In City & State's 2021 Real Estate Power 100, Greenland USA's (low-profile) Hu now at #68 (after #64 and a generous #27)

Well, City & State has just issued The 2021 Real Estate Power 100: The industry leaders navigating the coronavirus pandemic., and it not only explicitly cites the pandemic, it offers more recognition to tenant advocates and other activists, indicating a perceived change in the balance of power. 

That likely will be reflected in state legislative results, but I think--as indicated in the mayoral race--there's also significant momentum toward development advocacy. These lists are of course arbitrary, but they provide a general snapshot of trends.

At the top of the list are Stephen Ross & Jeff Blau Chair and Founder; CEO, Related Companies, given not only their major projects like Hudson Yards but also their willingness to spend money on campaigns.

Next come New York City Deputy Mayor Vicki Been and politically active developer Scott Rechler of RXR.

The mainstream and the activists

Other notable mainstream figures high in the list are, #7, Brian Kingston & Ben Brown Managing Partner and CEO, Real Estate; Managing Partner, Real Estate, Brookfield, which bought out ; #12, Jed Walentas, CEO, Two Trees; #19, Eric Gertler, President and CEO-designate, Empire State Development; and #46, Darcy Stacom & William Shanahan Chair and Head, New York City Capital Markets; Chair, New York City Capital Markets, CBRE.

The list offers notably high ranks for activists. At #28, Cea Weaver, Campaign Coordinator, Housing Justice for All; #32, Marcela Mitaynes, Assembly Member from Sunset Park; #42, Barika Williams, Executive Director, Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development; #52, Aaron Carr, Founder and Executive Director, Housing Rights Initiative; #63, Esteban Girón, Tenant Advocate, Crown Heights Tenant Union.

Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park connections: Greenland

Of course, there are some Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park connections:

68. Hu Gang President and CEO, Greenland USA Hu Gang leads the American subsidiary of one of the biggest real estate developers in China, overseeing the firm’s $7 billion in assets and investment strategy, which includes Pacific Park, the mixed-use Brooklyn megadevelopment it is working on with Forest City Partners. Over the summer, Greenland USA filed to build a 41-story mixed-use building at its Pacific Park development, but the project has faced a number of delays. 

(Note that the joint venture is called Greenland Forest City Partners, but Forest City Realty Trust no longer exists, since it was absorbed by Brookfield Properties.)

As I wrote last year, with Hu at #64, he has virtually no public presence, so we don't know what his plans are for the project, since announcements are mediated via the public relations firm BerlinRosen, and the public face at government meetings tends to be Executive VP of Development Scott Solish. 

The latter has more local political experience and--I suspect--is less likely to trigger recognition that the company is owned, in large part, by the government of Shanghai.

That ranking seemed a little more realistic than the one in 2019, in City & State's inaugural Real Estate Power 50 list. Hu was listed at 27, which I thought was a stretch, given the uncertainty regarding the project. 

Indeed, that uncertainty continues. That 41-story building, 700 Atlantic Avenue (B5), would be the first one over the railyard, and would rely significantly on a deck over the first of the two railyard blocks--a deck that has not yet started.

Other Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park connections

Also on the list:

72. Thomas Elghanayan & Frederick Elghanayan Chair; President, TF Cornerstone Last year marked 50 years in the real estate industry for the Elghanayan family, which now owns 2.5 million square feet of offices in Washington, D.C., and New York City. This year, TF Cornerstone and RXR Realty announced plans to demolish Grand Hyatt Hotel near Grand Central Terminal and transform it into a 1,600-foot office and hotel tower. The foundation work has reportedly started on the firm’s residential buildings in the Pacific Park development in Brooklyn.

Interestingly, there's no mention of another significant developer, The Brodsky Organization, which is building one Pacific Park tower outright and is collaborating with Greenland on another.

Other Atlantic Yards-related people including #78, MaryAnne Gilmartin CEO, MAG Partners (last year #68); #84, Suri Kasirer & Omar Toro-Vaca President; Senior Vice President, Real Estate, Kasirer (last year #73); #92, Jonathan Mechanic, Melanie Meyers & David Karnovsky Chair; Partners, Fried Frank Real Estate Department (last year #95); and #96, Risa Heller & Jonathan Rosen, Founders, NY Forever. (Rosen co-directs BerlinRosen.)