ESD finally names new Executive VP of Real Estate, Arden Sokolow, who's actively hiring. Not much bandwidth for Atlantic Yards?

One reason for the sluggishness of Empire State Development (ESD) in attending to basic elements of the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park project--like scheduling bi-monthly Quality of Life meetings or purportedly quarterly meetings of the Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation (AY CDC) or even delivering meeting notes--may simply be bandwidth: they're understaffed.

(That said, the person overseeing Atlantic Yards remains Senior Director Tobi Jaiyesimi, who according to her LinkedIn is "Executive lead and Project Director for an interdisciplinary team of professionals managing the World Trade Center Site 5 Project in Lower Manhattan, the Atlantic Yards Project in central Brooklyn and the Queens West Development Project in Long Island City, Queens.")

Since March 2022, as I reported, ESD's Executive VP of Real Estate Holly Leicht had departed.

Last month, ESD appointed Arden Sokolow as Executive VP, Real Estate Development and Planning and, according to her LinkedIn, ESD is hiring for several jobs in her department, including a Senior Vice President for Real Estate Development and an entry level position. 

"And more postings coming soon as we grow this amazing team to tackle the best projects in NYS," Sokolow wrote.

Sokolow's background

ESD has not issued a press release, but Multi-Housing News 3/10/20 published a press release regarding her then-new job as Executive Vice President of Affordable Housing for Douglaston Development. 

As of then, she had a wide range of experience: chief of staff for the New York City Housing Authority; director of multifamily in the Northeast at the federal Deparment of Housing and Urban Development; managing director for housing programs at the Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery; Senior Policy Advisor for the NYC Mayor's Special Initiative for Rebuilding and Resilience; and positions at the NYC Department of Housing Preservation & Development, including Executive Director of Distressed Assets and Director of Inclusionary Housing.

The latter two positions, perhaps, might prepare her for Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park: a distressed asset (of sorts), with a requirement to deliver affordable housing.

Sokolow has a B.A. in urban studies from Columbia University and a Master’s degree in urban planning from Hunter College, according to Multi-Housing News.

Update: from ESD Board materials

ESD on 11/17/22 approved Sokolow in her post, effective as of 10/6/22. From the Board Materials:

It is proposed that the individual named and described below be appointed to the office indicated below, effective as of October 6, 2022: 

Arden Sokolow Executive Vice President, Real Estate Development and Planning 

As Executive Vice President, Real Estate Development and Planning, Ms. Sokolow will lead ESD’s real estate projects. Ms. Sokolow will be responsible for ESD’s Real Estate portfolio, including the development of the Penn Station Area, World Trade Center Site 5 and Atlantic Yards. In addition, she will: oversee the disposition of surplus and underutilized State properties such as decommissioned prisons, armories, airports and mental health campuses; determine reuse and redevelopment feasibility; manage negotiations with developers; lead community outreach; and, where relevant, oversee project management and progress. In this role, Ms. Sokolow will work with the Executive Chamber and a number of New York State agencies to develop projects that leverage State-owned real estate in ways that create jobs and result in outcomes that improve the State economy (including the development of new transportation infrastructure, as well the creation of affordable housing, community facilities and publicly-accessible open spaces.) 

Ms. Sokolow has extensive experience in both the public and private sectors. Before joining ESD, Ms. Sokolow was the Executive Vice President for Affordable Housing at Douglaston Development, a leading developer of affordable, market rate and mixed income properties. During her tenure at Douglaston, Ms. Sokolow lead the affordable housing team as they expanded their portfolio into new directions such as the preservations of public housing properties and expanding their affordable housing efforts into new markets throughout the country. She also aided the firm’s efforts to increase MBWE participation and expanded the ways the firm engaged in civic and philanthropic efforts such as Project Parachute, an effort to support renters during the pandemic. 

Prior to that role Ms. Sokolow has served as Chief of Staff at the NYC Housing Authority; Regional Director at the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development; Managing Director at NYS Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery; and a variety of leadership positions at the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development.