NYU-RICS Americas Conference: Innovation and Sustainable Real Estate

Zachary Aarons

Co-Founder & General Partner, MetaProp

Zach Aarons is a pioneering PropTech investor and Co-Founder & General Partner at MetaProp, where he has spent over a decade investing at the intersection of real estate and technology. Prior to founding MetaProp in 2015, he was one of the most active angel investors in the category, backing more than 50 early-stage companies. Since inception, MetaProp has invested in over 175 PropTech companies globally, with a mission to make real estate more affordable, accessible, sustainable, and resilient. Earlier in his career, Zach held roles at Millennium Partners, ENIAC Ventures, and Solomon Partners, and founded the tourism company Travelgoat. He is an Assistant Adjunct Professor at Columbia GSAPP and serves on multiple industry and investment committees, including the Real Estate Board of New York and Van Wickle Ventures. Zach is co-author of the Amazon bestselling book PropTech 101 and a frequent speaker at leading global industry events. He has been featured in major publications including The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, TechCrunch, and Forbes, and has been recognized in Business Insider’s Seed 100 as one of the top seed investors in the United States.

Phillip Krim

Co-Founder & CEO, Montauk Capital

Philip serves as the Co-Founder and CEO at Montauk Capital. Before Montauk Capital, Philip most recently served as the Founder of Montauk Ventures, an early-stage investment firm focused on investing in and helping Founders navigate the complexities of hyperscale. Before Montauk Ventures, Philip served as the Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman at Casper Sleep and oversaw the comprehensive business strategy, expansion, and vision for the company. Philip led Casper from its launch, to scaling the business to $500M+ in revenue, through its IPO on the NYSE, and the eventual sale and take-private of the business. A serial entrepreneur, Philip has founded two previous startups, where he focused on evolving consumer and e-commerce trends. Mr. Krim also currently serves as a Director of the Travis Manion Foundation and as a member of the Leadership Council of the Robin Hood Foundation. He received a B.B.A. in Marketing from Red McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin.

Andrew Min

Head of RXR Labs, RXR

Andrew Min leads digital initiatives at RXR. His responsibilities involve investing in and managing various proptech investment strategies, portfolio companies, and JVs, as well as leading RXR's in-house software development team. RXR is a vertically-integrated real estate investor with over $20 billion gross asset value under management across office, residential, industrial, and infrastructure assets. Andrew also works on a number of corporate and investment strategy initiatives, including new market identification, macroeconomic research, organizational design, investment processes, and RXR's annual strategy white paper. As part of his portfolio, Andrew also serves as co-CEO of View. View is the leader in smart building technologies that transform buildings to improve human health and experience, reduce energy consumption, and generate additional revenue for building owners. View Smart Windows automatically adjust in response to the sun, eliminating the need for blinds and increasing access to natural light. View Smart Windows are installed and designed into 50 million square feet of buildings including offices, hospitals, airports, educational facilities, hotels, and multifamily residences. View was formerly traded on the Nasdaq via a $1.6 billion SPAC merger. Before RXR, Andrew was an Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company where he led teams serving real estate clients (institutional investors, investment managers, lenders, developers, owners, property management companies, brokers, service providers, tenants, startups, and VC/PE firms) across strategy, operations, and investing, with an emphasis on digital disruption. While at McKinsey, Andrew advised on ~$15 billion of transactions. He was also the fifth employee at numberFire, a sports analytics startup that was later acquired by FanDuel, and a professional backpacking trip leader. Andrew is a graduate of Princeton University, where he was the president of the debate team and competed internationally at the highest levels of collegiate debate. He was formerly the Chair of the Board of Trustees of Manna Christian Fellowship (a chaplaincy at Princeton University) and serves in various volunteer roles at Church of the City New York. He is an avid hiker, a Yankees and Jets fan, and captains the church softball team. A native New Yorker, Andrew lives in the Upper West Side of New York with his wife, Jess, and their family.

Mark Bhasin

SVP & Adjunct Associate Professor of Finance, Basis Investment Group & New York University’s Stern School of Business

