About

Michele brings 50 years of experience spanning real estate, business, and law to development decisions and problems where the path forward isn’t obvious. Her background includes corporate law, bankruptcy, cooperative and condominium real estate, large-scale affordable housing development, mediation, and arbitration.

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Michele holds a Juris Doctor from New York Law School and a dual degree in music (Performance Honors) and education from Syracuse University.

 

She completed graded coursework in commercial real estate development through the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business in 2026.

 

She was admitted to practice law in the state courts of New York, New Jersey, and Oregon; the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division; the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York; and the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.  She is now retired from legal practice.

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Before attending law school, Michele spent nearly a decade in Manhattan, first as a teacher and then in real estate.  She began as an agent at Feathered Nest, Manhattan’s top luxury rental firm, then launched the first rental division at The Corcoran Group as an Associate Broker.  She advised Barbara Corcoran on rental pricing for developments under evaluation, and Barbara then recruited her as the On-Site Sales Director for the MacArthur Associates/Chase Manhattan Bank project, a major institutional real estate workout and restructuring project. 

 

In that role, Michele was responsible for the on-site execution of the sales and marketing strategy for a substantial portfolio of distressed luxury residential properties. Working under Barbara Corcoran’s direction, she balanced the bank’s financial and compliance requirements with the realities of marketing and selling luxury residences under significant financial pressure. Her experience in distressed real estate also included representing the FDIC in the disposition of properties under its control. When Michele decided to attend law school, Barbara Corcoran wrote one of her letters of recommendation, a vote of confidence that marked the beginning of Michele’s transition from real estate into law.

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Michele earned her law degree and began her legal career in the corporate restructuring department of Fried Frank, one of New York’s premier international law firms, with nationally recognized practices in corporate transactions, restructuring, litigation, and real estate. She went on to become In-House Legal Counsel and Director of New Project Development at a Manhattan real estate firm, where she guided unit mix and design decisions for new development. Her development experience included two large-scale affordable housing developments in Harlem, the Hamilton and the Langston, working with the New York City Housing Partnership, the Mayor’s Office, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), community organizations, and local district boards.

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Michele also served as a consultant to the West Village Houses, a large affordable housing community in Manhattan, in connection with its proposed transition from the Mitchell-Lama Housing Program to private cooperative ownership. She additionally was consulted on the conversion of other Manhattan residential properties to cooperative and condominium ownership.

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Michele subsequently established her own Manhattan real estate and legal practices, representing and advising developers, property owners, and other real estate clients. Throughout her career, she has also been engaged to advise numerous cooperative and condominium boards on real estate, governance, discrimination, and other complex matters. Her professional leadership included service on the Board of Directors of the Manhattan Association of Realtors and on several committees of the Real Estate Board of New York, including its Economic Development Committee, where she worked with leading New York developers, law firms, and the Mayor’s Office on issues affecting the city’s development.

 

Michele also served on the Planning Board of Ridgewood, New Jersey, after completing a certified course in land use law and planning.

 

Drawing on her background in bankruptcy, corporate restructuring, and real estate, Michele became a recognized short-sale expert in Manhattan, lecturing on the subject to attorneys and other real estate professionals through the Real Estate Board of New York, the Manhattan Association of Realtors, and individual real estate firms.

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Her professional work included service on the New York State Bar Association’s Committee on Attorney Professionalism and service as an arbitrator in attorney disciplinary matters through the New York City Bar Association for the First Judicial Department. She also served as a foreclosure mediator for the New Jersey courts and received the CLARO Award from Fordham Law School for pro bono consumer law service at the Bronx Supreme Court.

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From 2007 to 2013, Michele was awarded a competitive RFP by the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY) and the New York State Office for People With Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD). The program, CitiSearch, was designed to locate housing and land throughout New York City for the development of supervised residences for people with developmental disabilities. The program operated within the framework of New York’s Mental Hygiene Law and Padavan Law governing the placement of such facilities within communities. The first phase was so successful that it became the model for a similar program in Upstate New York. The State then asked that the New York City program continue as CitiSearch II, with Michele again leading the effort. Recently, in 2025, after Michele’s original engagement had ended, DASNY approached her again to lead CitiSearch III. She declined only because she had decided to make Portland her home.

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Now based in Portland, Oregon, Michele serves as a volunteer on the NorthWest District Association (NWDA) Planning Committee and the Board of the NWDA.   She advises real estate developers, investment firms, and housing advocates on development opportunities, business strategy, deal structure, and complex problems that benefit from an experienced, independent perspective. Her consulting practice does not provide legal services or legal advice.