Expertise

With more than 40 years of experience in New York real estate, Douglaston Development has a record of success across a wide range of development types, including affordable and senior housing, market rate, mixed-income, and mixed-use projects. Working closely with stakeholders, residents, and partners to develop and preserve best-in-class properties, Douglaston remains committed to its founding purpose: to revitalize and grow neighborhoods one building, one block, one community at a time.

Our team is exceptionally skilled in site evaluation and underwriting and versed in zoning analysis and entitlement requirements. Working cooperatively with landowners, our executives strategically identify appropriate acquisition and ownership structures, ranging from fee ownership and ground leases to non-profit nominee partnerships. From there, underwriting and analysis regarding market-rate and affordable projects is carried out for conventional and bond financing, and tax credit structures. In collaboration with Levine Builders, we determine construction feasibility, costs and timing, and weigh in on design.

Leveraging our long-term relationships with banks, institutional investors, and government agencies, our finance department structures and syndicates acquisition, construction and permanent financing for all projects. We have successfully obtained other sources of financing such as tax credits, bonds and other available public sources to provide supplemental financing for affordable and mixed-use projects.

Navigating complex regulatory and agency requirements with ease, our team brings unmatched expertise to the process of entitling sites for development. We know how to successfully bring projects through New York City’s ULURP process, which oversees public input into land use decision-making. Proactively engaging with local community boards, elected officials, community-based organizations, and area residents enables us to build strong relationships and generate enthusiasm for projects.

Our team has vast experience in partnering with seasoned and well- respected design professionals. We have a solid record of early engagement with residential leasing and marketing teams — and partner hotel operators — to achieve the optimum unit mix and layout. We always work closely with Levine Builders, Clinton Management, and design professionals to properly plan and design projects, from construction to ultimate operation.

It is imperative to the development process to create realistic and achievable pre-development, construction and operating budgets. Our proven accountability processes built on decades of experience keep projects on budget and on time. Our capital partners and lenders have been consistently satisfied that all appropriate accounting systems are in place and are functioning properly. Thanks to careful collaboration with our affiliate company, Levine Builders, we have a consistent record of meeting all benchmark, completion and commissioning schedules throughout the pre-construction and construction process.

Dedicated and experienced in-house personnel and project teams ensure the thoroughness of all plans and specifications, beginning at the earliest stages of conceptual and schematic design through to project completion. Interacting directly and communicating efficiently with construction managers and the trades enables us to hold them accountable on construction budgets and benchmark dates. Through our time-tested, effective, and knowledge-based decision-making process, we capably address unforeseen, on-site field conditions and site issues.

Working in collaboration with our marketing professionals, our team oversees the marketing, branding and initial lease-up of all residential units. Dedicated to adding value to all projects, we work with our brokerage consultants to carefully identify and source potential tenants in our retail, community facility, and mixed-use properties. We have a proven record in the delivery of full tenant fit-outs for our commercial, retail and community facilities.

Skilled in the active asset management of completed projects, our team is involved throughout the entire process including lease renewals, refinancing, capital improvements, and the repositioning of retail and commercial units. Adopting a hands-on approach, we stay fully engaged in all details relating to capital improvements and redesign, renovations, rebranding, and the marketing of existing assets. We steadily evaluate market, geographic, economic and transportation conditions — and take ongoing, strategic steps to maintain and increase asset value.