Bill Balter has 30 years of experience in the real estate industry. As president of WBP Development LLC and CEO of its construction affiliate, Griffon Associates LLC, Bill has overseen the development and construction of a portfolio of residential properties throughout the Hudson Valley and Long Island. Prior to forming WBP with Bob Wilder, he was the sole shareholder of Balter Properties Inc. which was formed in 1990 to focus on repositioning troubled developments in the New York metro region. Bill holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Skidmore College and a Masters in Real Estate Development from Columbia University. He lives in Mount Kisco with his wife Jane and has three adult daughters.
Robert H. Wilder, Jr. is the President of WB Residential Communities, Inc. and has more than 40 years of experience in the real estate development industry. Bob was a co-founder of Wilder Balter Partners, Inc., a development firm, and Griffon Associates, Inc., a general contractor. WB Residential Communities, Inc. manages properties developed by WBP. Throughout his career, Bob has focused his planning, finance, construction and development skills in the creation of affordable housing. Having developed and re-developed in excess of 4,000 affordable housing units in five states and the Virgin Islands, he is a recognized industry leader in affordable housing finance. Bob retired from Wilder Balter Partners, Inc. and Griffon Associates, Inc at the end of 2020.
James Wendling, a lifelong Westchester resident, began his career at WBP Development in 2007. Jim sources new multi-family deals, oversees ground-up developments from inception to completion, including the planning stage, governmental approval, construction, marketing, and financing, and helps shape the growth of WBP. Jim holds a Bachelor’s Degree in History as well as a Markets and Management Certificate from Duke University, where he attended on a baseball scholarship. He also has been certified by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) as a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional (LEED AP).
Jose Herrera is the CEO of the property management company overseeing all aspects of operations. Prior to joining WB Residential Communities, Inc., Herrera was the Managing Director for Brooksville Affordable/Twin Pines Management responsible for the operations of its owner-managed and third party managed affordable portfolio. The portfolio included Spring Creek Towers/Starrett City, one of the largest federally subsidized properties in the United States with 5,881 units and over 400 employees.
Prior to joining Brooksville Affordable/Twin Pines Management, Herrera was the Vice President of the Olnick Organization responsible for managing over 3,200 units of rent stabilized and market properties and sponsored units in cooperatives located in prime properties in New York City. Prior to Olnick, Herrera was a Vice President at the Related Management Company leading a team of 100+ employees managing a multi-family portfolio consisting of 72 properties and 4,000+ affordable and market rate units valued at over $1 billion. Prior to Related, Herrera worked at GE Capital Real Estate where he spent over 9 years in the Asset Management group holding multiple leadership roles. In his last role at GE, Herrera was the Global Assistant Comptroller for impairments responsible for managing the analysis and reporting of quality metrics of a $23 billion loan portfolio. In his early career, Herrera spent over 6 years at the New York City Economic Development Corporation as a Vice President of property management for an industrial and retail property portfolio.
Herrera holds a BA degree in economics from Hunter College, a MS in Real Estate Valuation and Analysis from New York University and received leadership training at GE’s Crotonville Leadership Institute.
Craig Malkin is a twenty-eight year veteran of the construction industry whose career includes the construction of over 7.5 million square feet of residential, commercial, institutional, hospitality, entertainment and retail projects. Mr. Malkin began his career with national builder Morse Diesel International, Inc., constructing several large, high-profile, multi-building projects, including the expansion and renovation of Caesar’s Atlantic City, the River East Center in Chicago, as well as New York City’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).
Craig Malkin joined Griffon Construction, LLC after spending the past sixteen years working with established Owner/Builders where he managed the pre-construction and construction activities for a multitude of residential projects ranging from high-end condominiums to high-rise rental product, constructing over 3,600 residential units in the process. Mr. Malkin holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration degree from Boston University.
Kathleen Rubin Nash oversees WBP Development, LLC affordable housing developments throughout the New York metropolitan area. She specializes in affordable housing financing, including underwriting and securing subsidy and grant financing, as well as conventional financing and investor equity. Kathleen oversees the construction process, marketing and leasing phase, as well as asset management during operations. Prior to joining WBP Development, LLC, she was the controller for a New York City-based commercial and residential real estate developer. Kathleen has a Bachelor of Science in business administration with a concentration in finance from Bryant University.
John Bainlardi, of Mount Kisco, joined WBP Development in 2006. He has managed the development process for multiple new housing communities from acquisition through construction, including building program and design, governmental approval, and financing. Bainlardi’s work has helped create more than 1,000 affordable and market-rate apartments throughout the Hudson Valley.
Michael Chu is the Chief Financial Officer of WBP Development and Griffon Construction. Prior to joining WBP, Michael was the SVP of Finance at Omni Holding Company, a fully integrated affordable housing development company, where he was responsible for managing the relationship’s with all stakeholder in addition to overseeing the financial reporting and valuation of a portfolio of over 15,000 units. Before joining Omni, Michael began his career at Margolin, Winer & Evens, a public accounting firm in Long Island, where he led the audits of various development and construction companies based in New York City.
Debra Reid has been managing an extensive portfolio of properties at Wilder Balter for 25+ years. She has a comprehensive knowledge of the procedures and regulations of the Farmer’s Home Administration, Housing and Urban Development, and various state housing agencies, and she specializes in Section 42 tax credit compliance procedures. Debra has served as a compliance trainer, and she is certified by Quadel in housing tax credit compliance and Fair Housing Compliance. She has a Bachelor of Arts in finance from Mercy College.
