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Event Recap: The 2020 Economic Forecast: A Conversation with Sam Chandan
On November 1, Dr. Sam Chandan addressed the Urban Land Institute’s New York District Council to share his outlook for the US economy.
January 17, 2020
We’re kicking off our 2020 ULI NY Awards ‘Five Minutes With’ series this week featuring Daniel J. Moore, CEO of Rockefeller Group, whose project – 1271 Avenue of the Americas – is a 2020 Awards Finalist for Excellence in Repositioning or Redevelopment.
Who has had the greatest influence on your career and what was the best advice he or she gave you?
I’ve been fortunate to have had a number of remarkable people influence my career — too many to list here. But one memorable piece of advice came from Michael Topham, who led Hines Europe and MENA platform for many years, and whom I got to know during a business school mentorship program at Wharton. After graduation, when I was evaluating job offers in New York City and Denver, Michael counseled me that “If you start in New York, you can always go to Colorado. That road doesn’t go the other direction”.
What qualities do you think are essential to be an effective leader?
Decisiveness, humility, a sense of humor and a fierce love for the people on your team. Not love in the poetic, emotional sense, but rather love defined as “advocating for the best for the other”. The most effective leaders are those whose teams know the leader is “for” them, who create an environment where people are empowered to do their best work and find meaning and satisfaction in their professional lives.
As a ULI NY Awards nominee, what makes you most proud of your project?
There are so many things to be proud of at 1271. That we completed the project on schedule and under budget; that we executed a total reskin of more than 400,000 square feet of curtain wall with zero safety incidents; that we took a 50-plus-year-old structure and made it Manhattan’s “it” building (per the NY Post), going from 0% leased to over 99% leased in 36 months with a world-class roster of tenants. Ultimately, we‘re most proud to have worked with over 700 architects, designers, engineers and skilled tradespeople, to help this classic piece of the fabric of Midtown Manhattan regain its proper place as a New York City icon.
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