Apicella noted that the Trump administration seems intent on eliminating or severely cutting back on federal green energy funding, which he said is critical to many new development projects.
Unlike many commercial brokers, Minichino did not start out listing and selling residential properties.
The $10-million award will focus on downtown revitalization initiatives in Downtown Poughkeepsie.
Unlike many commercial brokers, Minichino did not start out listing and selling residential properties.
Don Minichino welcomed 2025 with a lot of novel experiences—joining the HGAR Board of Directors as a new member, serving as the new Chair of HGAR’s Commercial and Investment Division (CID), and also becoming a new husband! (Although he and his wife, Lauren, tied the knot in September 2024).
Even his commercial real estate business is fairly new—he earned his license in 2019 and now works with Keller Williams Realty Partners in Hopewell Junction and Mahopac. Unlike many commercial brokers, Minichino did not start out listing and selling residential properties. “I never sold a home,” he admitted. “I just went straight for commercial because that’s where I knew I belonged.”
Born in Yonkers and raised in East Fishkill, Minichino holds a Business Administration degree from Dutchess Community College, as well as a bachelor’s degree in marketing communications from Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh.
After graduation, a career in commercial real estate was not something immediately on his radar screen. Instead, he jumped into an Account Executive position with Focus Media in Goshen, working with economic development and tourism clients throughout the region.
Minichino spent seven years there before making the switch from marketing to economic development. As Director of Business Attractions for Dutchess County, he attended national trade shows, marketing the region as a potential business location for many industries. “That’s when I realized that 90% of economic development is commercial real estate and that was a ‘lightbulb’ moment,” he recalled. “I had experience with marketing, public relations, tourism and economic development, and that’s when I realized I should be a commercial broker.”
He chose Houlihan Lawrence’s commercial division to start out, and credits Tom LaPerch and Steve Salomone with showing him the ropes. Still, jumping into a new career did not come without its challenges. “It took me six months to close the first deal,” he remembered. “I did have a good list of builders, developers, and property owners, but I wasn’t a trained salesperson. I had to learn how to turn that database into transactions.”
During that first year, Minichino closed 10 commercial deals, which included a two-acre parcel of land with a building in Downtown Poughkeepsie for a mixed-use development. He also learned that real estate also involves a lot of counseling work. “It’s a lot like being a matchmaker,” he said. “You have to find the right property for the right clients.”
A few years later, Minichino moved to his current position with Keller Williams. “Every three or four years I do an assessment of where I am professionally and where I want to be. Then, I take action,” he shared. It was at Keller Williams where he helped to launch the firm’s commercial division. “That was another ‘lightbulb’ moment,” he related.
Taking on a new role as an HGAR Board of Directors member is something that also keeps Minichino busy and excited. “There are not too many of us in the Hudson Valley who do 100% commercial real estate, and I think this offers me a good opportunity to spread the word about what this world is all about,” he said. “I want to be able to increase the relevance of commercial real estate into the Realtor world, which can be very focused on residential properties.”
As the new chair of the association’s CID this year, Minichino is already planning events that he hopes will create a resource for other commercial brokers, as well as residential agents who want to know more about the commercial side.
Active in his local community, Minichino also chairs the Putnam County Economic Development Corp. and is a member of the Dutchess Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Dutchess Economic Development Advisory Council. “My dad was very involved politically in Dutchess County and with New York State, and my mom worked with the Department of Labor,” he said. “We were always helping people and businesses, and I’ve been able to do that in every career so far.”
A Wappingers resident, Minichino spends his leisure time running and has run 10 half-marathons to date. His next one will be in April in Nashville, TN. He and his wife also love to travel, and spent a three-week honeymoon in Europe visiting Paris, Switzerland, Venice, and Athens among other spots.
“We try to choose places where neither of us has been before, and if we’re lucky, we’ll also find a city where there’s a race going on,” he quipped.
Apicella noted that the Trump administration seems intent on eliminating or severely cutting back on federal green energy funding, which he said is critical to many new development projects.
The $10-million award will focus on downtown revitalization initiatives in Downtown Poughkeepsie.
The envisioned building is a more than 200,000-gross-square-foot facility that will bring together a range of STEM disciplines.
For the first time since 2016, new construction activity outpaced household formations. Yet, the nation still faces a supply shortfall of 3.8 million homes.
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