We are placemakers, adept at structured real estate finance, who guide complex transit-oriented developments through design, permitting, and the construction capital markets. We help develop mixed-use projects on the sites other people walk past: waterfronts, rail yards, and obsolete structures on blocks that need a plan before they need a building.

Approach

The mean high water line is where the tide reaches land; its precise location shifts and is tracked on a daily basis. Our projects start there, at the nexus of market tides and the fixed requirements of a successful development. We take complicated projects and help them float.

Feasibility

Nearly twenty years of high-profile acquisitions in New York. We service off-market projects, along with the strategic redevelopment of existing family office portfolios.

Design Development

Zoning, environmental review, and design run together with a focused, integrated team. We manage entitlements hands-on, working directly with architects, engineers, and land-use counsel to value-engineer results-driven decisions from inception.

Capital Markets

Structured finance and capital markets execution across debt and equity. We manage the full acquisition and construction capital stack, including AIA-directed construction requisitions, serving as Owner's Representative or as an embedded development resource on a project basis.

Projects

  • Brooklyn Yards aerial rendering

    Brooklyn Yards

    Borough Park, Brooklyn

    A 14-building master-planned community built on a platform over a two-plus-acre active railway, the future route of the Interborough Express. The first overbuild of its kind in Brooklyn, it required a rezoning and large-scale general development special permits, approved by the City Council in 2024. Final coordination with the MTA is underway, which will clear the path for principal design and permitting. Recent successful recapitalization efforts have secured the capital required to complete Phase 1 of this multiphase project.

    Ongoing
  • Astoria Cove courtyard at dusk

    Astoria Cove

    Astoria, Queens

    Multi-phase master plan for roughly nine acres of East River waterfront. Phase I, financed with a $300 million construction loan and $100 million of GP equity, delivers 731 rental residences across a 26-story tower and three mid-rise buildings with ground-floor retail, parking, and a new public waterfront promenade. The first two buildings, totaling 246 units, have been completed and stabilized.

    Portion of Phase 1 Successfully Developed · Portion of Phase 1 Ongoing · Phases 2 and 3 in Design
  • 400 Mother Gaston Boulevard, Brownsville

    400 Mother Gaston Boulevard

    Brownsville, Brooklyn

    A 13-story mixed-use building of approximately 87,000 square feet with 62 rental residences, commercial space, community facilities, an enclosed parking garage, and a range of outdoor recreational spaces.

    Successfully Developed · Stabilized
  • White Plains Linen Campus rendering, Peekskill

    White Plains Linen Campus

    Peekskill, New York

    Redevelopment of the former White Plains Linen complex on Highland Avenue and North Division Street, a cluster of vacant industrial buildings a short walk from the Peekskill Metro-North station.

    Exited · Equity
  • The Drifter Hotel pool, New Orleans

    The Drifter Hotel

    New Orleans, Louisiana

    Redevelopment of a 1956 motor lodge on Tulane Avenue into a 20-room boutique hotel built around its original pool, with a bar and courtyard that became a Mid-City gathering place.

    Successfully Redeveloped · Exited · Equity
  • Hotel Saint Vincent, New Orleans

    Hotel Saint Vincent

    New Orleans, Louisiana

    Adaptive reuse of a historic asylum in the Lower Garden District as a 75-room luxury hotel. The Saint Vincent is a consistent award winner, with recognition from Travel + Leisure, a Michelin Key, Architectural Digest, and the Associated Builders and Contractors National Excellence in Construction Award for the nation's top historic restoration. A $60 million redevelopment.

    Stabilized · Equity
  • 1832 Fulton Street facade rendering

    1832 Fulton Street

    Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn

    A 213-unit rental development rising on the former surface parking lot of the Brooklyn Gardens nursing home. The project was made possible through a programmatic partnership between a skilled nursing operator and a private family office, structured as an Opportunity Zone Fund.

    Ongoing
  • 1864 Fulton Street rendering

    1864 Fulton Street

    Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn

    Eleven-story residential building of roughly 141,000 square feet with 84 mixed-income rental residences, developed in tandem with 1832 Fulton Street.

    Ongoing
  • 50 Sackman Street at sunset

    50 Sackman Street

    Broadway Junction, Brooklyn

    Ground-up mixed-use building of roughly 100,000 square feet with 120 rental residences, ground-floor retail, enclosed parking, and resident amenities. Made possible through the use of the since-discontinued 421-a tax abatement.

    Successfully Developed · Stabilized
  • 517–519 Saratoga Avenue, Brownsville

    517–519 Saratoga Avenue

    Brownsville, Brooklyn

    An 18-unit residential development across two adjacent buildings, structured as separate lots to eliminate the requirement for on-site parking.

    Successfully Developed · Stabilized
  • 187 Kent Avenue, Williamsburg

    187 Kent Avenue

    Williamsburg, Brooklyn

    Seven-story ground-up mixed-use building with 96 rental residences and 35,000 square feet of retail, one block from Domino Park.

    Successfully Developed · Stabilized · Equity
  • 280 Meeker Avenue, East Williamsburg

    280 Meeker Avenue

    East Williamsburg, Brooklyn

    Eight-story, 69-unit residential building. A challenging, irregularly shaped lot required a design-driven solution for a difficult site.

    Successfully Developed · Stabilized · Equity
  • 31 Brooklyn Avenue, Crown Heights

    31 Brooklyn Avenue

    Crown Heights, Brooklyn

    Six-story, 49-unit ground-up rental building.

    Successfully Developed · Stabilized
  • 119–123 Kent Avenue, Williamsburg

    119–123 Kent Avenue

    Williamsburg, Brooklyn

    Repositioning of three contiguous pre-war buildings at the corner of North 7th Street. Creative design and filing strategies preserved the existing permits through a PAA, enabling an efficient program and layout redesign without losing forward momentum on the development.

