FLB Law’s Annual Real Estate Outlook Tackles Residential and Commercial Real Estate Issues in Fairfield County
Annual event to be held on May 22nd at The SoNo Collection’s M& T Bank’s Magnificent Room in Norwalk
Westport, Conn. (April 22, 2024) – Real Estate Outlook, the annual Fairfield County real estate event co-sponsored by FLB Law, the Greater Norwalk Chamber and the Westport-Weston Chamber of Commerce, will take place on Wednesday, May 22, 2024, in the M& T Bank’s Magnificent Room at The SoNo Collection. This year’s theme is Housing Matters: Challenges, Solutions and Impacts on Commercial Real Estate. Networking begins at 8:30 a.m., and the panel discussion will kick off at 9 a.m.
Eric D. Bernheim, FLB Law managing partner and head of the firm’s Real Estate & Land Use Practice, will moderate a panel of prominent Fairfield County real estate executives, including Adam Bovilsky, Executive Director of Norwalk Housing Authority; Kiley Gosselin, President and CEO of Housing Development Fund; David A. Waldman, Founder of David Adam Realty, Inc.; and David Waters, General Counsel of Building and Land Technology. (Complete bios below).
“The theme of this year’s event is “Housing Matters: Fairfield County’s Challenges & Solutions and its Impact on Commercial Real Estate,” said Bernheim, who created the Real Estate Outlook in 2017 and the Real Estate Forum, a pandemic-year podcast to replace the in-person event. “Each of our panelists plays a pivotal role in Fairfield County’s housing and commercial real estate markets, from development and brokerage to the municipal/advocacy side. They each have made significant contributions to ensuring the region has housing options to meet varied needs and to support Fairfield County’s commercial real estate base. We look forward to another insightful program.”
Registration for the Real Estate Outlook is available on the Greater Norwalk Chamber website and the Westport-Weston Chamber of Commerce website.
About FLB Law, PLLC
FLB Law, PLLC, is a full-service firm committed to delivering peace of mind. Based in Westport, Conn., many of FLB Law's attorneys are named among Best Lawyers and Super Lawyers® and are AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell. In addition to being committed to clients, FLB Law supports small businesses and nonprofits through its philanthropic program, Accelerate. For more information, visit flb.law.
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Panelists:
Adam Bovilsky, Executive Director, Norwalk Housing Authority
As the Executive Director of the Norwalk Housing Authority (NHA), Adam Bovilsky passionately believes that decent, safe, sanitary, and affordable housing is a basic human right. Under his leadership, the NHA supports over 2,000 low-income families through public housing and Section 8 vouchers. The NHA engages in anti-poverty initiatives, including after-school engagement, family self-sufficiency programs, and the Norwalk Housing Foundation, which raises and distributes over $250,000 a year in scholarships to public housing students.
Prior to joining NHA, Adam worked as the Director of the City of Norwalk’s Human Relations and Fair Rent Department. While there, he created new initiatives around affirmative action, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and language access. He also worked on the city’s 10-year Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness. Adam has served as the Co-chair of Opening Doors of Fairfield County, during which time the collaboration of area housing and homeless services agencies successfully ended veteran homelessness and nearly ended chronic homelessness.
Kiley Gosselin, President & CEO, Housing Development Fund
Kiley Gosselin brings 16 years of experience in the housing and homelessness sector, most recently serving as Executive Director at the Partnership for Strong Communities. In 2016, she was appointed by Mayor Luke Bronin as Acting Director of the Department of Development Services for the City of Hartford. She has led the city's efforts on multiple large-scale development projects, supported small business development, rebuilt the city's Blight Remediation Team, and oversaw Hartford's stock of affordable housing and housing choice vouchers.
Kiley also served as a Management and Program Analyst at the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, where she helped coordinate federal policy efforts to prevent and end homelessness among families and unaccompanied youth and to connect people experiencing or at risk of homelessness to mainstream federal housing programs. Before joining USICH, Kiley practiced law for six years with Holland & Knight LLP in business tax, specifically equity financing for affordable housing projects eligible for low-income housing tax credits and various state housing finance programs.
Additionally, Kiley worked as a policy analyst and legislative advocate for organizations on state and federal policy issues relating to affordable and supportive housing, including the National Alliance to End Homelessness. She also worked as a policy analyst for the Partnership for Strong Communities, where she helped launch the HOME CT Campaign.
Kiley is involved with local and regional political causes and supports homelessness and housing advocacy groups. She is on the Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance Board of Directors and recently served on the Capital Region Development Authority board.
David A. Waldman, Founder, David Adam Realty, Inc.
Since 1991, when David Waldman founded David Adam Realty (DAR), his focus has been on maintaining and expanding his investment portfolio and growing DAR to become a leading leasing, management, and investment firm in the region. David has managed, acquired, and sold more than 33 properties totaling more than 1.2 million square feet and over $500 million in asset value on behalf of entities affiliated and/or sponsored by DAR. As a full-service owner-operator and developer, David leads all aspects of property investment for DAR-sponsored investments, including zoning and entitlement, financing/capital raising, development/redevelopment, construction management, property management, and leasing. David is the past president (2004-2006) of the Westport Downtown Association and is an active member of the International Council of Shopping Centers.
David and his wife serve on the board of the Advisory Council for the Campaign to Establish an International Center for Velo-Cardio-Facial Syndrome, which afflicts their oldest daughter.
David Waters, General Counsel, Building and Land Technology
David Waters has served as GC for Building and Land Technology (BLT), a vertically integrated real estate firm, for more than 17 years. BLT has developed, owned, operated, managed and invested in more than 25 million square feet of real estate, including the redevelopment of Stamford’s South End as Harbor Point, a live-work-play environment. The company’s current portfolio contains assets in 35 states, encompassing 4,000 Class-A residential units, 6 million square feet of office space, and 50-plus hotels. BLT owns five of the top 10 commercial tax-paying properties on the Norwalk Grand List of October 1, 2023.
Before joining BLT, Dave was a Partner with Lepofsky, Lepofsky & Lang, a Norwalk-based law firm, where he practiced for 24 years. His practice focused on land use and development, real estate transactions and financing, commercial leasing, condominium law, brownfield remediation and related areas. He has held leadership positions on various bar associations and community civic organizations, including the Wilton Planning and Zoning Commission and the Wilton Council on Public Facilities, and as a Commissioner of the Wilton Police Department.
MODERATOR
Eric Bernheim , Managing Partner, FLB Law
Eric D. Bernheim is one of Fairfield County’s most sought-after real estate attorneys. He represents prominent developers, landlords, tenants, and lenders in transactions, including acquisitions, dispositions, leases, and financing. He also handles zoning and land use matters. Eric’s clients range from national hospitality groups to local businesses, developers, municipalities, and individuals. Eric is regularly retained to handle complex projects that require a full complement of transaction-related services. He was appointed Special Counsel to the City of Norwalk, CT, on projects, including the largest redevelopment in the city’s history, The SoNo Collection. Eric also provides practical advice and solid counsel to the hospitality industry, particularly to restaurant groups seeking national expansion, such as bartaco, Barcelona Wine Bar, Hawkers, and Sixty-Vines. He also handles the zoning for The Hamlet at Saugatuck, a high-profile mixed-use development in Westport along the Saugatuck River that will include retail, residential, restaurants, a hotel, boat slips and event space.