Joined Stern 2018 Mark K. Bhasin, CFA, FRM, CAIA, FDP, CMT, ERP, PRM, LEED Green Associate, WELL AP is currently Senior Vice-President for Basis Investment Group, LLC, a multi-strategy commercial real estate finance platform based in New York. Mr. Bhasin has spent over 20 years in the finance and real estate sectors. Mark has also worked at CWCapital, GMAC Commercial Mortgage, and PaineWebber. At PaineWebber, Mark participated in the firm's Investment Banking Analyst Training Program. While an undergraduate student at NYU, Mark worked part time for two years at Kidder Peabody & Co. in its CMO/MBS research group. Mark is also an owner of Delos, which is the founder of the WELL Building Standard (WELL certification), WELL Health-Safety rating, WELL AP credential, and International WELL Building Institute (IWBI). Mr. Bhasin is a former Adjunct Professor of Real Estate Development at Columbia University where he lectured in real estate finance. He is a former Lecturer at SUNY Stony Brook where he taught MBA corporate finance courses. Mr. Bhasin is a graduate of New York University's Stern School of Business where he earned his Bachelor of Science in finance and accounting. While at Stern, he was an Alumni Scholar and member of Beta Alpha Psi. He earned his Master of Science in Real Estate Development from Columbia University where he was also a real estate finance teaching assistant. Mr. Bhasin is a CFA, CAIA, FDP, and CMT charterholder and holds the FRM (Financial Risk Manager), ERP (Energy Risk Professional), and PRM (Professional Risk Manager) risk management designations. He holds the WELL AP and LEED Green Associate credentials, as well as the Sustainability and Climate Risk (SCR) Certificate and Risk and Artificial Intelligence (RAI) Certificate from the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP), Certificate in ESG Investing from CFA Institute, and Certificate in Climate and Investing (CCI) and Certificate in Impact About Mark Bhasin Adjunct Associate Professor Joined Stern 2018 Investing from CFA Society United Kingdom. Mr. Bhasin is an active member of the Urban Land Institute where he is Vice Chair of Programs of the Sustainable Development Product Council (SDC) and member of the ULI New York Housing Council. He was a member of the 2018 ULI Health Leaders Fellows. Mr. Bhasin is also an active member of the CFA Institute and CFA Society New York.

Sandhya Espitia

Chief Operating Officer, Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY)

Sandhya Espitia is the Chief Operating Officer of the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), the city’s leading real estate trade association and a driving force behind an industry that generates half of New York City’s local tax revenue. Representing 14,000 members across 1,000 firms, REBNY shapes the future of the city’s built environment through unmatched programs, products, and services. As COO, Espitia leads organizational transformation and impact—overseeing technology and digital strategy, member experience, industry awards and events, revenue drivers, and services for both commercial and residential markets. Under her leadership, REBNY has undergone sweeping digital, talent, and financial transformation, positioning the 130-year-old institution for its next era of growth. She works closely with industry leaders to advance strategic priorities, strengthen stakeholder engagement, and move New York City real estate forward. Espitia’s leadership has earned her recognition as one of Bisnow’s Women Leading Real Estate and a City & State Latino Trailblazer, honoring her influence in shaping the city’s real estate landscape. Prior to REBNY, she served as ICSC’s Managing Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, overseeing regional strategy and operations for the organization. Later, she became ICSC’s Global Vice President, leading education, certification, and innovation initiatives for commercial real estate developers across the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East. She also held senior roles at Harvard University, managing industry programs across the Americas and overseeing the Fulbright Program for the U.S. Department of State with a focus on science, technology and innovation. Espitia holds a B.S. in Film and Digital Media from Texas Christian University, a M.A. in International Education from the School for International Training, and an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business. She completed a fellowship in Management and Administration at Harvard University. Espitia is passionate about innovation at the intersection of people, technology, and the built world. She serves on the boards of the New York State Board of Real Estate and The Gateway School.

Iben Falconer

Director, Programs & Development, The Clean Fight

Iben Falconer is a business strategist who cares deeply about the built environment, cities, and the future of our planet. Her professional background includes senior leadership roles at climate tech companies like it's electric, as well as architecture and planning firms such as SOM, BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group, and Gehl. In her roles, she leads go-to-market, business development, and partnerships efforts, focused on urban innovation. She is an alumna of the Yale School of Architecture and Brown University, and lives in Brooklyn.

