2007, the Center offers an extensive selection of classroom courses,
advanced seminars, and independent study projects, as well as externships
in governmental offices and real estate firms. It also sponsors
conferences, symposia, and continuing legal education programs on a broad
spectrum of issues. The Center for Real Estate Studies aims to help bridge
the existing gap between the private practice and academic study of real
estate, and is one of the premier research centers in the country for the
study of real estate.
About New York Law School
Founded in 1891, New York Law School is an independent law school
located in lower Manhattan near the city’s centers of law,
government, and finance. New York Law School’s renowned faculty of
prolific scholars has built the School’s strength in such areas as
constitutional law, civil and human rights, labor and employment law,
media and information law, urban legal studies, international and
comparative law, and a number of interdisciplinary fields. The School is
noted for its eight academic centers: Center on Business Law & Policy,
Center on Financial Services Law, Center for International Law, Center for
New York City Law, Center for Professional Values and Practice, Center for
Real Estate Studies, Institute for Information Law & Policy, and
Justice Action Center. New York Law School has more than 13,000 graduates
and enrolls some 1,500 students in its full- and part-time J.D. program
and its four advanced degree programs in financial services law, real
estate, tax, and mental disability law studies. www.nyls.edu
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