Tommy Craig and Sarah Hawkins

Tommy Craig, with 40 years at Hines, and Sarah Hawkins, with 10, are pushing a firm with humble beginnings in Texas to new levels by building some of the most modern buildings in New York City today.

Just a few of the projects underway making waves not only for their form, but also their function, are One Madison Avenue, 555 Greenwich, 2330 Broadway, Sunrise at East 56th Street and 53 West 53rd Street. 

The Greenwich Street project is a combination of an old development in Hudson Square from the 1930s and an entirely new section that has been joined in a unique style of architecture that brings to mind structures like the Guggenheim. 

Hines recently shifted to residential with Parcel H at Edge-on-Hudson and the NorthLight at Edge-on-Hudson in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., as well as a senior housing tower at 2330 Broadway in Manhattan.

The firm remains in a constant state of evolution and diversification that has increased in the pandemic era, according to Craig. “Hines has changed more in the last five years, in my experience, than any other five-year period,” Craig said. “One Madison and 555 Greenwich, as well as the two multifamily projects, they really benefit [Hines] because we were willing to go forward in 2020. The cost of those projects today would probably be about 24 percent higher.”

But foresight has also worked in its favor as the firm eyed office space in Hudson Square six years ago. Hines committed to moving its New York headquarters from Midtown to the then-overlooked section of Manhattan.

“We saw that this neighborhood was underutilized, there were beautiful buildings that were shifting to being an incredible office environment,” Hawkins said. “[Now] we have Google’s second headquarters, at 550 Washington, we have Disney’s new headquarters. The amount of activity here and how desirable this neighborhood has become, we’re sitting in the center of it and the whole thesis being validated.”

Hines is also advancing on the sustainability front. Case in point: Once completed, 555 Greenwich Street will produce 40 percent of its heating and cooling through geothermal piles and be six times more power efficient than other buildings of its size by integrating the latest proptech.