Even the strongest market can’t bolster the performance of a poorly-operated building.
That stark reality struck Charney Companies when the LIC-based developer began to work with, and be disappointed by, third-party property management firms. Instead of accepting the status quo, Charney built an internal management arm that was designed to scale alongside the developer’s growing portfolio. Soon, partners were asking for help with their troubled assets, and Charney began offering its in-house property management services to clients. By approaching operation from the owner’s perspective, Charney Management combines submarket-level building analysis with an owner’s long-term objectives to increase NOI, reduce vacancies and create more satisfied tenants. TRD sat down with Gabe Siegal, Head of Asset Management and Property Management, and Jared Zolna, Senior Vice President of Asset Management, for a look inside their disruptive business model.
Bringing the owner’s POV to property management
Knowing the pain points of working with third-party management companies has helped shape Charney’s transparent, hands-on approach.
“We built Charney Management because we couldn’t find what we needed as owners,” says Zolna. “We were handing buildings to firms that treated management as a service contract — show up, handle tickets, send a report. We wanted someone who thought about the asset the way we did. When we realized that firm didn’t exist, we built it ourselves.”
This mindset means that Charney takes a sense of ownership over everything from analyzing expenses to increasing rents. When the time comes for renewals, the company doesn’t just decide on a blanket increase across the portfolio; it does a deep dive into each unit.
“Every building is different,” says Siegal. “We spend a lot of time analyzing market conditions, leasing activity, occupancy trends and asset-level economics before making recommendations to ownership. There is no one-size-fits-all strategy.”
Digging into the data
To craft a unique strategy for each building, Charney relies on cutting-edge data analysis to reveal the truth hiding beneath the conventional wisdom.
Back in 2021, Siegal developed a highly analytical renewal strategy for a luxury building in Williamsburg that had been leased during the COVID era with significant concessions. His dynamic pricing model evaluated each renewal against market conditions, turnover costs, vacancy risk, concession burn-off, lease expirations and ownership’s long-term asset objectives. The analysis gave ownership the confidence to pursue a more aggressive renewal strategy than many owners were implementing at the time.
The result was a meaningful increase in rental revenue and NOI, as ownership was able to recapture significant concession-driven discounts and move rents closer to market levels. Many renewals increased substantially, strengthening the property’s overall investment profile.
Siegal didn’t stop there. The team spun that single success into a structural capacity by enlisting a tech provider to build that process into a scalable revenue management system. By eliminating administrative steps and manual workflows, the platform allows the team to execute renewal strategies more consistently across the portfolio.
While the platform helps optimize renewal decisions, execution is equally important. If a tenant ultimately decides not to renew, Charney focuses on minimizing vacancy loss through tight coordination between property management, maintenance teams, and leasing.
“We’re very organized and meticulous,” says Siegal. “We will have a contractor there as soon as a tenant moves out and often turn units within days. That level of coordination can dramatically reduce vacancy downtime and help owners capture revenue much faster.”
The combination of disciplined revenue management, efficient execution and minimizing downtime between residents isn’t just a meaningful contributor to NOI growth across an owner’s portfolio; it’s emblematic of how Charney manages its own buildings.
Seeing opportunities where others don’t
This owner-operator mindset also means that the company is constantly looking for ways to add value beyond typical property management services.
Sometimes this means finding novel sources of revenue for underperforming spaces. For example, after identifying an opportunity to reposition an underutilized parking garage, Siegal sourced and structured a long-term lease with an EV fleet operator that transformed the space into a significant revenue-producing asset, generating approximately $5.5 million of contractual revenue over the term of the agreement. The model proved so successful that Siegal has since replicated similar partnerships across five additional properties for other owners.
“We’re constantly asking ourselves how we can create value that wasn’t there before,” says Siegal. “Sometimes that’s increasing rents. Sometimes it’s reducing expenses. Sometimes it’s finding an entirely new revenue stream.”
More often, value creation comes from repositioning existing space. After a tenant vacated a studio apartment, Charney identified an opportunity to reconfigure the unit into a well-designed one-bedroom. The renovation was completed in less than a month, and a new tenant moved in almost immediately at a significantly higher rent, creating meaningful value for ownership with limited capital investment.
Charney Management’s ties to the company’s development arm are also an asset to retail tenants who need to transform spaces to fit their businesses and visions.
“We have relationships with contractors and subs, and we have expertise on how to build out spaces,” says Siegal. “We essentially acted as a general contractor and worked directly with the tenant to build out their space.”
At The Dime in Williamsburg, Charney helped transform a former rock climbing gym into a popular vintage clothing store. Rather than outsourcing the project, the team managed the demolition, landlord work and buildout process directly, allowing ownership to maintain greater control over cost, quality and timing. By accelerating delivery of the space, the project enabled rent to commence sooner, minimized lost revenue and helped create a successful long-term tenancy.
“You’re really building a partnership and relationship with those retailers,” says Siegal. “That pays tremendous dividends throughout the life of that tenant being there.”
Increasing revenue via tenant satisfaction
Charney also sees the situation from the tenant’s perspective, putting systems in place to keep tenant satisfaction high.
The company prides itself on responding to tenant questions and complaints as soon as possible, ensuring that residents feel heard.
“We want our tenants to feel like they’re living in a hotel,” says Siegal. “If something’s not going well in your room, you call down to the lobby, and you’re able to speak to the hotel manager.”
That spirit of hospitality is also apparent in the company’s tenant activations.
When live music company Sofar Sounds approached Charney about holding a rooftop concert at The Dime, the property management firm turned it into an opportunity to offer a private event to residents. The event created ancillary revenue, reinforced the building’s brand and community ethos, and most importantly, was a hit with tenants.
Ultimately, of course, the proof is in the numbers. Over the last year, Charney Management added eight new third-party assignments totaling 581 units across a mix of family offices, private investors and institutional developers. The assignments include both new construction assets and prewar buildings, demonstrating the range of product types the team is able to operate effectively.
At the same time, Charney Management brought 914 additional units online across Charney’s in-house development portfolio. Combined, the platform grew by 1,495 units across 11 buildings – a reflection of both the demand for Charney’s third-party management services and the scale of the company’s own development pipeline.
What sets them apart is the owner-operator mindset.
“The difference is alignment,” says Zolna. “Most property managers are incentivized to preserve a contract. We are owners — we sit on that side of the table — and that changes everything. It changes how we underwrite decisions, how we operate buildings, how we think about every dollar of revenue and expense. Owners who want a true operational partner understand that difference immediately.”
Charney is currently selectively expanding its third-party management and brokerage partnerships in NYC. For inquiries, visit partnerships.charneycompanies.com.