Lecturer Bios
Jeffrey M. Schwartz, Esq.
Jeffrey M. Schwartz is a founding partner and the managing partner of the Firm. Having practiced since 1986 in the real estate area, Mr. Schwartz has extensive experience in transactional work. His real estate practice includes the leasing, financing, acquisition and sale of commercial property, as well as the operation, development, conversion and sale of residential properties. He is also counsel to a significant number of cooperative and condominium buildings throughout the metropolitan area.
Mr. Schwartz has chaired the New York County Lawyer’s Association’s symposium on Commercial Leasing and presents annually on Purchase and Sale of Real Estate in New York. He is a member of the Tulane Law School Intersession Faculty where he teaches annually. He is also a guest lecturer at the New York University School of Real Estate. He is a member of the New York State Bar Association’s Committee on Cooperatives and Condominiums and has served several terms on the New York City Bar Association’s Committee on Cooperatives and Condominiums. He was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1987.
Mr. Schwartz is also a current member of the Board of Directors of the The Catlog for Giving of New York City.
Mr. Schwartz graduated from the State University of New York at Binghamton and cum laude from Tulane Law School.
Kenneth Horn
Attorney Kenneth Horn formed Alchemy Properties Inc. in 1990 with the mission to
develop historically and architecturally significant real estate in New York. Horn has led
Alchemy in making 23 acquisitions in the New York City metropolitan area since 1996.
The firm has developed more than 750 apartments as principal and has also partnered with
banks, lenders, developers and other groups who acquired title to cooperative and
condominium apartments, assisting in the restructuring of the associated loans.
Horn has been actively involved in all facets of real estate, and specifically, the
development of cooperative and condominium housing in the New York City metropolitan
area for the last 26 years. As a graduate of Brandeis University (1978), the University of
California, and Hastings College of the Law (1981), Horn was admitted to the New York
State Bar in 1982 and actively practiced real estate law from 1981 to 1985 with Golenbock
and Barrel, and Robinson, Silverman, Pearce, Arohnson and Berman. From 1985 to 1989,
he served as vice president of L.M.S. Equities Inc., a real estate development firm
specializing in cooperative conversions and rehabilitation. Since that time, Horn has been
directly responsible for the acquisition, renovation, development, financing, marketing and
conversion of more than 5,000 apartments in the New York City region. For its own
account and third parties, Alchemy has sold over 3,000 apartments and in excess of $1
billion in various cooperatives and condominiums.
Since 1996, Alchemy has developed over 1 million square feet of high-end residential
and commercial projects in Manhattan spread across 20 properties and ranging in size from
20,000 s/f to over 120,000 s/f. Buildings of note are The Bullmoose Condominium at 42
East 20th St., 120 Gramercy Hill Condominium at 120 East 29th St., The Soho Greene
Condominium at 20-26 Greene St. and The Lion's Head Condominium at 121 West 19th St.
Alchemy is also the developer of the Williams Sonoma space at East 59th St. and Park
Ave.
Alchemy specializes in creating high-end projects with superior finishes but sells its
units at prices slightly below current market rates. Alchemy is a fully integrated firm that
acts as the development partner, the sales and marketing agent and the construction partner
on all of its developments. The firm has partnered with major investment firms such as
Credit Suisse/First Boston, DLJ Realty Partners, ING, and AEW Capital Management.
Currently, Alchemy is developing several new sites into high-end condominiums,
including Oculus Condominium located at 50 West 15th St., Indigo Condominium at 125
West 21st St., and Hudson Hill Condominium at 462 West 58th St. Both Oculus and Indigo
Condominium are 100% market sold with no advertising and marketing presented by
Alchemy.
"We have sold our units without running a single advertisement and with minimal
marketing," Horn said. "The last time we saw this happen was during the height of the real
estate boom in 2005, where our building 121 West 19th St. sold out in one day."
Horn's latest Alchemy project is The Isis Condominium, which is the firm's first Upper
East Side ground-up residential development. Located at 303 East 77th St. in the heart of
the Upper East Side, the boutique building will feature a striking cantilevered design and a
unique mosaic façade.
When completed in July 2009, The Isis Condominium will contain 32 two, two-plus
den and three-bedroom residences priced from $1.625 million to $3.395 million and ranging
in size from 1,205 s/f to 1,691 s/f. The family-friendly building will feature a ground-level
retail space, two spacious units on each floor and four penthouses, one of which is a
spectacular four bedroom, 2,553 s/f unit with four private terraces and balconies totaling an
additional 806 s/f that is available for $5,495,000. Combination full-floor plans are
available to create units as large as four bedrooms with dens.
"The Isis Condominium will be an impressive, sophisticated, intimate and stylish addition to one of the most desirable and family-friendly neighborhoods in New York
City," Horn said. "It was designed with the New York family in mind; those seeking more
spacious layouts, impeccable views, great value and luxurious design."
With Horn's philosophy of providing top-of-the-line finishes in architecturally distinct
buildings below the market rate, he has taken boutique real estate development to the next
level.
Hon. Louis York
Louis B. York is a justice for the New York County Supreme Court, Civil Term in the 1st Judicial District of New York. He was elected to this position in 2005, after serving as an acting justice from 1995 through 2004. York became certificated in 2009 and her current term expires in 2012.
