Speakers2

Partner and Broker

ISG Asia,LLC

Don Pingaro has been selling luxury homes in Miami, Florida since 1992. In his early career his primary market has been the world famous exclusive Fisher Island where in 2015 he has surpassed over 5,000 real estate transactions. Don is the Broker/Partner for ISG Asia, home of the largest sales Mandarin speaking sales team in Florida.  ISG Asia has partnered with AREAA Global to promote Miami as the next great global investment destination. The ISG Asia team is hosting AREAA national brokers and investors in Miami for fly & buy due diligence tours. The firm has partnered with a developer to build an upcoming 200 acre Chinatown in Miami with over 20,000 residences, 2 hotels, 100 luxury shops and restaurants and a casino.  ISG also has plans to open new offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and New York City. 

President

AREAA GLOBAL Inc.

Jim Park was the 2013 Chair of the Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA) and previously served as the association’s President and CEO from 2005 to 2011.  Additionally, he currently volunteers in the capacity as the President of AREAA Global, Inc., which is a for profit arm of AREAA. In his personal business ventures, Park started several real estate and finance-related companies over the past eleven years. Currently, Park is one of the founders and current CEO of the Mortgage Collaborative – which represents more than 67 top lenders in the country originating more than $110 billion in mortgage loans.  Park has a broad and in-depth knowledge of the housing industry having worked in private, government, regulatory and nonprofit sectors throughout his career including Freddie Mac and FHA.   

Mortgage Consultant

Wells Fargo

Raj Rajpal is a mortgage consultant with Wells Fargo for over 15 years.  He has been a mortgage consultant for over 25 years primarily focused the on residential mortgages. Raj was a realtor for over five years prior to that.  In his career over 25 years he has worked extensively with developers, realtors, attorneys and accountants in business development.  In his mortgage career Raj has closed over 15,000 real estate transactions and has been ranked top 1% mortgage originators in the country, 20 years in a row.

Principal
Marks Paneth LLP.

James M. Robbins, JD, LLM, is a Principal at Marks Paneth LLP. He is an international tax specialist with approximately 30 years of public accounting experience. As a member of the firm’s China Desk, a cross-disciplinary team of professionals who can assist both US and Chinese businesses and individuals looking to work, invest, raise capital or do business in China and the United States, Mr. Robbins advises on real estate planning and general investment planning opportunities for foreign investment in the United States.

Vice President, Business Development

Serene Country Homes

Michelle splits her time between Canada and the USA serving as Vice President of Business Development for the North American operations of the A2A - Serene Homes Group of Companies; an international property developer, and asset management company headquartered in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas. Having worked in the real estate industry in several capacities over the last five years, Michelle has gained extensive exposure to all aspects of structuring, marketing and servicing exclusive real estate investments to a wide and diverse client base.Michelle had the opportunity to understand the Serene Homes business while working with its global executives in Manila, Hong Kong and Singapore during her tenure with A2A. 

CEO

Bespoke Global Property Group

Jarrod G. Randolph is CEO of Bespoke Global Property Group, a private network marketing and sales platform of HNW individuals and luxury brand partners. Over his 16-year career Mr. Randolph has worked for top brokerages in NYC and sold nearly $2.0 billion in commercial and residential properties.  His accolades include Forbes 30 Under 30 and The Real Deal Under 35 Rising Stars. Mr. Randolph is acting chairman of the New York Residential Specialist executive committee.  He received a Bachelor of Science in Real Estate Finance and Development from the Schack Institute of Real Estate at New York University. 

Vice President

Toll Brothers City Living

Alan Silver is a Vice President at Toll Brothers City Living in New York City.  He is responsible for originating, underwriting and structuring all new development acquisitions in the five boroughs.  Since joining the company in July of 2010, Alan has successfully closed eleven transactions totaling more than 1.6 million developable square feet. Notable recent acquisitions included 351-359 Broadway in Tribeca and 122-130 East 23rd Street in Gramercy Park.    Alan received his J.D. and B.A. from Tulane University in New Orleans and he has a MS in Real Estate from the Schack Institute at New York University.

Managing Director and Group Head

Hodges Ward Elliott

Will Silverman is Managing Director/Group Head of Investment Sales in Hodges Ward Elliott’s New York Office.  He was hired in 2015 to expand the company’s offerings to office, retail, multifamily in land, specializing in New York City.  Prior to joining HWE, Will was an Executive Managing Director in the Capital Transactions Group at Savills Studley, where he worked on nearly $6B of transactions since joining the firm in 2003. Notable sales include selling the office portion of 100-104 Fifth Avenue twice, the record-breaking sale of an apartment building at 111 Kent Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and three sales of the retail at 465 Broadway in Soho during a four year period. 

CEO

Suzuki Capital

Honored as one of the top 50 Asian American Businessmen in 2005, Mr. Suzuki has been in real estate finance and development for 32 years. His experience includes real estate debt workouts, construction, multi-family management, and retail development.  Mr. Suzuki is the Managing Member and founder of Suzuki Capital LLC, a company he formed in 2010 to be a full service real estate investment and development firm. Mr. Suzuki is also a columnist for The Dessert Professional on the A-Z in opening a retail store and an instructor in real estate development at the New York Real Estate Institute (NYREI). 

