Biographies of Key Personnel

Seth Kestenbaum | Dennis O’Neill | Louis De Medici

Seth Kestenbaum founded Altitude Realty Group in 2001.  Through Altitude, Mr. Kestenbaum has provided advisory services, brokerage, management and revitalization services to a host of local and national clients.  Examples of projects Mr. Kestenbaum has worked on include the planning, financing, leasing and acquisitions of over 7 million square feet of development including two New Jersey developments with cultural components, placement of $110.0 million of capital for a private real estate organization’s acquisition of 3,000 residential units, retail leasing to specialty tenants for Palmer Square, the underwriting for acquisition of a 95 unit apartment building outside of Boston, consulting and management services for several “small” owners, and acquisitions due diligence for an industrial property in Long Island.  

In addition to being the founder of Altitude, Seth Kestenbaum is Director of Acquisitions and Advisory Services at Rosen Associates Management Corp and, working with and reporting directly its principals, is responsible for the operations of RAMC’s acquisition and advisory services (consulting/brokerage) programs.  At RAMC, Mr. Kestenbaum has exposure to the national real estate markets and analyzes the operation of hundreds of properties across the country on a monthly basis, inclusive of land, retail, residential, office and industrial properties.  Mr. Kestenbaum’s has contributed to RAMC’s asset management and sale of 30 West 70th Street (a $30,000,000 apartment building located in Manhattan), the purchase at an average of a 30 percent discount to face of several mortgages on assets already owned by RAMC related entities, the acquisition of a mortgage note collateralized by a ground leases on a 400+ unit residential development, and a variety of other acquisition and consulting services.

Prior to founding Altitude in 2001, Mr. Kestenbaum worked at Granite Partners, a boutique real estate investment bank where he specialized in the financing and sale of large-scale real estate development projects.  Projects Mr. Kestenbaum worked on included the $34 million financing of a residential development in Hoboken’s West Side Industrial Redevelopment Area, the $133 million financing of a development in Jersey City’s old downtown redevelopment area, the $96 million financing of a resort development at Sugarbush Mountain-Vermont, the $233 million financing of the 33 Arch Street Office development in Boston, and several other sales and financing assignments.  At Granite, Mr. Kestenbaum prepared over $2.3 billion in offerings and established relationships with many of the nation’s largest developers, owners and operators.  Prior to joining Granite Partners, Mr. Kestenbaum was the Senior Associate at Rockwood Realty where he preformed REO asset management for a 36-asset retail portfolio (inclusive of leasing for these “turn around” assets) and prepared Offering and Financial Memorandum for assets with a collective value of over $2.01 billion.  

Mr. Kestenbaum has been published in many trade magazines and papers. Mr. Kestenbaum graduated from Cornell University in 1993 with a Bachelor degree in Applied Economics (Dean’s List), New York University in 1998 with a Master Degree in Real Estate Finance (High Honors) and commenced additional graduate studies in Civil Engineering and Construction Management at Columbia University in 2007.    In 1998 he received the ULI distinguished service award and was inducted into Lambda Alpha (an honorary land economics society) for his contribution to economic development within the five boroughs of New York City.  Mr. Kestenbaum also is an Adjunct Professor/Instructor at CUNY-Baruch and CUNY’s The Graduate Center where he alternates teaching class in "Advanced Real Estate Capital Markets", “Real Estate Appraisal Concepts”, and “Real Estate Finance”.  Mr. Kestenbaum regularly speaks at New York University’s Graduate Program in Real Estate.

Dennis O’Neill is a founding member of Altitude and Managing Director and President of Beacon Consulting Group, Inc. (BCGI). BCGI and its offices in New York and Boston share resources and personnel with Altitude. Prior to founding BCGI, Mr. O’Neill was a Vice President with Vertex Engineering Services, Inc. (Vertex) in which Mr. O’Neill was in charge of the East Coast Construction Services Division. At Vertex, Mr. O’Neill managed over $100 million in construction projects and provided consulting services to the “construction surety bond claim” industry. Before working with Vertex, Mr. O’Neill was a project manager in the Boston office of Structure Tone, Inc. During his career, Mr. O’Neill has utilized his leadership skills, technical education and experience to become one of the leading construction consultants in the Northeast. Mr. O’Neill specializes in consulting on construction issues related to complex surety bond claims. His experience includes construction management and consulting on transit projects, schools, courthouses, dormitories, stadiums, police barracks, tunneling projects, bridges, housing developments, hospitals, hotels, sitework, playgrounds, etc. Coupling his technical knowledge with his communication skills, Mr. O’Neill has earned a reputation as a seasoned professional in Dispute Resolution on Construction Surety Bond Claims. Mr. O’Neill holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Maine and a M.S. in Real Estate Development/Finance from New York University. Mr. O’Neill also has a Construction Supervisor’s License in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and owns investment properties in Boston and New York City.

Louis De Medici is a founding member of Altitude and a Principal of DeMedici Development and Superior Development Corporation where he is responsible for residential and commercial development, acquisitions and sales. Superior Development Corporation has an annual residential, office and mixed-use development volume of approximately $7 million. The company brings over 32 years of real estate development experience to the Project. Prior to returning to Superior Development Corporation, De Medici spent five years as an Associate of The Related Companies, L.P where he was responsible for retail project development, financing procurement, tenant leasing and governmental approvals. Prior to joining Related, De Medici was Assistant Vice President of Superior Development Corporation. De Medici received a Master of Science in Real Estate Degree from New York University in 1998, and a Bachelor of Science Degree in MIS/Business Administration from Rowan University in 1992.