Professional Women in Construction meet real estate industry's finest.

"Tonight we've assembled a vast arena of major players from real estate --the owners, developers and managers. They're here to let our constituency get the inside track on the multi-million dollar projects that are coming down the pipeline for a wide range of commercial, corporate, academic, and residential work. Clearly, this is the kind of news that construction thrives on," said PWC President Lenore Janis as she introduced the guests of honor at "Meet the Real Estate Industry," a grand networking and table-top exhibit event held on Tuesday, June 22 at La Maganette Ristorante in New York City.

Eric Zorn, president of Wal-Mart Realty, told the audience that Wal-Mart is committed to "layer on 9% worldwide to our square footage--8% of which will be domestic," adding approximately 50 million to the 600 to 650 million SF of space the retail giant currently occupies in the U.S. and Mexico, South America, Europe and Asia. Wal-Mart operates approximately 5,000 stores worldwide, including Sam's Club, and has 1400 projects underway in the U.S. alone. He said, "The most exciting thing is that we see virtually unlimited growth." Stores are edging closer together, the smaller urban format is appearing in more cities, and the availability of food adds to the convenience.

Zorn also noted that the store places a high value on diversity and has added an Office of Diversity. "By 2010 women will represent 51% of the marketplace," he said, "African Americans will comprise 13.5% and Hispanics 14%."

Geoffrey Wiener, assistant vice president of facilities planning for Columbia University spoke of a proposed major undertaking, "the biggest project for the university since 1895 when the Morningside campus was formed": the creation of a new spin-off campus between 125th and 133rd Streets west of Broadway, the area of Harlem known as Manhattanville. The "30-year build out" would be on a portion of West Harlem currently zoned for industry and low-density development. Plans are underway to ask the city for rezoning for the 18 acres of land comprising six million square feet of potential development. "Hopefully, this will be our future for the decades to come," said Wiener.

He also noted that Columbia has "an aggressive women/minority and local contracting-hiring program" and advised certified W/MBEs to contact the office if they qualify.

Suz Landi, vice president management with David Frankel Realty, Inc., and one of the first women to hold executive level positions in residential property management, currently holds an 18 property portfolio and mentors other women seeking careers in the field. She spoke of the relationship between real estate managers and construction, noting that the interaction revolves around not only the physical plant, but also customer service and the daily operations of buildings. "Any manager's success is based on mutual respect," she said.

Landi encouraged the audience to avail themselves of the free training offered by vendors and contractors saying, "I attribute my success to the good counsel I've received."

James Kuhn, president of Newmark & Company Real Estate, Inc., acquired over 11 million square feet of office space and more than 6,000 apartments from 1978-1990 (with his former partner, Bernard Mendik). Now at Newmark since 1992, he and his partners own the Flatiron building, known as the City's first skyscraper, acquired in 1996 at a time when it was sorely in disrepair.

Saying "while buying real estate I came to meet the construction industry," Kuhn noted the "tremendous amount of work" construction contributes to development.

He also saluted professional women in construction and real estate, saying that "women in leadership positions are nothing new to us" since Newmark had a woman partner ten years ago and now has women partners running offices across the nation.

Sabrina Kanner, vice president of design & construction with Brookfield Financial Properties, recently completed the restoration/renovation of the Winter Garden at World Financial Center after 9/11, a project that placed her on the pages of the New York Times. She said, "In lower Manhattan, billions will be spent. The levels of opportunity for W/ MBEs will be unprecedented."

The evening was extremely well-received by exhibitors. Tony Perumal, marketing manager for the Hirani Group, said, "There isn't another place where we can meet contractors, developers, real estate people, designers and architects at the same time. It's a combination of the whole industry."

Mike Hughes, business unit manager with Service Point USA, noted that his company is new to New York. "We find this much more helpful than we expected. We're focused on the architects, contractors and engineers--we found them here."

Other attendees were also pleased.

Linda Isaacson, vice president of Ticor Title National Commercial Division, said, "It's critical to focus on the strategic networking capabilities that an organization such as PWC presents to its members."

Leslie Meyer, project manager with Skanska USA, summed it up, saying, "The real estate industry has a lot to offer to construction. There are opportunities for work in the future."

PWC's next Developers Forum is scheduled for Thursday, July 29 at 8 am. Please call 212.486.7745 or contact [e-mail] to register.