PA’s Ward Rounds Out Megaprojects Panel

NEW YORK CITY-From his vantage point of running the bistate agency that’s a key player in large-scale development ranging from the World Trade Center to the ARC Tunnel, Chris Ward clearly is well suited to talk about megaprojects. The executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has just been added to the lineup of  “Megaprojects: Meet the Developers Who Are Changing the Face of New York City,” part of the ninth annual RealShare New York scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 28 at the Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown.

Moderated by John Salustri, content director for ALM’s Real Estate Media Group, the megaprojects panel will take the RealShare audience behind the construction fences of the city’s biggest deals, discussing how they’re creating value, opportunity and community and what to expect in the long and short term. In addition to Ward, the panel includes Janno Lieber, president of World Trade Center Properties LLC; L. Jay Cross, president of Related Hudson Yards; John Livingston, president of Tishman Construction Corp.; and Seth Pinsky, president of the New York City Economic Development Corp.

The experts who will take the stage to talk about grand-scale projects will have plenty of company among industry thought leaders. Also scheduled to speak at this year’s RealShare New York are Steven Spinola, president of the Real Estate Board of New York; Hessam Nadji, managing director of research services for Marcus & Millichap; Glenn Rufrano, president and CEO of Cushman & Wakefield; and Mitch Rudin, president and CEO of the New York tri-state region at CB Richard Ellis, among others.

From the opening “New York Power Panel” to the concluding Capital Markets Update, the conference promises frank and spirited discussions on New York City’s current and future role as a leading business, real estate and financial center. Along with megaprojects, individual panels will explore the local and global trends likely to affect New York’s economy and real estate sector, the outlook for key employment sectors, who’s buying, who’s selling and who’s holding steady—and the impact of financial reform and dealing with the political climate from Washington to Albany to City Hall.

“This isn’t about cocktails and hors d’oeuvres,” says Michael Desiato, VP and group publisher of ALM’s Real Estate Media Group. “People want serious answers to serious questions.” He says this year’s conference will be “one of the most significant industry events in years.”

Attendance for this year’s RealShare New York is projected at 400 to 450 senior-level decision makers, says Desiato, up about one-third from the 300-plus industry members who came to the conference in 2009. For the full agenda, speaker updates and registration form, click here.