Malek Hajar, 36

Perhaps due to his previous career as an optician, Malek Hajar approaches real estate with a keen eye for detail, likely seeing office buildings much differently than a civilian. You may see a typical workspace, but Hajar looks at elevators, ceiling heights, windows and floor plates, crunching numbers and thinking about where somebody might one day call home. 

Hajar might, in fact, be one of the more experienced project managers in the burgeoning office-to-residential sector. Like a snowball rolling downhill, this type of project seemed to start slowly during the pandemic, only to become a significant part of the nation’s urban apartment pipeline. 

Hajar has worked on many of the marquee conversions, slowly transforming aged Manhattan offices to new dwellings, including at 160 Water Street, now known as Pearl House. He actually started in the building as a property manager, and has truly seen the ins and outs, from how the office ran day-to-day to its new iteration as a 588-unit apartment tower. 

Currently, Hajar is overseeing conversions at three separate properties, totaling roughly 1,500 units: 77 Water Street, 1011 First Avenue and 60 East 43rd Street. He sees the work as addressing the city’s housing crisis, turning the opportunities of zoning and policy shifts into concrete solutions. 

“City of Yes unlocked millions of square feet, and we’re always looking at doing new projects in New York,” said Hajar, referring to New York’s big zoning overhaul. “Now we’re looking at expanding into different markets, like Austin, Seattle and other places across the U.S., and we think we can bring that expertise. Our track record speaks for itself.”

The saying that no day in real estate is the same is a cliche for a good reason, and it’s what Hajar relishes about his role. Renovations of this size and scale offer myriad hurdles, from architect design shifts and supply chain stoppages to requirements from different city agencies and challenges in scheduling construction. As Hajar has shown throughout his career, it’s all about figuring out how to adapt.