MAG Partners, Safanad, Atalaya Capital Management and Qualitas, with Urban Atelier Group, top out 241 W. 28th St.
By: Owners Developers & Managers
Shown (from left) are: Tom Alaimo, James Palace, Andy D’Amico, Rick Cook, MaryAnne Gilmartin, Jon Mechanic, Susi Yu, Brandon Specketer, and Jeff Rosen.
Manhattan, NY MAG Partners topped out construction on a 480-unit rental residential building at 241 W. 28th St. in Chelsea. The development is expected to be complete in late 2022.
The first development project of MAG Partners, founded by MaryAnne Gilmartin, is being designed by celebrated architects COOKFOX Architects. The building will include 8,000 s/f of ground floor retail. Developed under the Affordable NY program, 30% of the project’s units are reserved for low- and middle-income New Yorkers. Urban Atelier Group is the construction manager for the development.
The project is a joint venture between MAG Partners, Safanad, Atalaya Capital Management and Qualitas.
MAG Partners previously announced that it had secured a $173 million construction loan from Madison Realty Capital for the project.
The exterior of the building is designed with contextual masonry inspired by the historic architectural fabric of the neighborhood, while the residences will incorporate biophilic design strategies that connect its residents to nature. A landscaped canopy will welcome residents at the 28th St. entrance and a central courtyard and garden will unite the amenities and lobby areas. Above, alternating piers of hand-laid, angled brick and expansive windows allow light and shadow to dance across the façade. A series of outdoor terraces offer residents rooftop gardens and panoramic views of Midtown, Downtown, and the Hudson River.
MAG Partners Rings in 2022 With New Hires, Including Rob Willis From Mack-Cali
By: Andrew Coen
MaryAnne Gilmartin’s MAG Partners rang in 2022 with the addition of construction industry veteran Rob Willis, Commercial Observer can first report.
The hiring serves as a reunion for the two commercial real estate executives. Willis was most recently senior vice president of construction at Veris Residential (formerly Mack-Cali Realty Corporation), and first became acquainted with Gilmartin while working alongside her at Forest City Ratner Companies 19 years ago. The two also intersected briefly at Mack-Cali.
Gilmartin tapped Willis for the head of construction role at MAG as the developer gears up to tackle large-scale multifamily and office properties throughout Manhattan.
“When MaryAnne gave me the call I thought about it for about one second,” said Willis, who was vice president at Forest City Ratner from 1998 to 2004 and became senior vice president of construction at Mack-Cali in September 2020. “I admire her so much as she is so talented and has so much experience, and the rest of the team is really good at what they do.”
Gilmartin rose through the ranks at Forest City Ratner Companies to become president and CEO, before forming L&L MAG in 2018 with L&L Holding Company’s David Levinson and Robert Lapidus. She founded MAG in July 2020 while simultaneously spending nine months as an interim CEO at Mack-Cali on the heels of a leadership shakeup at the real estate investment trust, where she had served on its board.
During his time at Mack-Cali — which was rebranded as Veris Residential in late 2021 — Willis oversaw a construction department that was responsible for the $100 million repositioning of Harborside 1 in Jersey City, N.J., a 4.3 million-square-foot office campus. He previously led the design and construction team at HEI Hotels & Resorts and was managing director of the John Hardy Group’s New York City office.
At Forest City Ratner, Willis served as the day-to-day project manager on the 42nd Street Retail-Entertainment Complex and The New York Times building projects. After Forest City, he spent four years as vice president of design and construction at Starwood Hotels and Resorts, which included laying the groundwork for the building of the St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort in Miami Beach, Fla.
“When we started the company we knew that we were going to have to grow and grow strategically and lean on the life cycle of a ground-up development company where the construction piece is back ended and it takes sometimes years to put buildings together,” Gilmartin said. “Now that we are several years in, we are building things and because of that we can get a great talent to help us deliver the construction part of our business.”
