Public/Private Teamwork Is Key to Redevelopment

In some of the largest rezoning initiatives to come down the pike in recent years, public/private partnerships have been at the helm of the resultant developments. These have included the transformation of Downtown Brooklyn; the evolution of Jamaica, where the New York City PlanningCommission rezoned 368 blocks last July; and the forthcoming development of the area surrounding the James A. Farley Post Office and Penn Station–now also known as the Moynihan Station project. Another common element to these projects has been the participation of Washington Square Partners, a Manhattan-based firm that has been involved in both the public and private sides of the equation. The company has acted as an advisor to municipal government on land use and planning and, on the other side, as a partner with other developers on projects that tap into the potential of underserved neighborhoods. Real Estate New York sat down recently with Paul Travis, founder of Washington Square, to discuss the past, present and future of both the company and redevelopment in the city.

RENY: Tell us a little about the company and where you focus.

Travis: Our focus is on public-private partnerships, and on that level we work on both sides—on the public or nonprofit side if you will, and then on the private or development side. In part, Washington Square is probably a reflection of my background. I worked under Mayor Ed Koch as a vice president of the New York City Economic Development Corp. and ran the Times Square project for him, and then I was at Forest City Ratner for a decade doing the MetroTech project in Brooklyn, which certainly is a prime private/public partnership project. We’ve been in business 14 years, and we’ve been involved in a number of large projects. They range from the real estate master plan and rezoning for Cooper Union around Astor Place and Cooper Square to the rezoning of Downtown Brooklyn a few years ago on behalf of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership (which is a city/private organization) and advising the state on the Farley Post Office.