Lisa Gomez and David Dishy
CEO of L+M Development; CEO of LMXD at L+M
Last year's rank: 26
L+M and its mixed-income development and investment company LMXD keeps dishing it out to underserved communities in ways that create what David Dishy calls “cultural anchors.”
LMXD sees Claremont Hall, its soon-to-be-complete 41-story residential tower in Manhattan’s Morningside Heights, designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects and SLCE Architects, as a model for what they do to improve communities through construction projects, Dishy said. Built into the Union Theological Seminary campus, Claremont Hall comes with 165 condos and a pool built into a 150-year-old refectory. It even has faculty housing, academic space and a $5 million facility for homeless services.
“That’s not without precedent, but it’s definitely an increasingly important focus of what we try to do when we set out on our projects: to try to think about how we can really contribute to the community here and use cultural components to enhance the experience for residents and the community around the communities we’re building,” Dishy said.
LMXD also has projects in Newark, N.J., and New Rochelle, N.Y., plus a 222-unit, 21-story apartment building at East 125th Street and Fifth Avenue in Harlem that will serve as the new home for the National Black Theatre.
L+M’s development and investment activity has been going strong despite the rising interest rate environment, with Lisa Gomez seeing the political climate as energizing.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s attempt to facilitate the construction of 800,000 new homes through production mandates and other legislative measures may have been scrapped by the legislature in April. Yet, with or without that initiative in the state budget, Gomez sees political motivation for more housing regardless.
“I do think that the city and the state both have a robust commitment to affordable housing, which is where we’re focused,” Gomez said. “I think that the city and the state understand what needs to happen. I think they’re committed to doing the best they can do, but these are challenging times.”