Chairman, Global Brokerage
CBRE

In his role as CBRE’s Chairman of Global Brokerage, Stephen Siegel he has been called by the media “a powerhouse,” “icon,” “game changer” and “the most legendary and revered broker still plying the trade in NY.” Mr. Siegel negotiated Gucci Group’s lease at Trump Tower—the most valuable retail deal then completed—on behalf of The Trump Organization, a transaction recognized by REBNY as 2006’s Most Creative Retail Deal of the Year. Frequently quoted in major newspapers, Mr. Siegel is regularly among the Commercial Observer’s Power 100 and has been named by Crain’s as one of the 100 Most Influential Business Leaders in New York City.

President
COMPASS

With almost two decades of experience, Leonard is recognized as one of New York’s leading residential real estate authorities. The Leonard Steinberg Team is ranked consistently in the Top Ten Broker Teams in the United States by the Wall Street Journal and has been responsible for well over $2 billion in residential transactions. He has served as a marketing agent and consultant on some of New York’s most iconic developments, including 150 Charles Street, 200 Eleventh Avenue and 54 Bond Street. Previously, he owned a fashion company and was a fashion designer at Christian Dior America. Leonard is a Licensed Associate Real Estate Broker.

Director of Acquisitions and Finance

XINN Development International

Can Tavsanoglu is the Director of Acquisitions and Finance for XIN Development International, the US investment arm of XINYUAN Real Estate Co., Ltd. (NYSE:XIN), responsible for sourcing, underwriting and executing New York Metropolitan Area real estate transactions as well as implementing XIN’s financing efforts and general investment strategy. Mr. Tavsanoglu has over 7 years of hands-on, institutional real estate investment experience in various asset classes with a specialization in New York area development deals. In his career, Mr. Tavsanoglu has been directly involved in numerous closed transactions with a total value of over $1 billion. 

Senior Global Real Estate Advisor, Associate Broker

Sotheby's International Realty

Cathy Taub has over $1.3 billion in career sales and a 2016 Wall Street Journal/Real Trends ranking of #26 Individual by Sales Volume in Manhattan, #188, nationally. Cathy works with sellers and buyers throughout Manhattan and has vast experience selling cooperatives, condominiums and townhouses. Her expertise extends as well to the marketing and sale of new developments. Cathy’s clients benefit from her years of law practice: she is smart, detail-oriented, and a creative dealmaker who has developed relationships of trust with clients and industry peers. Passionate about her work, with a calm demeanor, she regularly advises sophisticated and demanding clients in fast moving, significant transactions—important skills in the highly charged and nuanced New York City real estate market. 

Chief Investment Officer
Real Hospitality Group

Joseph Yi has an extensive real estate investment knowledge and experience spanning all major sectors, with over $5 billion worth of investment transactions.  He is particularly recognized for his expertise in hotel investments, including ground up development.   Currently, he serves as the Chief Investment Officer for Real Hospitality Group, a leading hotel management company in the NYC Metro Area.  He oversees all investments and major transactions for RHG.

Head of Network Research, China Confidential

Financial Times

Sun Yu is Head of Network Research at FT Confidential Research, a research service under the Financial Times. Sun manages a team of researchers in nine major cities across the country. He has been interviewed by BBC, China Daily and has presented research findings at National Association of Business Economics. He began his career in 2004 at the Financial Times Beijing Bureau and attended NYU's business journalism program on a Wall Street Journal Journalism in Asia Fellowship. He joined FT Confidential in 2009 as a Research Manager and was promoted to Head of Network Research in 2012.

Real Estate Broker

Global Estate Link

Born and raised in Tokyo, Japan, Atsuko came to US as a teanager.  After graduating from college in California, she worked at Japanese Trading Company in San Francisco and in 1992 opened her own.  In 1998, she changed her career in real estate and in 2006, she established Capital Lending Network Inc. She is an owner/broker of Global Estate Link, Inc. and recently joint Sperry Commercial Global Affiliates to expand her business in global commercial business.  She served asAREAA Silicon Valley Chapter president in 2015 and active board member of AREAA Global and current chair for Japan Connect group.

CEO
JinList.com

Dr. Jin Zhao is the founder and CEO of JinList.com, a dedicated real estate technology leader that connects brokers, developers, and investment professionals with Chinese buyers and investors. Dr. Zhao is also the CEO of Jinti.com, a leading platform of Social Local Marketplaces that serves Chinese communities in China and the U.S. Earlier, he founded the Structured Securities Department at Credit Agricole (Lyonnais), a major international bank. He developed successful trading strategies and grew its assets from nothing to $1.5 billion. It became a highly profitable operation. Earlier, Dr. Zhao served at UBS Asia and at Morgan Stanley & Co.

Principal
Clarett International

Having been in investment commercial real estate sales for over 15 years, Ms. Zhu has extensive experience in the sale of development of hospitality assets as well as mixed use, multifamily, office and retail properties. From the Lower East Side, to Midtown Manhattan and to the heart of Harlem, she has contributed to the addition of an aggregate of over 750,000 square feet of new developments to New York’s skyline. Ms. Zhu rejoined Marcus & Millichap’s Manhattan office in 2009 and was with Besen & Associates before that.

Attorney

Mona Shah & Associates

Hui’s practice is focused primarily on business immigration and corporate law. Hui is the head of the firm’s China department. Hui is very experienced in EB-5, directing the regional center designation applications and working cross-functionally with developer, business plan writer, economist, and outside counsel. She also represents many EB-5 investors with their petitions. Hui has rich experience advising clients on business visas, such as H-1B, L1, PERM applications. Hui also has insight in the corporate practice area and successfully represents clients in merger and acquisition cases. Hui received her Bachelor of Law Degree from Beijing Normal University and obtained her LL.M. degree from New York University School of Law.