AABANY Member Lisa Lim Recognized by The New York Real Estate Journal in its Women in Commercial Real Estate Spotlight

On November 9th, 2021 Akerman partner Lisa Lim and AABANY member was honored by New York Real Estate Journal in its Women in Commercial Real Estate Spotlight. A graduate of Wellesley College and Fordham Law School Lisa is a go-to resource in the city’s complex and dynamic market, Lisa’s practice focuses on real estate finance and development, economic development, and affordable housing. Lisa focuses her practice in real estate finance and development, economic development, and affordable housing. Her transactional experience includes representing borrowers, lenders, and government agencies in the structuring, negotiation, and closing of complex transactions. Lisa is a Fellow for the American College of Real Estate Lawyers (ACREL) and was recently ranked again by Super Lawyers Magazine in New York for real estate, a distinction she has held since 2015. 

Please join AABANY in congratulating Lisa Lim on this well deserved honor. To read the full feature click, here

In the News: AABANY Member Lisa Lim Discusses Affordable Housing Projects in the New York Real Estate Journal

On November 23, 2021 Akerman partner Lisa Lim and AABANY member authored an article in the New York Real Estate Journal outlining the potential benefits of adding affordable housing components to development projects. Speaking from her own extensive experience with such projects, she lays out four resources that make the buildings possible. 

Now more than before, as America recovers from pandemic disruptions, affordable housing presents opportunities for “developers seeking a valuable and lucrative way to expand their own footprints, and simultaneously help meet an ever-growing need in the United States.” 

To read the full article click, here

In the News: AABANY Member Lina Lee Comments on Hurricane Ida Basement-Flooding Deaths

In early September, Hurricane Ida made landfall in New York City and left countless individuals to suffer the aftermath of flooded basements. A closer look into the eleven basement-flooding deaths reveals that a majority of them were Asian residents. A number of factors played into this tragedy including a lack of affordable housing, climate change, and pandemic change. These issues are prominent among low-income Asian immigrants who resort to illegal basement apartments that are deemed to have unsafe living conditions. 

“Realistically, a lot of these tenants would have family members, many who are clustered into very, very small rooms,” said Lina Lee, executive director of housing justice nonprofit organization Communities Resist. “When you have these natural disasters, there’s obviously going to be really a life-and-death situation, and when you have very limited or no access to leave your living space, these families really had no way out.”

Lee continues, “They cluster in small communities where they are able to access people who speak the same language, who are from the same culture and are living in the same conditions that they have to live in. For them, they have nowhere else to live with, except those small pockets in Queens.” 

Punishing tenants is not an ideal solution. Lee said reporting landlords for housing violations enforces building codes which could prompt agencies to issue a vacate order and inadvertently force a tenant to move out.The Mayor proposes an emergency warning system for basement-dwellers but the victims’ families are not convinced. 

To read the full NBC News article, click here

Lina Lee will also be the moderator for a program titled “Fighting for Housing And Community Justice: The Role of Lawyers In The Movement” at AABANY’s Fall Conference on Saturday, October 23. Click here for more information.