A year and a half after completing the buyout of her L&L partners and launching MAG Partners, the firm is tackling four development projects in Manhattan including a 480-unit residential development at 241 West 28th Street slated for completion in late 2022. Another rental project with an affordable component that Willis will help spearhead is 335 Eighth Avenue, scheduled to break ground this spring, and a new boutique office development also slated to launch this year at 122 Varick Street.
In addition to the hire of Willis, Gilmartin added Lizzy Zevallos as assistant vice president of development. Zevallos arrives at MAG after serving as vice president of portfolio management at Maverick Real Estate Partners, where she helped underwrite more than $3 billion of CRE loans. Zevallos, who is also a professional dancer and choreographer, also interned under Gilmartin at L&L MAG from January 2020 to June 2020.
Gilmartin also hired Arion Alku as an accounting manager, bringing MAG’s staff up to 10. Alku previously worked as a senior accountant at Marx Realty, where he conducted audits and internal controls for some of the largest real estate owners in the New York City metropolitan area.
MAG’s expanded 10-person team now consists of six women and four men. Boosting diversity has been a core focus of Gilmartin since launching MAG in addition to constructing projects that intersect well with their neighborhoods.
“We’re building a different company where we’re creating a new model for development and we’re focusing on diversity,” Gilmartin said. “We want to bring the community into our process and do that while delivering the highest-quality buildings.”
MAG Partners celebrates topping out of first NYC project; COOKFOX-designed rental to bring 480 mixed-income apts to Chelsea
By: CityRealty Staff
Just south of the slow-as-molasses and desperately needed metamorphosis of Penn Station, the area once known as the ‘Fur District’ is transforming into a vibrant mixed-use community. 2021 began with the opening of Moynihan Train Hall, the transformation of Farley Post Office into an airy, welcoming train station. Plans are moving forward for the Penn District, the transformation of the area around the much-maligned Penn Station that will also bring aesthetic and infrastructure improvements to the station itself.
A few blocks south, construction has topped out at 235 feet high and 22 stories at 241 West 28th Street, a 400,000-square-foot through-block development between Seventh and Eighth Avenues. MaryAnne Gilmartin, Jeff Rosen, and Susi Yu of developer MAG Partners, as well as Rick Cook and Brandon Specketer of designer COOKFOX Architects, were on hand to mark this milestone, which puts the building well on its way towards its target completion of late 2022.
MaryAnne Gilmartin, Founder and CEO of MAG Partners
The project will comprise two 22-story towers, individually fronting West 28th and West 29th Streets, and a private courtyard in between. There will be approximately 8,500 square feet of retail space on the ground floor, and apartments on all floors above. As part of the Affordable NY program, 30 percent of the units (or approximately 144) will be permanently affordable to low- and middle-income New Yorkers. Permits filed in September 2019 show that amenities will include a children’s playroom, pet spa, fitness rooms, bike room, lounge, and pool.The project is targeting LEED Silver certification, and COOKFOX is well known for its work relating to sustainability and occupant wellness. Released renderings showing details of 214 West 28th Street’s facade show the building will have a planted canopy above the entrance, beautifully-articulated brickwork, and deeply-inset windows with chamfered surrounds to augment views. Additional outdoor offerings will include a central courtyard and garden, as well as a series of terraces and rooftop gardens with views of Midtown, Lower Manhattan, and the Hudson River. Examples of the firm’s commitment to biophilic design include 550 Vanderbilt Avenue, 150 Charles Street, Google’s expansion in Hudson Square, and a nearby condo development at 39 West 23rd Street.
Rick Cook of COOKFOX Architects via MAG PartnersRendering courtesy of MAG Partners and COOKFOX ArchitectsStreet-level rendering of 241 West 28th Street (MAG Partners/COOKFOX)
“We have never met a surface we haven’t wanted to plant green” — Brandon Specketer, COOKFOX
Resident landscaped courtyard located between the buildings
The new building is being developed in a joint venture between MAG Partners (led by Ms. Gilmartin), Safanad, Atalaya Capital Management and Qualitas. The lot was previously owned by major parking landlord Edison Properties and was acquired by MAG Partners in December 2018 by way of a 99-year ground lease.
