Brooklyn's Progress
August/September 2008

BY KHADIJA BATUTA

The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce bid farewell to the director of its real estate & development (RED) program, Cheryl Gladstone, at a private celebration after this year’s Building Brooklyn Awards™.  Cheryl’s contributions to this annual fundraising fête that helps to support the Chamber’s RED program was a most fitting parting gift and the perfect segue to the next phase of her career.  She left the Chamber the following day on Jul. 18, to pursue an M.B.A. full time at the Columbia Graduate School of Business.  She will join the class of 2010 as a Robert Toigo Foundation Fellow where she will focus on real estate development and social enterprise.

“I enjoyed working with our RED Committee Co-chairs Hank Auffarth and Chris Havens,” said Cheryl, who currently holds a Bachelor’s degree in Urban Studies with a focus on Architecture from Stanford University.  “Together we created some of the Chamber’s most dynamic programming – including this year’s Brooklyn Hotel Panel discussion and two Building Brooklyn Awards.  I’m proud of the work we’ve done over the past two years and am confident that the RED program will continue to thrive.”

Prior to joining the Chamber, Cheryl served as a senior policy & planning analyst for the Times Square Alliance and also oversaw the Eighth Avenue Advisory Committee that formulated a vision plan for the Eighth Avenue corridor between West 40th and West 53rd streets in Manhattan – experience and interests she brought to her Chamber position.

Painting Brooklyn “RED”
Cheryl came on board as director of the Chamber’s real estate & development (RED) program on Oct. 30, 2006.  During her tenure, she helped businesses access incentives and commercial spaces across the borough.  For the professional side of the RED program, she managed a number of RED events and activities, including panels, tours and presentations, that gave “visibility and voice to issues and trends in the borough’s economic development,” noted Rick Russo, the Chamber’s vice president of economic development and strategic partnerships.

“Cheryl creatively engaged the collective talents of committee members, introduced programs to educate a wide cross-section of audiences and connected to new communities,” said Mr. Russo.  “Her unique neighborhood development expertise, coupled with a keen interest in architecture and aesthetics, brought a refreshing perspective to the program,” he added.

That fresh perspective included debuting a slickly produced video presentation about the honorees at last year’s Building Brooklyn Awards.  Brooklyn’s real estate community heard from industry leaders and experts such as HPD Commissioner Shaun Donovan and prominent hotel developer Sam Chang at RED lectures and presentations.  “RED Nite” networking events were hosted at cutting-edge, new developments like State Renaissance Court.  In April, the RED program hosted its first seminar offering AIA/CES credit.

“Cheryl was a pleasure to work with and I’ll miss her. Her gentle manner, her intelligence, and her careful approach to the issues define her tenure with the Chamber.  I offer her every good wish for the future,” said RED Committee Co-chair Chris Havens of Corporate Real Estate Services, LLC.