At REBNY’s 124th Annual Banquet on January 16, Kevin R. Wang will be honored for a career of leadership and prominence within key REBNY committees with the Louis Smadbeck Memorial Broker Recognition Award.
With more than 40 years of experience in New York real estate, Kevin has stood out as one of the leading innovators of identifying existing properties that are prime for renovation and repositioning. All the while, he has been a great friend to REBNY throughout his decades of service.
A shining example of his eye for recognizing untapped potential will be seen at Kevin’s firm, KRW Realty Advisors’ redevelopment of 303 West 42nd Street and 300 West 43rd Street. One of the last unchanged buildings in the newly transformed Times Square area, these building off of 8th Avenue are undergoing a massive overhaul that will transform the building into an $80 million office and retail complex called “The Hive.” Once completed, it will feature the modern-day amenities New Yorkers expect including seven new storefronts, two new lobbies, a rooftop terrace and new electrical, elevator, heating and air conditioning systems.
In 2015, KRW completed the renovation and repositioning of 501 Madison Avenue. Over the course of two years, the 30-story, 185,000 s/f art deco building was meticulously restored into a Midtown gem with a new entrance, lobby, elevator cabs and mechanicals, multi-tenant common areas, windows, restrooms, a Class E security system and a 400-ton cooling tower.
After receiving his Bachelor of Science in Business from Cornell University, he began his career at Cross & Brown Co., where he specialized in landlord and tenant representation. His remarkable talents were quickly recognized, and he became a vice president by the time he was 24 years old.
In 1985 he joined the Mendik Company, where his responsibilities as senior vice president and partner included the leasing of the largest portfolios of Class A office buildings in New York.
In 1999 two years after the Vornado acquisition of The Mendik Company, Kevin formed KRW Realty Advisors. KRW has acquired numerous assets with institutional partners including 230 West 41st Street and 600 Broadway.
Kevin has been a highly valued member of the REBNY family for many years and the esteem in which he is held by his colleagues is evidenced by his various leadership positions within our organization. He currently sits on the Board of Governors and is Chairman of the General Meetings Committee, and he is a member of the REBNY Arbitration Committee. From 1990-1995, he served as co-chairman of the International Seminar Committee.
He is also a former chairman of the Young Men’s/Women’s Real Estate Association and was named the Young Man of the Year in 1990 and later Senior Man of the Year in 2010.
Among the charities Kevin supports are the Manhasset Chapter of the AHRC, Tuesday’s Children Foundation and The Diabetes Research Institute.
It will be a great honor to present our friend and colleague Kevin Wang with this prestigious award in January.
