MaryAnne Gilmartin of MAG Partners | 241 West 28th Street in New York City | Building When No One Else Is
Courtesy of MAG Partners
Building Beauty
One of the most well-known and well-respected professionals in the real estate business joins us on the podcast today for a highly insightful and motivating chat. Listen in as MaryAnne Gilmartin, founder and CEO of MAG Partners, walks us through the process of their latest project, 241 West 28th St, a new-construction, residential building in Chelsea, Manhattan. This building was the only major development in the city to break ground last year during the Covid-19 pandemic. Tune in to learn more about the strategy behind this feat, the importance of building with health and sustainability in mind, and what can be done to dissolve the taboo narratives around the real-estate industry. You’re not going to want to miss this!
“For young people listening, I think you want to be some place where they value the rookie. You’re bringing a perspective and a lens that is unique and fresh. Great organizations are defined by the people who make them great.”
Courtesy of MAG Partners
About MaryAnne Gilmartin
MaryAnne is the founder and CEO of MAG Partners, a real estate development company based in New York City. Formerly, she was the Board Chair and Interim CEO of Mack-Cali Realty Corporation and the President and CEO of Forest City Ratner Companies. She is one of the most well-known and well-respected professionals in the real estate business, with 7 million square feet, 2,000 housing units, and $4.5B of building value created under her leadership.
Courtesy of MAG Partners
Episode Timestamps
2:31 – When you look back, what were the pivot points where you saw your career accelerate and take off?
5:50 – Could you talk about the path that you had at the firm that Bruce Ratner started, and particularly projects like the New York Times building, Pacific Park, Barclays Center, The Cornell Tech campus, and how each of those helped develop not only your technical skills as a developer, but then also your skills to eventually become the leader of the firm as well?
9:31 – Why did you leave Bruce Ratner’s firm and what was that process like?
11:45 – Tell us about the Chelsea neighborhood and the 241 West 28th site and how those two are intertwined.
19:43 – Talk to us about what residents will be seeing in the lobby, in the courtyards, and the hallways on the way to their apartment.
22:35 – Could you talk about besides that data of the reasons why biophilic design is a good idea?
28:17 – Could you talk about some of the ways that you strategically planned ahead in terms of your supply chain for materials and purchasing in order to mitigate these huge bullwhip effects that COVID has had both through small-scale developers as well as the largest?
32:19 – Why do you believe modular prefabs are the answer to domestic supply chain issues, as well as this incredible need for affordable housing and middle class housing across our country?
35:43 – What would you say are the ways that New York City has done a very good job of working with the real estate development community to achieve these goals of a large tax base, as well as the provision of public goods like affordable housing? What ways would you encourage the next mayor to work with our industry?
43:28 – Are you hiring?
Connect with MaryAnn Gilmartin:
LinkedIn (MaryAnn Gilmartin)
LinkedIn (MAG Partners)
MAG Partners
Courtesy of MAG Partners
About your host:
Atif Qadir is the Founder & CEO of Commonplace, a technology company making it easy for commercial real estate professionals to find and use the $100B of real estate incentives given out every year in the US.
His work has been covered by Technology Review, The Real Deal, Commercial Observer, and Propmodo. He’s also a frequent speaker on the future of buildings and cities on popular industry podcasts and at conferences, including this past year at the Commercial Observer National DEI Conference, Yale AREA Conference, Columbia Real Estate Symposium, Open Data Week NYC and Austin Design Week.
About Commonplace
Commonplace is a founding sponsor of American Building. It is a 100% minority-owned, real estate technology company founded in 2020 to make financing social impact development projects across the US easier. It is funded by venture capital investors Hometeam Ventures, Park West Asset Management, New York Ventures and Shadow Ventures.
About Michael Graves
The world-famous design firm Michael Graves is also a founding sponsor of American Building. Its namesake, the iconoclastic designer Michael Graves, FAIA was a fierce advocate for people-centric design. His work defines a generation of American architecture and includes the Portland Building, the Humana Building and the Denver Public Library. The 1st season of American Building was filmed live at The Warehouse, his historic home in Princeton, New Jersey:
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