Gregg Gerken

Former Head of Commercial Real Estate & Executive Vice President, TD Bank

Gregg Gerken is the former Head of Commercial Real Estate for TD Bank, where he was responsible for a $28 Billion Investment Real Estate portfolio and a $4 Billion LIHTC Equity portfolio serving regional, Institutional Real Estate and not for profit clients. He has over 35 years of banking experience, spending over 25 years in the real estate industry. Gregg Gerken joined TD Bank in 1997 as the Senior Lender for the Northern New Jersey Region. In 1998 he was promoted to Senior Vice President and Market Manager for TD Bank. In 2008 he was promoted to the North Market President of TD Bank, responsible for the Commercial and Retail Banking functions in Bergen, Passaic, Hudson Counties in New Jersey & Rockland County, New York. In August 2009, Gregg was promoted as Co-Director of Commercial Real Estate for TD Bank and in October 2010, was announced as the Head of Commercial Real Estate for the bank. Prior to joining TD Bank, Gregg’s responsibilities included Real Estate Lending in New Jersey for Fleet Bank, National Westminster Bank & Citizens First National Bank, which were combined through mergers. He held positions of increasing responsibility including Team Leader-Real Estate Lending and was Real Estate Division Manager. Gregg currently serves on several Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) committees, is a member of the Real Estate Roundtable's Real Estate Capital Policy Advisory Committee (REPAC), and Homeland Security Task Force Committee. He also serves on the Board of Theatre Square Development for the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. Gregg has also served on the Executive and Development Committee for the New Jersey chapter of the Susan G. Komen® Breast Cancer Foundation and is a past Chairman of the MBA’s Senior Bankers Executive Committee. Gregg ran in his third Boston Marathon on April 21, 2014. Gregg graduated from Ohio University with an International Business and Political Science degree.

Tyng Patka

Partner, Adler & Stachenfeld LLP

YuhTyng “Tyng” Patka is a Partner and Co-Chair of the NYC Real Estate Tax & Zoning Incentives Practice, and Chair of the NYC Climate Mobilization Act Task Force and the PACE Financing Practice at Adler & Stachenfeld LLP. She also co-chairs the Firm’s New York City Development Practice and the Impact Practice. Regarded as one of NYC’s foremost real estate tax and zoning incentive experts, with specialized expertise in building tax classifications, Tyng advises developers and building owners on optimal ways to reduce their property’s property tax burden. She provides strategic direction on tax incentive programs, as well as zoning benefits, and also advises stakeholders on Local Law 97 compliance and C-PACE financing. Often quoted by the media and called upon as a speaker-moderator, Tyng was recently selected by Crain’s New York Business as one of their 2026 Notable Women in Law and was also ranked by City & State on the 2025 Law Power 100 list of New York State’s top legal professionals.

Paul Stanley

Executive Director, CRE Sustainable Finance, Wells Fargo

Paul Stanley is Executive Director, Commercial Real Estate REIT Finance Group & Sustainable Finance in Wells Fargo’s Corporate & Investment Bank (CIB). Paul oversees loan underwriting and portfolio management for a group of REIT clients, and he also leads sustainable finance across the entire CRE business. Paul joined Wells Fargo in 2021 after a 10-year career at HSBC Bank. Paul earned his M.S. in Sustainability Management from Columbia University and B.S. in Marketing and Public Relations from Syracuse University. He lives in NYC with his wife and two young children and enjoys swimming and bike riding when time permits.

Minija Yang

Vice President, Head of Sustainable Finance, International WELL Building Institute (IWBI)

Minjia Yang is the Vice President & Head of Sustainable Finance at the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), where she leads initiatives to advance social sustainability strategies within the global investment landscape. Minjia leverages her interdisciplinary expertise in law, economics, and finance, combined with deep insights into global markets, to drive sustainable finance, policy advocacy, partnership building, and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) efforts. Before joining IWBI, Minjia played a key role at Delos, a wellness technology company, where she helped establish over 10 subsidiaries and joint ventures across Asia and launched the first venture capital fund dedicated to wellness technology for the built environment. Her diverse career spans public, private, and nonprofit sectors, with professional experience across Asia, Africa, North America, and Latin America. She has collaborated with prominent organizations including the Inter-American Development Bank, Grameen Bank (2006 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate) in Bangladesh, social enterprises in Lesotho, nonprofit organizations in Haiti, the Malaysian Prime Minister’s Office, and consulting firms throughout Asia. Minjia serves on the advisory boards of several international organizations, private equity funds, and educational institutions, including the Urban Land Institute’s New York Housing Council, Berkeley Capital Group’s Hotel Lending Committee and Regenerative Impact Committee, the Out Leadership ESG Working Group, and the Women in Leadership Program Advisory Board at Mercy University. In 2024, Minjia was honored as one of the Global 50 Women in Sustainability by SustainabilityX® Magazine, recognizing her contributions to driving social sustainability and sustainable finance across industries. She earned a Bachelor of Laws from Sun Yat-sen University in China and was recognized as a Chinese young leader at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP). Minjia was also a W.T. Chan Fellow, participating in the Social Entrepreneurship Program at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She holds a Master of Public Administration with a concentration in economics and finance from Cornell University.