The property had long been slated for development, and a 2011 rezoning allowed for new residential uses to breathe new life into the shrinking Fur District. Fast-forward nearly a decade later, the acquisition of a $173 million loan from Madison Realty Capital allowed construction to proceed.
Topping out ceremony photos via MAG PartnersNovember 2021March 2020
“As true believers in the future of New York City, we are thrilled to be able to begin construction on this innovative project that will bring mixed-income housing and hundreds of jobs at a critical time for the City.” — MaryAnne Gilmartin, Founder and CEO of MAG Partners
“This marquee 480-unit multifamily rental building, located within a few blocks of Hudson Yards and other prominent tech tenant expansions on the west side, will be one of the only new multifamily rental projects built in Manhattan in the next few years,” said Josh Zegen, Co-Founder and Managing Principal of Madison Realty Capital. “We were pleased to fill a void which would customarily be financed by conventional banks, and provide our flexibility, certainty, and conviction.”
Maverick Chelsea and office building 28&7 are also under construction on the block (Image credits: HAP Investments and GDSNY/Klovern)
241 West 28th Street is taking shape in what is rapidly becoming a central live-work-play community. The site is a few doors west from Maverick Chelsea, an eye-catching new building where current availabilities start at $1.5 million. Around the corner, MAG Partners and COOKFOX have teamed up again to transform 335 Eighth Avenue, an affordable housing cooperative, into a 200-unit building with commercial space, including a grocery store.
These projects will provide much-needed affordable and market-rate apartments to a central Manhattan location within walking to distance to thousands of office tenants in Midtown, the Garment District, Chelsea, and Hudson Yards. Facebook is set to occupy the office space in the James A. Farley Building, and industry giants like Apple, Google, and Amazon are among the firms embarking on expansions nearby. The area has also seen a commercial building boom over the past few years with developers undaunted by the pandemic and growing work-from home arrangements. Around this building alone, Fashion Institute of Technology is planning a multi-layered glass academic building designed by SHoP Architects across the street, and construction is winding down on 28&7, a sleek new commercial tower designed by Skidmore Owings & Merrill.
Google Earth image showing the location of 241 West 28th Street
“As a firm, we continue to believe in the future of cities as places where the world’s most talented and creative minds congregate – we expect New York City to continue to lead the way on that front and the Chelsea neighborhood to strengthen its attributes as a highly desirable place to live, work and play. We are excited to commence building this project.” — Mark Fischer, Global Head of Real Estate at Qualitas
The site is also a stone’s throw from the new Penn District plan set to transform the decrepit Penn Station and the surrounding area. Andrew Cuomo called for a new business district of 10 skyscrapers to be built, and for using the money from those buildings to finance much-needed infrastructure upgrades. More recently, Governor Hochul has called for revisions of the plan, saying, “It’s time for a Penn Station that meets the needs of New Yorkers.” Her vision calls for the same number of buildings, but not as dizzyingly high as the supertalls previously proposed. It also calls for 540 permanently affordable housing units among the 1,800 new ones proposed in the plan, as well as eight acres of public space and a plaza that would limit car traffic.
It is unclear how Madison Square Garden would fit into all this. The arena was granted a 10-year permit in 2013 so the owners could find a new home; eight years later, ownership has not revealed plans for that, but did announce that they had signed a lease for a 428,000-square-foot corporate headquarters at Penn 2, one of the new office towers in the Penn District. Some critics say that moving Madison Square Garden would let natural light into Penn Station and improve conditions from a safety standpoint. Governor Hochul’s plan calls for keeping Madison Square Garden where it is, but requiring the Hulu Theater to be demolished to accommodate a grand entrance to Penn Station.
MAG Partners has topped out construction on a 480-unit rental residential building at 241 West 28th Street in Chelsea. The development is expected to be complete in late 2022.
The first development project of MAG Partners, founded by MaryAnne Gilmartin, is being designed by celebrated architects COOKFOX Architects. The building will include approximately 8,000 s/f of ground floor retail.
Developed under the Affordable NY program, 30 percent of the project’s units are reserved for low- and middle-income New Yorkers. Urban Atelier Group is the construction manager for the development.
