Lifetime Achievement Award
D. Kenneth Patton
D. Kenneth Patton is a renowned real estate consultant and developer with more than 35 years of experience synthesizing livability and economic development. Ken began his career in urban economic development as a neighborhood activist in Brooklyn. Since then he has served as dean of NYU Schack Institute where he oversaw the graduate program triple in size. More recently, he served as interim special advisor for Schack.
Prior to his work at NYU he served as COO of Helmsley-Spear Inc. and was the first full time president of the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY). In his role with REBNY, he worked with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to convert the Urban Action Development Grant Program to one of subordinate loans.
Ken has also served as the New York City's Economic Development administrator and as the Commissioner of Commerce under Mayor John V. Lindsay. As commissioner, he created more than 16,000 jobs by leading the construction of Hunts Point Market, South Street Restoration and assembling 2,000 acres of land for urban industrial parks and downtown development in New York City's outer boroughs. He also was instrumental in the renovation of Yankee Stadium and the acquisition and development of the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
Ken remains active in civic life, currently serving as a trustee for the New York City Police Foundation and is on numerous other boards, including the Pratt Institute and the Theater Development Fund. He serves on the board of the Community Preservation Corporation and is Director of the Bryant Park Business Improvement District. His years of contributions to urban economic development serve as the framework for his message that successful community revitalization requires active involvement in all sectors and that cultural, civic and design elements are even more important today as society migrates from the manufacture of goods to the focus on services and media.