Matt Strahan

World Economic Forum

Gunnar Branson

CEO, Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate (AFIRE)

Mr. Branson is the CEO of the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate (AFIRE), an essential forum that provides high value thought leadership for real estate leaders from around the world. AFIRE’s members includes nearly 180 leading global institutional investors, investment managers, and supporting partners from 24 countries representing approximately US$4 trillion in real estate assets under management (AUM) in the US. Mr. Branson has worked across commercial real estate, professional services, education, and association leadership. Prior to joining AFIRE in 2018, he served as CEO of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Managers (NAREIM), and before that, led strategy, innovation, and marketing for Fortune 500 and mid-market companies. Mr. Branson serves on the board of directors for Affordable Homes & Communities (AHC), a developer, owner, and operator of affordable housing in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, DC. He also serves as an advisory board member for NYU Stern’s Chao-Hon Chen Institute for Global Real Estate Finance. Mr. Branson is a regular speaker, writer, panelist, and spokesperson for the global real estate and investing community, focused on institutional investing, urbanism, sustainability, and future trends. He spoke on a TEDx stage, on television news such as CIBC and Bloomberg, and interviews real estate thought leaders on The AFIRE Podcast. He has authored six stage and radio plays and recently published a book Chasing Lights based on his podcast of the same name.

Michael Beckerman

CEO, CREtech

Michael Beckerman has spent 40 years in commercial real estate, starting on the media relations side before selling his firm and pivoting to technology and AI. As CEO of CREtech, the largest conference company devoted to technology and AI in the Built World, he is widely recognized as a leading voice in the sector, an active Angel Investor in Built World technology startups, a Venture Partner at Montauk Capital where he focuses on infrastructure technology, and an Advisor to Rebuild Capital.

Sam Chandan

Founding Director, Chen Institute for Global Real Estate Finance at the NYU Stern School of Business

Dr. Sam Chandan is the Founding Director of the Chen Institute for Global Real Estate Finance at the NYU Stern School of Business, where he leads the Institute’s industry and policy engagement activities, research initiatives, and MBA and undergraduate real estate programs. The Institute is consistently ranked among the top business school real estate programs globally. The Institute was established in September 2022 and is supported by the largest-ever gift for an Institute or Center at Stern. In addition to the NYU Center for Real Estate Finance, it houses the school’s centers and initiatives in climate change, public health, and the built environment; property technology; real estate data science and artificial intelligence; and, cities and real estate in emerging economies. Prior to joining the faculty of Stern’s Finance Department in January 2022, Dr. Chandan was the Silverstein Chair and academic dean of the Schack Institute of Real Estate at the NYU School of Professional Studies, one of the world’s largest centers of real estate continuing education. He is a contributor to the World Economic Forum and co-author of its Framework for the Future of Real Estate, presented at Davos in January 2025, and a Senior Fellow at the United States Military Academy at West Point’s McDonald Conference. Dr. Chandan is founder and executive chairman of Chandan Economics, an economic advisory and data science firm serving the institutional real estate industry; independent advisor to TruAmerica, one of the nation’s leading multifamily developers, owners, and operators with over $18.0 billion in assets under management. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, Royal Society for Public Health (FRSPH), Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (FRICS), and Real Estate Research Institute (RERI), Dr. Chandan’s multifaceted research interests address real estate capital markets, the application of artificial intelligence to real estate finance, urban epidemiology, and the preparedness of global cities and other systemically important urban areas in managing and mitigating novel infectious disease threats. Dr. Chandan’s commentary on commercial and residential real estate markets and the broader economy has been featured regularly in national and global press, including the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, CNBC, and Bloomberg. Among his recent publications, he was the lead investigator for Regulatory Design and Real Outcomes, a study on the regulation of commercial real estate lending commissioned by the Commercial Real Estate Finance Council (CREFC). He holds an honorary appointment as the Economist Laureate of the Real Estate Lenders Association and has served on the real estate advisory council of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. While serving as dean of the Schack Institute, Dr. Chandan secured the largest gift commitment in the program’s 54-year history to support the creation of a new center in Shanghai, founded the NYU SPS CREFC Center for Real Estate Finance in collaboration with the Commercial Real Estate Finance Council, and created Schack’s flagship Hirsh Fellows Master of Science in Real Estate program. Dr. Chandan received his PhD in Applied Economics from the Wharton School and was a Doctoral Scholar in the Economics Department at Princeton University. He served previously on the faculties of the Wharton School and the Economics Department at Dartmouth College. He is a member of the Global Healthcare Leadership program at Harvard Medical School. In addition to his doctorate, he holds graduate degrees in epidemiology from Yale University and in economics and engineering from Penn. He received his undergraduate degree in economics, finance, and public policy from the Wharton School. He has held editorial board appointments with the Yale Journal of Health Policy, Law, and Ethics, published by Yale Law School; Real Estate Finance, published by Wolters Kluwer; Commercial Real Estate Finance World, published by CREFC; and, Summit Journal, published by the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate (AFIRE). A recipient of the Council of Urban Real Estate’s Presidential Service Award, he currently serves as a chair of the International Well Building Institute’s Health Equity Advisory Board and on the advisory board of the Urban Land Institute’s New York Council. Prior to founding Chandan Economics, Dr. Chandan was Global Chief Economist and Executive Vice President at Real Capital Analytics (RCA). During his tenure as Chief Economist and Senior Vice President at Reis, now Moody’s Analytics CRE, he was part of the executive team that took the company public.

