ENR New York Owner of the Year, Douglaston Development: Home-Grown Developer Reshapes City’s Profile
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Douglaston Development recently completed AtlanticBK, a 17-story, 456-unit mixed-use rental building in Brooklyn.
Douglaston Development has been a mainstay of metropolitan New York City’s housing sector for decades, building and managing thousands of new and rehabilitated residential units across the affordable, market-rate, hospitality and senior living sectors. It has also developed millions of square feet of commercial space. Douglaston has forged strong relationships with local housing agencies and nonprofit, community-focused organizations to create projects that, in turn, become catalysts for thriving, sustainable neighborhoods.
Founded as a local contractor in 1979, Manhattanbased Douglaston has evolved into a vertically integrated platform encompassing development, construction and property management. The firm says it financed more than $3 billion in development during the last seven years, with an additional $2.2 billion in projects currently in predevelopment in and beyond the metropolitan area. Jeffrey Levine, founding principal and chairman, has gained numerous accolades for making housing the centerpiece of complex projects that have spurred the transformation of neighborhoods in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Levine, who began his career in construction, discussed his 200-person organization’s evolution and philosophy with ENR in a conversation . that has been edited and condensed.
Douglaston Development’s current projects at a glance:
2868 Webster Avenue
Douglaston broke ground earlier this year on the 12-story, 277-unit affordable housing development in the Bedford Park neighborhood of the Bronx. Located adjacent to the New York Botanical Garden, the 250,000-sq-ft project includes 8,000 sq ft of ground-floor retail space that will nearly double the size of the community’s existing grocery store. Construction is slated for completion in 2027.
175 East 82nd Street
Construction is underway on a 39-story mixed-use development in Manhattan’s Upper East Side that will deliver more than 70 condominiums, with units ranging from one to six bedrooms. The project will also feature 3,000 sq ft of ground-floor retail space and state-of-the-art amenities. Scheduled for completion in late 2027, the tower replaces part of an existing residential building on the site while preserving the portion reserved for affordable housing.
Sparrow Square
The firm also is teaming with non-profit Breaking Ground Housing Development Fund Corp. on the initial phase of a $242-million project that will create two 10-story buildings containing more than 260 affordable and supportive homes in Brooklyn. Other elements include a community facility for the Brooklyn Ballet and a private drive that connects the project to the East Flatbush street grid. Sparrow Square is part of the overarching Vital Brooklyn Initiative, a $1.4-billion program investing in housing, health care and community development across the borough.
What recent project represents what Douglaston brings to New York City?
Having been raised in Brooklyn, I’m particularly proud of the work we do there. We just finished AtlanticBK, a 450-unit mixed-income rental project west of Barclays Arena. It’s a beautiful building that is changing the neighborhood and has helped spur nearby rezoning that will foster even more affordable and market-rate housing.
I also take great pride in the fact that we’ve always been innovators in housing. Renaissance Plaza was central Harlem’s first major mixed-use construction project in many years. It brought almost 300 units of affordable housing and over 60,000 square feet of top-of-the-line retail, sparking a revival that later brought. In the post-9/11 world, we achieved rezoning for 2,500 units for The Edge mixed-use property, whici is transforming the Williamsburg waterfront in Brooklyn into the incredible bedroom community it is today. All of this work helps create the wonderful fabric of New York City.
How do the Linden and Penn-Wortman Houses projects also have special meaning to you?
“We’ve always been innovators in housing.”
—Jeffrey Levine, Founding Principal and Chairman, Douglaston Development
Yes, my family moved there after my father returned from military service. Under the New York City Housing Authority’s Rental Assistance Demonstration/Permanent Affordability Commitment Together program, which uses private investment to finance major renovations while keeping homes permanently affordable, we had the opportunity to renovate the apartments where I lived as a child. That’s high up on my list of projects I’m proud of. In fact, I took my family over there and met with the gentleman now living in the apartment I grew up in.
How did you grow into a vertically integrated organization?
We started out by doing third-party general contracting, which at the time wasn’t very capital intensive. As we went on and clients were pleased with our work, I became a minority partner to many of the developers we worked for. Subsequent to that, I started applying for city- and state-subsidized and tax credit-subsidized projects that I could develop on my own, using my own contracting capabilities. New York City’s 421 tax-abatement incentives of the 1980s presented new opportunities to work with the private sector on mixed-income projects. By keeping a balance of both affordable and market-rate housing, we are well-positioned to maintain our volume regardless of the economic conditions. We focus on whichever is most financeable and beneficial at any given time.
How did your contractor experience help transition you into an owner?
I worked for contractors during the day while I was attending the City College of New York School of Architecture at night. That background served me well in getting into construction, which in turn served me well in getting into development. In affordable housing, the [profit] margins can be quite thin. Unless you can control costs by self-performing [building] work as we do, it’s hard to be competitive—and as a developer, knowing all the nuances of construction helps create a cost-effective and value-engineered project. Lenders are more willing to work with you [because] they have more confidence in your ability to increase the yield on your investment.
Do workforce shortages challenge you?
One of New York City’s great attributes is that it’s so big and the workforce is so established. It seems that construction of some kind is always going on, and the workforce is here to support it. In other cities with more cyclical economies, the workforce dissipates when there’s no business. When business comes back, there’s no workforce available. The old saying that New York City never sleeps is really true in connection with the workforce.
What's the most important construction-related lesson you've learned?
I’ve been very fortunate to have a number of mentors, one of whom told me that you only get to build a new building once, so build it right the first time. To that, I’ve added that while everyone makes mistakes, try to make only make new mistakes. Laborers are cheaper than lawyers so it’s best to try to correct your errors.
Also, your most valuable asset is your good name. It’s critical to maintain that by exhibiting the type of character and integrity that makes people want to do business with you.