MARYANNE GILMARTIN
The exterior of the building is designed with contextual masonry inspired by the rich historic architectural fabric of the neighborhood, while the residences will incorporate biophilic design strategies that connect its residents to nature. A landscaped canopy will welcome residents at the 28th street entrance and a central courtyard and garden will unite the amenities and lobby areas. Above, alternating piers of hand-laid, angled brick and expansive windows allow light and shadow to dance across the façade. A series of outdoor terraces offer residents rooftop gardens and panoramic views of midtown, downtown, and the Hudson River.
The project is a joint venture between MAG Partners, Safanad, Atalaya Capital Management and Qualitas.
MAG Partners previously announced that it has secured a $173 million construction loan from Madison Realty Capital for the project.
Pictured top are project team members MaryAnne Gilmartin, Jeff Rosen and Susi Yu of MAG Partners, Rick Cook and Brandon Specketer of COOKFOX, Andy D’Amico, James Palace, and Tom Alaimo of Urban Atelier Group, and Jon Mechanic of Fried Frank.
IMPACTGilmartin is chairwoman emeritus of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, an executive committee member of BAM, a board member of New York Public Radio and an executive committee and board member of the Real Estate Board of New York.
ONCE, TWICE, four times a CEO.
At 56, MaryAnne Gilmartin has already been at the helm of four high-profile development firms in the city. She bought out her partners at L+L MAG to start MAG Partners in 2019. The company now controls a pipeline of three residential ground-up developments, as well as one commercial, in New York City.
While working on the new company, she was tapped to serve as the interim chief executive of New Jersey–based real estate investment trust Mack-Cali after investment group Bow Street partners ousted its previous leader, Michael DeMarco. Gilmartin has since relinquished the role and is back at her firm.
When she served as chief executive of Forest City Ratner Cos., she was a driving force behind some of the city’s most important developments including the Barclays Center and Pacific Park, which transformed Brooklyn, as well as the New York Times Building.
MaryAnne Gilmartin – Founder and CEO at MAG Partners
By: The Editors
How much longer can this go on?
It has already gone on longer than anyone predicted so I don’t pretend to know, but I am optimistic about our resilience no matter how long it takes to beat this. Shows have resumed at Barclays Center, subways are filling up, Google just doubled down on Hudson Square, demand for apartment rentals are off the charts again, and I am betting on New York City.
What does normal look like?
A major blessing of this period is the general recognition that “normal” can look different for everyone. As a tired working mom, I’m grateful that workforce flexibility is mainstream. I’m in no way surprised that one of the keys to greater productivity and better work-life balance is rooted in workplace flexibility. This will be part of the new normal and that’s something to celebrate.
If you could go back in time to March of 2020, what’s the first thing you would do?
Invest in Zoom.
What do you do now that you never did before 2020?
Wear Supergas to business meetings. And my feet are thanking me.
What’s the biggest threat to the return to normal?
People prioritizing themselves over the bigger community. As New Yorkers, I think, for the most part, we all understand our fate is tied to others since we live and work in such a dense environment. Unfortunately, this is not the case everywhere.
Is now the time to buy or sell?
Depends on the asset type.
Lightning round
Eric Adams or Curtis Sliwa?
Eric.
Last time you got on an airplane, what was your destination?
New Orleans in August, bringing my son back to college.
What vax did you get?
Pfizer.
Your go-to takeout?
Sushi from Katsuei in Park Slope.
Where does your patience wear thinnest — evictions or anti-vaxxers?
MaryAnne Gilmartin’s development firm struck a deal to redevelop a corner site on Eighth Avenue in Chelsea.
MAG Partners signed a long-term lease with a sprawling, multi-block affordable housing complex for a dilapidated retail building at 335 Eighth Avenue, The Real Deal has learned. The firm plans to redevelop the site into a mixed-income apartment building with a grocery store and community space. Construction is expected to start in 2022.
The seven-story project will qualify for the Affordable New York program, with 30 percent of the approximately 200 set aside as affordable.