Arpit Gupta

Assistant Professor of Finance, New York University Stern School of Business

Arpit Gupta joined New York University Stern School of Business as an Assistant Professor of Finance in September 2016. Professor Gupta's research interests focus on using large datasets to understand default dynamics in household finance, real estate and corporate finance. Recent papers examine the role for foreclosure contagion in mortgage markets and estimate the impact of adverse health events on foreclosures and bankruptcies. He is the recipient of the 2016 Top Finance Graduate Award at Copenhagen Business School. He received his B.S. in Mathematics and Economics at the University of Chicago and his Ph.D. in Finance and Economics from Columbia Business School.

Alexandra Faciu, MA, MRICS

President Alexandra Capital and Founder, SAM Curated | Member of Governing Council, RICS

Alexandra Faciu MA MRICS, President Alexandra Capital and Founder, SAM Curated. Alexandra is a purpose-driven leader and entrepreneur with a focus on maintaining a high level of expertise in sustainability and real estate asset and portfolio strategies. Her objective is to assist as many real estate owners as possible in integrating the latest best practices, including around sustainability, into their real estate activities and in future-proofing their portfolios. Alexandra has over 25 years of professional experience, during which time she has occupied a number of senior roles, spending approximately half of her time as an advisor and half as a principal. She is currently serving as President of Alexandra Capital Inc., a boutique practice specialising in sustainable investing strategy, change management and transformations. She is also the Founder and Curator SAM Curated, an online library and platform established to provide access to the latest best practices related to climate risks, sustainability and ESG for use primarily in asset management and portfolio strategies, but not only. Throughout her career, Alexandra has been involved in projects in Canada, the US, Europe, and internationally, which has allowed her to gain experience in all asset classes (commercial property and infrastructure). Prior to establishing Alexandra Capital, Alexandra was the head of asset and portfolio management for Cominar REIT, with a portfolio valued at CA$6 billion during her tenure with the company. She had overall responsibility for the newly established asset and portfolio management functions, with a mandate to develop the practice and implement ongoing asset management processes in line with the 2019 Strategic Plan. Reporting to the president and working closely with the CFO, main achievements included establishing asset value creation strategies and action plans, creating a portfolio optimization strategy, and monitoring the market and sectors. Alexandra has held a number of principal positions in her career, including roles at Bombardier, Ivanhoe Cambridge and Fonds immobilier de solidarité FTQ. In each of these roles, she has been tasked with transforming various teams, practices, portfolios or companies, with a focus on value creation and risk mitigation. In addition to her work with RICS, Alexandra is involved with a number of organisations and projects, such as the OECD, where she is a member of the OECD Task Force on Sustainable Real Estate Investment. The objective of the initiative is to analyze risk, practices, and prospects in order to ensure the future-proofing of real estate investments. The output of this initiative is a policy paper, which will be presented at COP30. Most recently, Alexandra co-authored a research study on the "Impact of Climate Risks and Sustainability Factors on Commercial Real Estate Values". This subject is of particular importance to her, as she believes it is crucial in making the business case for decarbonizing the built environment. Alexandra has shared her passion for sustainability with RICS by serving as the Sustainability Lead on the RICS Americas World Regional Board for several years. She has subsequently remained part of the RICS Americas Sustainability Working Group after the end of her term on the Board.

Maral Kazanjian

Chief People Officer, Moody’s

Jonathan O’Kane

Vice President and Head of Research, Chandan Economics

Jonathan O’Kane is Vice President and Head of Research at Chandan Economics, where he leads research on residential and commercial real estate, macroeconomic trends, and monetary policy. Over more than a decade at the firm, he has established and led research partnerships with industry-leading real estate organizations, including Arbor Realty Trust, RentRedi, and SVN. His work is frequently cited in CRE Daily, The Real Deal, GlobeSt, Bisnow, and Business Insider. Jonathan holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Pace University and a master’s degree in real estate finance from NYU’s Schack Institute, where he was an inaugural Hirsh Fellow.