Michael Happel
Co-Regional Director – NY Metro & New England
Rubenstein Partners

Michael Happel joined Rubenstein Partners in 2021 with over 30 years of experience investing in real estate, including acquisitions of office, retail, multifamily, industrial, and hotel properties, as well as acquisitions of real estate companies and real estate debt. He is the former CEO of New York REIT, Inc. (“NYRT”), as well as CEO of New York City REIT, Inc. (“NYCR”). He has been responsible for over $3.5 billion of real estate acquisitions in New York City since 2009, when he formed and launched NYRT. Previously, Mr. Happel worked at Morgan Stanley & Co., specializing in real estate and becoming co-head of acquisitions for The Morgan Stanley Real Estate Funds (“MSREF”) in 1994, where he was involved in acquiring over $10 billion of real estate and related assets. Later Mr. Happel held leadership roles at Westbrook Partners, a real estate private equity firm with over $5 billion of real estate assets, and Atticus Capital, a multi-billion dollar hedge fund. Mr. Happel received a B.A. in economics from Duke University in 1985 and a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1988.