Gelestino: Modernization, Safety, Code Among 2026 NYC Business Drivers

The biggest opportunities for the NYC vertical-transportation (VT) industry in 2026 will come from a continued push toward modernization, stricter safety requirements and code compliance, Don Gelestino, founder of Champion Elevator, told the New York Real Estate Journal (NYREJ) in late 2025. "Building owners are moving away from patchwork repairs and investing in full modernizations to improve performance, reduce downtime and meet new compliance standards," he told the source. Public agencies and large portfolios, meanwhile, are prioritizing long-term reliability, creating opportunities for VT firms that can deliver "consistent quality, transparency and speed." Gelestino told the NYREJ the key 2025 deal that best reflects the outlook for the NYC real estate market was SLGreen Realty Corp. acquiring Park Avenue Tower for US$730 million, showing that confidence is strong in commercial real estate. 2025 projects of which Champion is most proud, he said, include complex modernizations at 2 Wall Street and 125 West 46th Street, as well as its "continued progress with the NYC Housing Authority."