Elizabeth George became an esteemed member of the Griffon Construction & WBP Group in 2006. She holds the responsibility of managing all fiscal aspects for Griffon and is engaged in the process of regulatory reporting and the negotiation of contracts. In addition to her financial obligations, Elizabeth oversees the procurement of both Builder’s Risk and Liability Insurance for all of Griffon’s projects, as well as for acquiring the required insurances for the WBR Residential Communities sector of the company.
Elizabeth holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science with Applied Mathematics and a minor in Business from SUNY Albany.
Gibson Craig joined Griffon Associates in 2018 and is responsible for managing the Pre-Construction activities which includes working closely with the Development team evaluating the viability of new deals, creating budgets and shepherding projects through the design development stage. Gibson previously worked in New York City as a Project Manager for CNY Group where he helped lead the Woolworth Building’s condo conversion and façade restoration, among other projects. Prior to that, he was a structural engineer for DeSimone Consulting Engineers. Gibson has more than a decade of experience working on both new builds and renovations with construction budgets ranging from $10M to $200M, and is skilled in all project phases, including design, preconstruction, bidding, and construction management. Gibson received his undergraduate degree in Architectural Engineering from Drexel University and an international Masters in Structural Analysis of Historic Constructions from University of Minho, Portugal and Czech Technical University in Prague.
Rubin Pitarka brings over 30 years of experience in the construction industry, including design and construction, estimating, project management and purchasing to lead Griffon’s Purchasing and Estimating department. Skilled in detailed estimating, building budgets, value engineering, job scheduling, site logistics, creating scopes of work, purchasing of trades and material, bidding and negotiations with sub-contractors, suppliers and vendors, he is a strong business development professional with a Master’s degree in Architecture & Urban Planning from the University of Tirana in Albania in 1988. During his career Rubin has worked on numerous commercial and residential projects in the Tri-State area for contractors and developers, such as L&M Development Partners, Structural Contracting Services and Soil Solutions. Prior to joining Griffon Associates Rubin had his own construction company specializing in foundations and superstructure concrete as well as building new high-rise residences and hotels in Manhattan. Rubin has also worked as an architect and urban planner at the National Institute of Design & Construction in Tirana, Albania, where he was involved in several touristic development studies.
Joining Griffon Construction in May 2024, Michael Iorii, Griffon’s Construction Project Executive is an accomplished professional with over 30 years of experience managing construction operations in excess of a billion dollars. A renowned construction executive, Michael, has contributed to the project oversight of numerous ventures.
Since the commencement of his career as an Architect, he has held a multitude of roles including Vice President of Construction and Preconstruction Services, Construction General Manager, Associate Director, and as a Project Manager, and Project Architect.
His vast expertise and extensive background in executing large-scale projects have allowed him to cultivate and leverage his versatile skills in the industry.
Michael is adept in construction strategy processes, budgeting, and planning for capital construction, infrastructure, residential and major renovation projects. He is highly proficient in producing risk mitigation procedures that aid in resolving project delays, cost overruns, and conducting cost/benefit project analysis summaries.
His construction acumen includes robust project management and architectural proficiencies such as managing aggressive project schedules, pursuing GREEN initiatives and innovation systems relating to LEED accreditation goals including the design and implementation of the largest Geothermal HVAC system for one of his marquee projects, Columbia University. In his role as Project Architect, he oversaw coordination of structural, mechanical, electrical, audio, and visual packages and structural designs while satisfying client needs and requirements.
Some of Michael’s notable large-scale projects include, the design and construction of Knox Hall for Columbia University, The Southwest Wing design, and Pedestrian Plaza construction for the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The MET), and the Construction of the All-Star Café in Atlantic City, NJ.
Sal Malfa joined Griffon Associates in 2014 bringing a wealth of knowledge when it comes to hands on Construction/Project Management. During his 34 + years of experience in the construction industry he has managed the construction of a variety of different projects ranging from waste water treatment plants, to major infrastructure installations, to sea-walls, to large master planned residential communities. Sal’s experience is not only limited to managing the technical aspects of a project, as he also brings a great deal of experience when it comes to the overall administration of a project being well versed in developing schedules, helping to create budgets, management of spending and overall problem solving. In 2019 Sal played a key role in Griffon’s implementation of Procore. On a daily basis Sal takes pride in mentoring his onsite staff, as well as fostering strong relationships with all those he deals with, including Municipal officials, Professional Consultants, Contractors, etc. all of which makes him a valued member of the management team at Griffon Associates.
Mike Burke is a high-performing project manager with 8+ years of experience in delivering high-profile luxury residential and mixed-use development projects. His background as a cost and project engineer showcases his creative project-solving and strong financial management skills. Mike is well versed in both MEP BIM coordination and trade management. He has also been responsible for training and managing cost control functions to less experienced project staff. Mike’s collaborative approach and comprehensive knowledge of the construction industry allow him to leverage and attain effective and impactful results.
In 2020, Lauren Piletto joined Griffon’s prestigious construction management team as the Project Site Administrator at one of Griffon’s high-profile market rate developments – 25 Maple Avenue. Subsequent to its successful completion, she was promoted to the role of Assistant Pre-Construction Manager where she works alongside the Divisions Director, Gibson Craig.
In her new role, Lauren collaborates with the WBP Development and WBP Residential sectors of the company. Lauren also works in conjunction with an elite team of Project Consultants where she is actively involved in developing design elements, selecting finish selections, and aids in facilitating the requisite buyouts to bring Griffon’s vision of excellence to life.
Lauren has a Marketing and Management Degree and has been a Licensed NYS Real Estate Agent since 2015.