REI panel explored state of LI’s commercial real estate market

Long Island Business News - March 12, 2026

The Real Estate Institute (REI) at Stony Brook University hosted a panel of commercial real estate experts Monday who gave a synopsis of the industry’s individual market sectors and how each has been evolving. 

The March 9 program called “The Great Reset: When CRE Subsectors Chart Their Own Course,” drew a crowd of more than 200 at the Heritage Club at Bethpage as part of REI’s annual spring luncheon. 

Moderated by David Pennetta, executive managing director at Cushman & Wakefield, the panel included Cris Damianos, principal at Damianos Realty Group; Bram Weber, principal at Weber Law Group; Ray Ruiz, managing director at JLL; and Frank Korzekwinski, senior vice president at Flushing Bank.  

Much of the discussion focused on the office sector, which took a hit in the wake of the COVID pandemic, but has shown some signs of recovering. Pennetta pointed out that some 2.7 million square feet of office space on Long Island has been converted to other uses in recent years, and the shrinking supply has helped boost vacancy rates. 

The overall vacancy rate for Long Island office properties was 13.1 percent in Q4 2025, according to Cushman & Wakefield. Though that’s still the highest vacancy rate of all commercial real estate sectors, it’s down from the 15 percent vacancy rate of two years ago.  

Damianos, whose firm has been an active investor in the office market, said it adheres to the unsurprising strategy of buying low and selling high. 

“Condition and rent rolls are also important,” he said. “There’s always been a flight to quality. Employers want to see amenities that a Class A building will give you.” 

Ruiz commented that acquiring office properties boils down to intent. 

“The issue is financing,” he said. “There are so many variables.” 

Financing was addressed by Korzekwinski, who said they’ve all heard that the office sector is evil. 

“There’s a strong challenge for banks to stay in the office market,” he said. “Sponsors need to have deep pockets and a strong plan.” 

Panelists discussed the strength of the medical office market, where larger health systems have dominated the sector. 

“I don’t think we’ve leased to a doctor coming out of medical school in 30 years,” Damianos said. 

The panelists also discussed changes in the industrial market, where new high-ceiling developments have often struggled to find tenants requiring large amounts of space. Weber, who represents the $250 million project from Bristol Group Inc. on 100 acres in Wheatley Heights, said that project fills a particular need. 

“It’s designed for smaller companies,” he said. “That’s the unique focus of this particular project.” 

As for industrial uses, the panelists gave thumbs up for cold storage: “It’s something that we need,” Weber said. “It’s a use people can look at and say that makes sense.”

But data centers got a thumbs down. 

“I get calls from elected officials who ask ‘Is this going to be a data center?,’” Weber said. The panel’s consensus was that electricity is too expensive for data centers to be viable here. 

“That stuff is cool,” Ruiz said, “but not for Long Island.” 

By: David Winzelberg