Party city: NYC’s third Real Estate Gala draws property power players

Before Twitter became X, neighborhood strip center owner Don Tepman thought it would be fun if his social media contacts could get together in real life.

A meetup, Tepman thought, might turn his few dozen online contacts into real relationships. But after his StripMallGuy cartoon asked if anyone wanted to come, it turned out everyone did.

That first meetup in San Francisco led to Tepman moving to New York and boosting his X following to 301,000. The meetup has now morphed into a third NYC Real Estate Gala that will take place tomorrow evening at the Peak in Hudson Yards — looking out over all that glorious real estate.

Crexi, Agora, Placer.ai and the ICSC are helping to cover the cost of cocktails and hors d’oeuvres for the 200 guests, Joe Torres Photography

The gala is co-hosted by Tepman and the Big Apple’s uber-investment-sales guy, Bob Knakal of BKREA, whose online handle has 50,400 followers.

In a recent X post that fits the zeitgeist of the event, Knakal wrote, “We are not in the real estate business. We are in the information and relationship business. The better your information … the stronger your relationships … the more trust you build. And trust is what drives every great deal.”

We’ll miss Tepman’s neighbor, comedian Zarna Garg, who performed a short set last year, but will enjoy Tao Group chow and a rearranged set up overlooking the East River.

A table at Hudson Yards’ Peak restaurant overlooking the city. Alex Staniloff

Sponsors like Crexi, Agora, Placer.ai and the ICSC help cover the cost of cocktails and hors d’oeuvres for the nearly 200 fashionably dressed guests, most of whom live elsewhere and come from as far away as England and Australia, with big factions from Florida and Texas — and some in cowboy hats.

A Kansas City Chiefs cheerleader, Madi Bremer, now also a CBRE retail associate, will be there, cheering on Detroit Lions offensive tackle Jamarco Jones, also a real estate investor, and Chris Rodriguez Jr. — nicknamed C-Rod — a running back who just signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Meanwhile, Tesho Akindele, a former Canadian national soccer player and MLS star, is now working for Jamestown.

“This is the real estate capital of the world and where the capital is raised,” said Tepman. “It’s great networking, and you are able to meet people and gain market knowledge.”

Tepman, whose nationwide strip mall company is TownCentre Capital, said his biggest challenge is finding deals that make sense, so his cartoon and social media moniker, StripMallGuy, have become the answer to getting in front of brokers.

But while he owns 45 strip centers around the country, he does not want to compete in the city, which he said is “a market full of very talented sharks.”

Instead, he and his team roam the country, looking for deals to buy and tenants to place in those he already owns.

“Most brokers put up a sign and wait, but we are proactive,” Tepman explained. “Let’s say we are missing a good hair salon or pizza place and, within a one-hour drive, through FedEx letters and social media, we find great operators to fill those gaps.”

For Tepman, social media has created both an “incredible deal flow” as well as a recruiting tool, and the gala is a big part of that. “You are reaching people, and they meet at the gala and do business because of it,” he said.