Rechler said, “The goal is to identify areas and submarkets that have strong long-term potential but have suffered from a lack of private investment and apply RXR's real estate expertise and capital, combined with Seth's vast experience in economic development, to identify and invest in these opportunities throughout the region.”

More specifically, the announcement states, the initiative will seek to invest in the following categories: centers of innovation, which RXR defines as areas that will nurture the growth of innovative sectors such as bioscience, medical/healthcare technology, high-tech startups and general research and development; main street revitalization, which addresses areas that have underperformed for a period of time, but have attractive core attributes; and transitioning and emerging sectors, which are asset-classes, use-types or geographic areas characterized by a generally static competitive environment, or experiencing a consensus-driven sell-off, but with compelling fundamentals.

“The venture will have an investment mandate to make both investments with attractive returns as well as investments in submarkets or sectors that have the potential to spark economic development, but have had a difficult time attracting private capital,” Michael Maturo, RXR's president, says in the announcement. He will work closely with Pinsky in developing and executing the venture.

Adds Pinsky in the announcement, "I am thrilled to be going to RXR to marry the firm's expertise with the opportunities that exist throughout the area to do right not just by investors, but also by the citizens of the metropolitan region, including the traditionally disadvantaged.”

In the announcement, Mayor Michael Bloomberg spoke glowingly of Pinsky. "He's played a major role in so many of the major economic development projects we've launched—from our applied sciences initiative, to Willets Point, to Coney Island, to the Kingsbridge Armory, to the special initiative for rebuilding and resiliency–and many others. His work on these projects will benefit the city for generations to come, and his leadership is one of the main reasons our city's economy has never been stronger. I wish him luck in his future endeavors."

Among the initiatives advanced by NYCEDC under Pinsky's leadership were the redevelopment of Willets Point in Queens, Coney Island in Brooklyn, the Homeport in Staten Island, and the Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx, as well as the creation of a major new bioscience research park on city-owned land, north of Bellevue Hospital. Most recently, Pinsky served as director of Mayor Bloomberg's special initiative for rebuilding and resiliency, which developed a $20 billion plan to help neighborhoods stricken by Hurricane Sandy to rebuild smarter and stronger and to protect critical citywide systems and infrastructure from the likely impacts of climate change in coming decades.

While at NYCEDC, Pinsky served as a lead negotiator on behalf of New York City for projects ranging from Yankee Stadium and Citifield, to the World Trade Center. Prior to joining the NYCEDC, Pinsky was an associate at the law firm of Cleary Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton in the Real Estate practice and a financial analyst at James D. Wolfensohn Inc.

Pinsky and representatives of the NYCEDC were unavailable at press time. Watch this space for possible updates later in the day.