The Penn South complex in Chelsea was facing a conundrum as its 60-year-old retail building on the northwest corner of West 26th Street and Eighth Avenue needed significant repairs that the low equity co-op could not afford.
At the same time, leases with current tenants — Gristedes, McDonald’s, a tennis center and other services — were set to expire, meaning the co-op was facing a substantial drop in income. As a result, its 2,820 apartments would be due for a $500 monthly increase in maintenance fees.
The board had hired Paul Travis of Washington Square Partners as its real estate advisor in 2008 and he provided several options. Earlier this year, the co-op’s 5,000 residents voted to create a 99-year lease on the property so the rent payments would replace the lost income.
“The top priority for the Board of Directors is to preserve the affordability of Penn South for current residents and future generations,” Ambur Nicosia, the board’s president, said in a statement. “We needed a solution that does not require our shareholders to pay major increases in monthly maintenance fees. The stores are supposed to subsidize the apartments, not the other way around.”
After interviewing and getting bids from seven developers who specialize in such projects, the board agreed to lease the site to the woman-owned MAG Partners.
“They want to build affordable housing and do the right thing,” Gilmartin, CEO of the firm, said of the co-op board. “They were concerned about the views [of current residents] and space around the new building.”
Her company is currently constructing a similar but larger project at 241 West 28th Street, on land owned by Edison Parking. “The [board was] watching from afar and saw how we designed the building,” Gilmartin said.
The architect of the West 28th Street building, Rick Cook of COOKFOX Architects, will also design the Penn South project with an eye on the red brick of the 10-co-op buildings and the historical character of Chelsea.
“Obviously, it’s an incredible perch,” said Gilmartin of the site and the possibility of a roof deck for the occupants. “It’s something we will study and also the placement of the building, and then go back to show it.”
During her tenure at Forest City Ratner, Gilmartin oversaw the development of the New York Times Building on West 41st Street, the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and the Frank Gehry-designed 8 Spruce Street residential tower in downtown Manhattan. She also recently helmed the real estate investment trust Mack-Cali through a transition period.
Gilmartin announced the launch of her firm in December 2019. In addition to the 28th Street project, MAG is the development partner on a 6-acre development in Long Island City.
MAG Partners Selected to Develop Residential Co-op in Chelsea
By: Andrew Coen
MaryAnne Gilmartin’s MAG Partners has been tapped to redevelop 335 Eighth Avenue into a mixed-income apartment building with ground-floor retail space, the developer announced Thursday.
Penn South, an affordable housing cooperative based in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood, selected MAG Partners for the 200-unit development that will be built under New York state’s affordable housing program, with 30 percent of its units reserved for low- and middle-income residents.
MAG Partners will develop and operate the seven-story building under a long-term ground lease with Penn South. A grocery store and other retail stores are planned on the ground floor, with construction slated to commence in 2022.
The Real Deal first reported the selection of MAG Partners.
“It is an honor to partner with Penn South and join their long legacy of community-building in Chelsea,” Gilmartin said in a statement. “We are committed to building in a way that enhances this beautiful neighborhood and provides value to the co-op’s long-term sustainability.”
Paul Travis of Washington Square Partners provided real estate advisory services to the co-op. Susi Yu, principal and head of development, led the deal for the MAG Partners team.
MAG Partners chose Rick Cook and COOKFOX Architects to design the building with plans to bridge the historical character of Chelsea. The developer is also currently working with COOKFOX on the nearby 241 West 28th Street, a 480-unit apartment building slated to finish construction in late 2022.
Ambur Nicosia, president of the Penn South co-op board, said in a statement that the deal will replace a commercial building that required huge repairs and provide revenue “to preserve the affordability of Penn South. We needed a solution that does not require our shareholders to pay major increases in monthly maintenance fees. The stores are supposed to subsidize the apartments, not the other way around.”
MaryAnne Gilmartin gives new meaning to the term “multitasking.”
In the space of nine months, the seasoned real estate developer entered and exited as Mack-Cali Realty Corporation’s interim CEO; launched her own firm, MAG Partners; got a development deal in Chelsea off the ground; and formed a strategic partnership targeting $3 billion in future deals.
