Alicia Glen

Despite economic and political headwinds, financing mixed-income housing proved fruitful for Alicia Glen’s MSquared last year. The investment and development platform broke ground on over 1,500 units of housing and finished three construction projects in 2025 — a significant number of transactions for the 6-year-old venture.

“We had such a good 2024 I was a little nervous that we couldn’t have as good a year in 2025,” Glen said. “But we actually were able to, in some ways, have an even better year.”

In October, MSquared celebrated the completion of Miramar, a 700-unit housing complex at Manhattan’s 405-407 West 206th Street, a project begun in the midst of COVID-19. “I think we’re still so new, that actually seeing our projects get finished and have people moving into them has also been an incredible feeling,” Glen said.

MSquared’s deal-making in 2025 included a mixed-income, 370-unit development in Dallas, called Loma, which broke ground in December. The project reunites MSquared with woman-led firm Mintwood Real Estate, and far exceeds the partnership’s previous Dallas build in size and affordability.

The platform has another mixed-income development coming to New York, Glen said, this time in Brooklyn’s Lefferts Gardens. The adaptive reuse project, located at the site of a burned-down housing complex, will start construction later this spring.

Despite facing what Glenn called the toughest fundraising environment for real estate in decades, MSquared completed a $139 million first close for its national mixed-income housing fund last year with a $300 million hard cap. The fund has already closed on four deals across four states, and ultimately seeks to finance $1 billion in housing across red and blue states.

“That so far exceeded expectations that I just I can’t say enough about how amazing the team was and how much people are responding positively to our strategy,” Glen said.

Glen, who served as New York’s deputy mayor for housing and economic development from 2014 to 2019, feels she entered the mixed-income housing space at the right time. Her experience has equipped her to problem-solve across localities nationally, and forge ahead with the Gateway Development Commission, the bi-state agency behind a new Hudson River rail tunnel that Glen co-chairs, despite federal funding roadblocks.

“If you take on these challenging projects and you stick with it, people respond,” Glen said.