MANAGEMENT Who's News PERSONNEL.

Joel Breitkopf (photo), president of Alchemy Mortgage Finance Inc., has been elected president of the New York B'nai B'rith Real Estate Unit. Breitkopf has been an active board member of the unit for many years and earlier served as treasurer. He succeeds Frank Zuckerbrot, who served as president in 1997-1998.

Breitkopf has been actively involved in real estate since 1985 on both the finance and investment side of the business. His firm, Alchemy Mortgage Finance (AMF), is a commercial mortgage brokerage firm specializing in the refinancing of underlying mortgage loans for cooperative corporations, as well as financings for commercial real estate owners in the New York metropolitan area.

Prior to forming AMF with Kenneth S. Horn, principal of Alchemy Properties, Inc., Breitkopf was a senior lender in the commercial real estate lending area of the Commercial Bank of New York and was directly responsible for a loan portfolio of over 75 loans. He underwrote and negotiated new real estate loans, as well as restructurings and workouts.

Earlier, Breitkopf was Director of Acquisitions and Vice President of Finance for a prominent New York City real estate investment company which owned over 2 million square feet of property. He oversaw a portfolio of mortgages totaling over $200 million and was also in charge of interest rate risk management.

He also served as real estate lending officer at Chemical Bank Realty, with a loan portfolio of over $150 million, and as a financial analyst at LaSalle Partners. Breitkopf has a B.A. in economics from the University of Pennsylvania. He is a Professional Subscriber of the Council of New York Cooperatives, a member of the Mortgage Bankers Association of New York, the Young Mortgage Bankers Association, the Community Housing Improvement Program, the Ad Hoc Co-op Finance Committee of the Queens Borough President's Office, and a past member of the Real Estate Lenders Association.

The B'nai B'rith Real Estate Unit is one of many industry groups organized by B'nai B'rith, which also operates the Anti-Defamation League and Hillel youth programs. B'nai B'rith units are located throughout Europe and South America, as well as the United States.

Rose Associates, Inc., one of New York's oldest full service real estate firms, has promoted Adam R. Rose (photo) to the position of president on December 18, 1998, announced Daniel Rose, vice-chairman of the company.

Having worked in virtually every area of Rose Associates, Adam Rose is considered an expert on the design, construction, sales, renting and management of luxury residential property. In 1990-91, Rose led the team that converted a portfolio of nine Rose rental buildings to cooperative status.

Following the completion of the conversions, Rose served as the senior project executive for the repositioning and sell-out of Three Lincoln Center, a condominium project that was owned by a group of banks. After the purchase and repositioning of University Walk, a full square block of street level retail in the heart of Greenwich Village, Rose and his colleagues accomplished the condominium conversion of the Allegro at 62 West 62nd Street. In 1997, Rose di-rected the sales and marketing of The Siena, a condominium on East 76th Street built by Rose Associates, the Brodsky Organization, and Quinlan and Field.

More recently, Rose has worked with his father, Frederick P. Rose, on the design and construction of Le Rivage at 21 West Street, a conversion of a historic Art Deco office building to 293 luxury rental apartments. Adam Rose also directed the marketing and rental program at the property, which had just been completed at the time of his promotion. In recent months, Adam and Frederick P. Rose have been working together on the construction of the Madison Belvedere, a 48-story rental tower at 10 East 29th Street that will open in the fall of 1999.

Adam R. Rose, 39, obtained his B.A. at Yale University and is active in industry and community organizations. He is a licensed real estate broker, member of the Real Estate Board of New York, vice chairman of the New York City Police Foundation, and trustee of the Jewish Community Center on the Upper West Side.

Jeffrey E. Levine (photo), president of Levine Builders, has been appointed the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) BUILD-PAC Trustee by the New York State Builders Association (NYSBA). In this position, Levine will represent the NYSBA on a national level as part of NAHB's political action committee.

"I am honored to have been selected to serve in this position and look forward to working with the PAC to further political awareness of the social and economic significance of our industry," said Levine, who was chosen as a result of his political activism, knowledge of the construction industry, and experience in governmental affairs. His affiliations also include: Vice President, Associated Builders and Owners of Greater New York; Board of Directors, Citizens Housing and Planning Council; and Board of Directors, New York Housing Conference.

As a NAHB BUILD-PAC trustee, Levine will represent the interests of the NYSBA at national committee meetings, which are held three times a year. Tapping into his knowledge of the governmental process, Levine will help make decisions regarding fund-raising, voting and contributions for political candidates.

