For the first time ever, New York City Economic Development Corporation is staging a special Investor Summit in collaboration with AFIRE for international institutional capital that’s focused on US property investing.
With the summit in mind, AFIRE CEO Gunnar Branson sat down with chief operating officer of NYCEDC, Melissa Román Burch, for a pulse check on New York City’s CRE environment.
“New York City is an engine that is always thinking about growth,” says Burch.
Currently, New York City Mayor Eric Adams has set a goal of creating 500,000 housing units over the next 10 years, with roughly 30,000 units expected to come from office-to-residential conversions.
Meanwhile, two new trophy office skyscrapers have broken ground, totaling about 2 million square feet of new infrastructure.
Looking ahead, the city projects 400,000 green-collar jobs by 2040, underscoring New York’s commitment to both economic growth and sustainability.
The conversation covers the key sectors driving momentum—office, housing, energy, and transportation—while also asking the bigger questions: Where are the opportunities hiding? How will office-to-residential conversions reshape neighborhoods? And what will New York look like in five years?
LINKS
Register for the 2025 AFIRE Annual Member Meeting Sept. 9-10 in NYC
Learn more about NYCEDC’s Business Development team
Register for AFIRE/NYCEDC Investor Summit
Watch the AFIRE POV series of investor interviews
Read the latest articles from Summit Journal Issue #18
KEY MOMENTS
00:00 AFIRE CEO Gunnar Branson intro
01:23 Welcome back, Melissa Román Burch, COO of NYCEDC
01:48 AFIRE/NYCEDC Investor Summit Invitation
03:37 Pulse check: what’s happening in NYC?
06:51 How is NYC handling housing shortages?
12:57 How much will NYC change in the next 5 years?
16:14 What’s most exciting for institutional investors?
19:46 Is NYC just a financial center?
23:45 Connecting Brooklyn to the mainland
28:31 How are people reacting to the congestion pricing system?
33:17 What’s happening with green energy?
37:11 What can investors expect in NYC over the next decade?
41:30 Final remarks
DISCLAIMER
The publisher of the AFIRE Podcast is not engaged in providing tax, accounting, or legal advice through this publication. No content published in the AFIRE Podcast is to be construed as a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. Some information included in the AFIRE Podcast has been obtained from third-party sources considered to be reliable, though the publisher is not responsible for guaranteeing the accuracy of third-party information. The opinions expressed in the AFIRE Podcast are those of its respective contributors and sources and do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher.
The AFIRE Podcast with Gunnar Branson is the official, multiple-award-winning podcast of AFIRE, the association for international real estate investors focused on commercial property in the United States.
Hosted by AFIRE CEO Gunnar Branson, the podcast features informative and in-depth conversations with experts across the full spectrum of real estate, investment, sustainability, economics, geopolitics, and urbanism with a focus on helping each other become Better Investors, Better Leaders, and Better Global Citizens. To learn more, visit afire.org/podcast
QUESTIONS?
Benjamin van Loon, Communications Director
bvanloon@afire.org | +1 202 312 1405