NEW YORK CITY—Brookfield Office Properties' Philip Wharton—who has been the overseer of the developer's massive Manhattan West project—has joined RXR Realty as an EVP, the latter firm confirms to GlobeSt.com.
At his new employer, Wharton will work on multifamily development in New York City and the surrounding metro area, according to Crain's New York Business. For the most part, RXR is known for buying and repositioning commercial assets, like the large Starrett-Lehigh Building along the West Side. But chairman and CEO Scott Rechler says the company has been stretching beyond its comfort zone.
"Over the last two years, we have been focusing on urban, suburban and transit-oriented developments in the boroughs and beyond, which tend to be more mixed-use projects," he says. Several RXR plans have recently been approved for large-scale, mixed-use development projects, with a total of more than 4,000 apartments in the tri-state area.
Wharton's team at RXR includes Seth Pinsky, the former head of the city's Economic Development Corp. Their objective is to build the projects and then hold them long-term, Crain's notes.
"RXR wants to do more multifamily wherever it makes sense," says Wharton. "Especially since there are a lot of opportunities out there to do mixed-use projects."
Wharton joined Brookfield in May of 2012 to manage strategic initiatives of the company's US development pipeline, which at the time spanned 10 million square feet. Over half of that was comprised of Manhattan West, which ultimately will feature three office buildings, a residential tower and a hotel.
That project was being built on a platform over the tracks leading out to the rail yards west of Penn Station, which was completed in November.
Wharton's departure comes on the heels of the exit of Mitch Rudin, Brookfield's former US president and CEO, who left the company in June. Asked for comment about Wharton's exit, a Brookfield spokeswoman tells GlobeSt.com simply, “We wish Phil well.”
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Rayna Katz
Rayna Katz is a seasoned business journalist whose extensive experience includes coverage of the lodging sector, travel and the culinary space. She was most recently content director for a business-to-business publisher, overseeing four publications. While at Meeting News, a travel trade publication, she received a Best Reporting award for a story on meeting cancellations in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
