Daniel Moore

Dan Moore has a different definition of a coast-to-coast empire than his predecessors.

Where Rockefeller Group has mainly been focused on properties on the left and right coasts, Moore has been looking to places such as Seattle, Denver and Phoenix for not only operations but also new developments. That doesn’t mean he’s forgetting New York City.

Moore has been steering the ship at Rockefeller since early 2018. While there’s been turbulence in the world, the former U.S. Air Force captain has kept things stable by growing the company’s residential and commercial portfolio where business has been good, he told Commercial Observer.

“At [1271 Avenue of the Americas], where we have our offices, we did something I thought was only possible in real estate theory: We took a building to 100 percent lease,” Moore said. “One of the things I learned in graduate school was that there’s no such thing as a 100 percent leased building, you have to always put in structural vacancy and frictional costs. It was a testament to the work that our team did here in the last five years.”

A $50 million renovation of its privately owned public plaza at 1221 Avenue of the Americas has also been in the works, with completion scheduled later this year.

The residential market in Manhattan is also feeling no pain, Moore explained.

Rockefeller’s Rose Hill condominiums at 30 East 29th Street saw the pandemic ups and downs, but are now over 60 percent sold. With this success, Rockefeller decided to join Park Tower in a joint venture for one tower in the Greenpoint Landing development on the Brooklyn waterfront at 16 Dupont Street. The building will be 40 stories with 380 apartments and among 11 buildings in a 22-acre parcel.

Moore attributes the housing recovery to rising mortgage rates forcing prospective buyers to decide sooner rather than later in order to lock in lower borrowing costs. Since taking the position of chief executive, Moore has also guided the firm through an expansion in Denver where it has a new office, and in Seattle where it’s tapping into local talent pools.