Levine has been president of Douglaston, NY-based Levine Builders since 1979. Under his direction, Levine Builders has de signed and completed thousands of new and rehabilitated residential units and more than one-million square feet of commercial properties. Current projects include the conversion of 100,000 square feet of industrial space to post-production studios for The Shooting Gallery, as well as the construction of two new luxury senior assisted living facilities, Senior Quarters Kew Gardens in Queens and Senior Quarters Riverdale in The Bronx.

Levine was named the "1997 Freddie Mac Builder of the Year" in recognition of his construction and management of affordable, high-quality multi-family housing. He was also named Ernest & Young's "Construction and Real Estate Regional Entrepreneur of 1997"; and "1997 Developer of the Year" by the ABO.

The Halstead Property Company is pleased to announce that real estate broker Vasco Da Silva (photo) has won the Real Estate Board of New York's Residential Rental Deal of the Year Award. The award is given to a licensed real estate broker who demonstrated ingenuity and skill in negotiating a real estate property, developing a transaction, and following it through to its completion.

"While most real estate deals have their obstacles, this year's winning deal was more like a minefield," said Da Silva. The elements Da Silva had to overcome were a very tight real estate market, a well-known celebrity client who insisted on anonymity, a difficult leaseholder, competing bids, and a protracted time-frame.

The deal involved finding an apartment for a celebrity supermodel who had sold her SoHo loft and needed to find an apartment in 30 days. The client wanted an unfurnished two-bedroom rental in a pre-war doorman building either on the Upper East Side or Central Park West that met a shopping list of criteria. A major drawback was she had business commitments out of the country and had to delegate the initial viewing of the apartments to her designated agent.

Faced with this impossible task, Da Silva and the client's agent looked at 30 unfurnished apartments, before finding a furnished apartment that offered all, the "celebrity charm and character" the client was seeking. As it turned out, the apartment had once been inhabited by two other supermodels. The client loved it. Procuring the apartment, however, proved to be more difficult than finding it. The apartment was occupied by a primary tenant who preferred to sublet rather than allow Da Silva's client to enter into a new lease with the landlord.

During the next few weeks, Da Silva underwent heated negotiations with the leaseholder to secure a reasonable rent, a suitable length of time on the lease, and permission for the supermodel to replace some of the existing furniture with her own. To further complicate the deal, a second offer came in on the apartment from another buyer. At one point, Da Silva considered withdrawing the offer and making a bid on a twin, unfurnished apartment in the same building that became available for less money. Eventually, an agreement was reached on the original apartment.

However, Da Silva's difficulties were not yet over. Because of the client's renown, she refused to complete the condominium board package for fear her personal information would get into the wrong hands. Fortunately, the managing agent for the new building also managed the building she just left and already had the required information on file.

For his final duty, Da Silva drafted the sublease, including a rider that protected his client's privacy, her rights and her status as a subtenant. The sublease was fully executed, the condominium board package was approved, and his client was free to move in at her convenience. Da Silva's only complaint? He never got an autograph.

Born of European parents in South Africa, Da Silva, emigrated to the United States in January 1989. For the next several years Da Silva dappled in a variety of enterprises before a friend encouraged him to try his hand at real estate. He joined Halstead in March, 1996 and since then has been the recipient of numerous awards. He is the past recipient of the Founder's Semi-Annual Service Award for providing exceptional level of service to a principal in a real estate transaction. He also won a Quarterly Rental Listing Award for the most rental listings acquired for the firm in a given quarter. And he qualified for Halstead's Producer's Council of the firm's top 20 percent producers for four consecutive quarters.

In February 1998, the Real Estate Board of New York named him Rookie of the Year, the first year the award was given. To be eligible, a licensed broker had to be in the real estate industry for no longer than two years, and have generated a substantial gross commission while maintaining a high level of service.

Thomas Sansone (photo), former owner and principal of TAS Design, has joined Perkins & Will as the new Director of Design, Interiors. He will also hold the title of Associate Principal in the office, where he will oversee, direct and actively participate in the design or interiors projects.

"Tom Sansone will make a great addition to the existing core management team of Tama Duffy and myself," said Perkins & Will Principal John Lijewski. "Tom embodies the design talent and leadership skills that have built the reputation of our company throughout its 63-year history. In addition, Tom's portfolio of work outside our core market sectors will provide an opportune platform as we expand the New York interiors business."

At 46, Sansone brings impressive and diverse credentials to his new role at Perkins & Will. During his tenure at TAS, his principal client was the Guggenheim Foundation, who retained the firm for a range of award-winning expansion and renovation projects for the Guggenheim Museum. Sansone was Director of Capital Planning for the Foundation from 1988 to 1993. During that time, he was responsible for the museum's expansion program, totaling $65 million in construction costs.

Sansone holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Williams College and a Masters of Science degree in Environmental Art and Architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.