MaryAnne Gilmartin

What was the thinking behind the Hudson Square development? In other words, why Hudson Square?

Housing follows jobs, and in Hudson Square the jobs arrived first. 

Since the 2013 rezoning, only about 800 homes have been built, roughly 100 of them rentals. Meanwhile, Google built a 1.7 million-square-foot campus, Disney opened its headquarters, Anthropic leased an entire building, and PayPal and Tennr made major commitments this year. 

Next door, SoHo has extraordinary demand and almost no way to add supply. With our partner Global Holdings, we expect 122 Varick Street to achieve top-of-the-
market rents.

How is the multifamily development market in general in New York City now?

It’s two markets. At the top, Manhattan rents in the right neighborhoods support new construction, which is why 122 Varick works. At the bottom, deeply affordable housing works with public subsidy. 

The middle is where the math breaks: Land, construction, financing and insurance are all expensive, and 485-x adds affordability and labor requirements at specific unit thresholds. 

Housing policy should be measured by one thing: units delivered.

Would you ever do an office-to-residential conversion? Or a conversion project in general?

Absolutely. Our job is to find the highest and best use of a building or a site. Conversions make sense now: Parts of the office market have repriced, New York needs housing, zoning is more accommodating, and 467-m helps the economics. But it’s building by building. Floor plate depth, structure, elevators, light and air, mechanicals and basis decide it. Where the building and the numbers work, we’ll do it.

Any particular areas that you are looking to pursue?

Complicated urban development, where expertise creates value. Housing remains the core. In Manhattan, we want sites where market rents support new construction. In the outer boroughs, we want to partner with long-term landowners, including institutions and mission-driven organizations whose land basis allows a longer view.

We also opened a Miami office this fall, and are quietly working on a few exciting deals in South Florida.

Where are you getting your money, or how would you describe your investor base?

Debt has come back faster than equity. For high-quality multifamily, lenders are active. We’ve seen it in our own refinancings. Equity is available but selective, focused on basis, downside protection and alignment. 

We work with institutional and private capital, and increasingly we want partners who understand development. On a complex ground-up project, the best capital isn’t passive. It understands the timeline and the decisions it takes to create value.

If you could change one area of global or local tumult, what would it be?

The economics of building housing in New York. Production is finally a political priority: City of Yes added real zoning capacity, and Mayor Mamdani has talked explicitly about increasing production with the private sector. But zoning for housing and making it feasible are different things. Under 485-x, affordability and wage requirements change at specific project sizes, so those thresholds often decide how big a building gets. 

If the goal is more housing, policy should encourage building every unit the zoning allows.

Is the opportunistic investment window still open, or has it closed?

It’s open, but different. 

A few years ago, the opportunity was distress from rising rates. Most of that repricing is done, and everyone has a more realistic view of the cost of capital. Today’s opportunities are specific: obsolete office buildings that can become housing, land whose basis has reset, capital structures that need recapitalizing, and long-term landowners ready to develop. 

It’s less about buying at a discount and more about seeing what a change in use or structure can unlock.

Lightning Round:

Your AI platform of choice? Claude.

Who would play you in a movie? I’m more interested in who designs the set.

One prompt you’d never give AI. “Make this decision for me.”

Jalen Brunson or Aaron Judge? Brunson. 

“Oppenheimer” or “Odyssey”? “Odyssey.”

Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield or Tobey Maguire? Tobey Maguire.

Have you ever eaten pizza with a knife and fork? Of course.

The most money you’ve ever spent on a hamburger? I eat one a year, so it’s priceless.

Bank or non-bank? Whichever one closes.

Last book you read? An Inconvenient Widow by Lois Romano.

Borrowing costs — up or down in 2027? Down, please.

What was your nickname when you grew up/started out? Mimi.

How long do we have before AI kills us all? Hopefully, not before I finish my pipeline.

Where’s your secret escape compound? (Think Peter Thiel’s New Zealand Plan B.) The North Fork.