Located in New York City, David Shorenstein is a real estate professional with over 15 years of experience and serves as the Principal at Hildreth Advisors, a role he’s held since 2018. David attended college-preparatory school at Riverdale Country School in the Bronx, New York before moving on to New York University – Leonard N. Stern School of Business, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in finance.
After graduating in 2003, he began looking for work in the finance industry that would allow him to work with tangible assets, which brought him to real estate. David’s work at Hildreth Advisors includes real estate investing, brokerage and assisting clients with the management of their real estate-based assets. Prior to taking on his role at Hildreth, David owned and operated his own real estate business located in the Greater New York City area for over 13 years. This allowed him to develop both his entrepreneurial skills and real estate skills and eventually find the success he has today.
Outside of his career, David Shorenstein has a passion for philanthropy. As David found success, he realized he had the ability to give back to causes that provide the most benefit to other people such as the Chelsea Waterside Plaza and Madison Square Park. David also has a passion for philanthropy through education and is always looking for ways to pass his own knowledge down to young professionals as a way of helping them develop their own skills and find success. One cause in particular that David is always looking to support is Young Jewish Professionals, a not-for-profit national organization that strives to provide the next generation of Jewish business leaders with the education and opportunities they need to succeed. Being a successful businessman himself, David Shorenstein wants nothing more than to be an active part of the organization’s goals of “Mentoring, educating and activating the new generation of Jewish business leaders.” The organization specializes in several industries including finance, entrepreneurship, fashion, media, tech and real estate.
David Shorenstein on NYC Real Estate
Like many industries across the business world, commercial real estate saw a dramatic downturn amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. However, David Shorenstein believes this sudden crisis is not new to real estate, nor is it to New York City as a whole.
Towards the beginning of 2001, the New York real estate industry started seeing signs of a recession as office availability in Manhattan rose 2.6% in just one year. The 9/11 terrorist attacks then caused a consistent increase in available office space throughout the Financial District for four consecutive quarters. At the same time, the average asking prices for these properties fell for three straight years. While it did take time, he believes these numbers returned to somewhat normalcy in Q1 of 2007.
The global financial crisis of 2008 was soon to follow. Q3 of 2009 saw a 31% decrease in average rent and an astonishing 49% increase in commercial availability in just one year. Contract renewals proved to be the saving grace for real estate companies and landlords alike, and by Q4 of 2013, rents returned to their pre-crisis rates and are continuing to rise.
Now that we are (hopefully) in the tailend of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a common sentiment among those in New York real estate that recovery is just around the corner, according to Shorenstein. Office availability has, as expected, increased during the pandemic, and leasing rates have declined. In fact, before the beginning of the pandemic, real estate experts frequently spoke about an industry-wide correction, which the current state we are in has accelerated – and not necessarily for the better. While the pandemic has proven to be yet another crisis the real estate industry must face, the past has proven that successfully overcoming this is certainly not impossible.
The hotel industry has, and will likely continue to suffer the most, followed by retail. However, David sees the industrial sector is poised for a resurgence following this nationwide shutdown. Seeing as online shopping has increased tenfold these past few months, online retailers like Amazon and Walmart are likely to invest much more in distribution plants and warehouses across the country.
Another commercial real estate sector with a brighter outlook is actual investing. With so many retailers and hotels being forced to close their doors, the market is ripe with opportunities from the perspective of David Shorenstein. Refurnished buildings could easily become spaces more accommodating of today’s needs. For example, nursing homes and senior living facilities are in need of assistance more than ever given that they are, perhaps, the most at-risk when it comes to the COVID-19 virus. Hospitals are also looking for additional space during a time in which their facilities are being flooded with patients. David Shorenstein imparts that creative thinking and morally sound inspiration is a combination that could benefit developers in all stages during this time.