Gilmartin earned her stripes at Forest City Ratner, climbing the ranks to CEO, a position she held for four years, and then formed L&L MAG with David Levinson and Robert Lapidus in 2018.
In July of last year, after a shakeup at Mack-Cali during which the CEO resigned, Gilmartin, who was on the board, took over as interim CEO. Gilmartin was confident she could turn things around at the company before handing it off.
“It’s not what I wanted to do when I grew up,” Gilmartin joked. “It’s not what I saw myself doing because of my partners, and my team, and [MAG Partners] being my first love.”
During her time as CEO, in her words, Gilmartin “upskilled the talent,” “pruned the organization,” and “revamped the leasing strategy” on Mack-Cali’s massive Jersey City waterfront project, bringing in a new leading head, and Mary Ann Tighe to consult on the project.
But lest we forget about MAG Partners, Gilmartin completed the buyout of her L&L partners in 2020, and made moves on her first standalone deal: a 479-unit multifamily development in West Chelsea, a site acquired and planned during the L&L days.
Gilmartin was actually close to closing on a construction loan for the site in early 2020, but the lender pulled back once COVID hit. Gilmartin decided to push ahead and find other sources of capital. She brought in foreign investors Atalaya Capital Management, Safanad and Qualitas as partners, and closed on a $173 construction loan in October. “It was pretty binary,” she said. “It was like, do you believe in New York City?”
That being said, Gilmartin is beginning to look to other cities where she can replicate some of her previous work in “placemaking” projects — large, mixed-use, urban development — such as Barclays Center and MetroTech in Brooklyn. “We like to say we’re placemakers, not developers,” Gilmartin said.—C.G.
MaryAnne Gilmartin is no stranger to Power 100. Not too long ago, she had been running Forest City Ratner Companies as CEO and president, where she developed The New York Times Building, the Frank Gehry-designed Spruce Street apartment tower, and Barclays Center, among other city gems. She left to start a development company with Rob Lapidus and David Levinson, and then decided that she could get all the funding that she needed on her own, so she bought out her partners.
Hence, MAG Partners.
It could have been very, very unfortunately timed, but Gilmartin wowed. Yes, at the beginning of 2020, one of her construction lenders pulled back from a loan, but she deftly managed to secure foreign investors. At the same time, Mack-Cali, where she was on the board, asked her to take over as interim CEO after the real estate investment trust pushed out the full-time one.
She trimmed the REIT’s fat, revamped its leasing strategy, and brought in new people, restoring confidence at the New Jersey-based company.
That’s the kind of year that’s worth a major jump in the ranks, so Gilmartin slid up 22 spaces — our second-biggest jump of 2021. (The biggest was the leaders of Taconic, who went from 54 to 25, thanks to huge investments in life sciences.)
Unlike in previous years, there were very few shakeups. A lot of the Power 100s moved up or down a little (and a significant number were left off the list entirely).
As we do every year, a lot of attention is devoted to the smaller, but significant shifts.
JLL’s Peter Riguardi has always been one of the very best brokers in the city. … And we always felt that his ranking (last year, he was 22) indicated that. But, given the hustle and the 2.5 million square feet he leased during the pandemic, not to mention his work with clients in finding real estate around the country, it was worth moving him into the teens.
Tommy Craig was likewise a very respectable number 26 last year. But given that Hines, the New York-area operations of which Craig leads, had invested in One Vanderbilt and One Madison, was building luxury senior housing on the Upper East Side, and had taken on 5.5 million square feet of Ivanhoé Cambridge’s portfolio — which is not even mentioning their work in the Hudson Valley, and industrial development in Pennsylvania, and Hudson Square and … well, you get the idea. Craig broke into the top 10.
Last year, Rob Speyer was a highly respectable number 12. But given Tishman Speyer’s sudden hunger for SPACs (call it a “SPAC attack”?) and how much of the real estate world seems to be following suit, we felt that he should go even higher. How does number five feel, Mr. Speyer?