    Successfully Redeveloped · Exited
  • 125 Greenwich Street tower at sunset

    125 Greenwich Street

    Financial District, Manhattan

    A 912-foot, 462,000-square-foot residential tower designed by Rafael Viñoly, holding 273 condominium residences beneath a three-floor, 15,000-square-foot amenity triplex at the crown with a 50-foot pool and spa. This development was made possible through the preservation of an expiring tax abatement, along with the acquisition of additional air rights from a landmarked neighbor.

    Successfully Developed · Exited
  • 565 Broome SoHo twin towers

    565 Broome SoHo

    SoHo, Manhattan

    Twin 30-story glass towers on Broome Street at the edge of SoHo, Renzo Piano Building Workshop's first residential building in New York, with 115 condominium residences totaling more than 300,000 square feet. This project was made possible by assemblage, air rights acquisition, a land swap, and easement extinguishment.

    Successfully Developed · Exited
  • The Getty, 239 Tenth Avenue

    239 Tenth Avenue — The Getty

    High Line, West Chelsea, Manhattan

    Twelve-story condominium on the former Getty gas station site at 24th Street and Tenth Avenue, directly on the High Line. Six bespoke residences and private gallery spaces designed by Peter Marino Architect. This ultra-luxury project was made possible by the assemblage of High Line Transfer Corridor air rights, which helped blend down a record-breaking acquisition price per square foot.

    Successfully Developed · Exited
  • 391 Broadway cast-iron facade, Tribeca

    391 Broadway

    Tribeca, Manhattan

    Conversion of a 1915 cast-iron loft building in the Tribeca East Historic District into full-floor condominium residences and a duplex penthouse above ground-floor retail. This completed project was made possible by the addition of internal mezzanines and a rooftop addition to make use of excess FAR within the existing building envelope.

    Successfully Redeveloped · Exited · Equity
  • 2460 Broadway retail at the De Soto

    2460 Broadway

    Upper West Side, Manhattan

    Retail co-op at the base of the De Soto, on the corner of 91st Street: 8,600 square feet across the ground floor and lower level with 93 feet of Broadway frontage. Repositioned from a vacant former bank branch, leased up and stabilized with multiple national, credit-rated tenants.

    Stabilized · Exited · Equity
  • 175 West 10th Street, West Village

    175 West 10th Street

    West Village, Manhattan

    A 15,000-square-foot, seven-story condominium of five full-floor residences with direct elevator entry and 85 feet of retail frontage on Seventh Avenue South. The odd triangular lot is a remnant of the 1919 avenue extension cut through the West Village. Winner of a 2019 Brick in Architecture Award, this development was made possible by the acquisition of adjacent air rights and the buyout of a long-term retail lease.

    Successfully Developed · Exited
  • Retail building, Guy R. Brewer Boulevard

    117-02 Guy R. Brewer Boulevard

    South Jamaica, Queens

    An 8,885-square-foot build-to-suit for credit-rated tenants. Made possible through assemblage and a creative reapportionment and design that eliminated the need for on-site parking.

    Successfully Developed · Exited · Equity
  • 83 Spring Street storefront, SoHo

    83 Spring Street

    SoHo, Manhattan

    Redevelopment and condominium conversion of a historic cast-iron loft building in SoHo. Credit-rated national retail tenancy since conversion, with an exit to an institutional REIT.

    Successfully Redeveloped · Exited
  • 225 East 82nd Street, Upper East Side

    225 East 82nd Street

    Upper East Side, Manhattan

    Six-story, 27-unit elevator rental building between Second and Third Avenues. Value was realized through the redevelopment of the free-market building and its repositioning as furnished rentals.

    Successfully Repositioned · Exited · Equity
  • 469 Columbus Avenue, Upper West Side

    469 Columbus Avenue

    Upper West Side, Manhattan

    Five-story, 8,000-square-foot building with ground-floor retail within the Upper West Side/Central Park West Historic District. Thirteen residences above a Columbus Avenue storefront; this redevelopment was made possible by the successful execution of a vacancy strategy and the repositioning of undervalued avenue retail.

    Successfully Repositioned · Stabilized
  • 25 Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn Heights

    25 Pierrepont Street

    Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn

    An 1856 brownstone at the corner of Willow Street in Brooklyn Heights, the city's first designated historic district and Brooklyn's most expensive brownstone neighborhood: a townhouse on Columbia Heights sold for $24.5 million in 2026, roughly $3,700 per square foot and a borough record. One block from the Promenade, these thirteen residences across five floors were renovated unit by unit to modernize kitchens and baths while keeping original moldings, mantels, and proportions. A creative subdivision allowed for the development and sale of the adjacent 152 Willow Street as a single-family home.

    Successfully Redeveloped · Stabilized
  • Modern 19, 138 West 19th Street, Chelsea

    138 West 19th Street

    Chelsea, Manhattan

    Modern 19 is a collection of five floor-through homes in Chelsea. The striking facade juxtaposes dark metal and clear glass, creating an ethereal, sculptural grid. The project succeeded through a creative enlargement of an existing building, considerably shortening the development timeline and delivering an outsized return to capital.

    Successfully Developed · Exited
Project film 1 — add project name
Project film 2 — add project name
Project film 3 — add project name
Project film 4 — add project name

Team

Mean High Water is led by development professionals with over twenty years of capital markets, development, and project management experience in the Greater New York City Metropolitan Area. Around that core is a working team of skilled practitioners assembled for each project: thought leaders in architecture, engineering, and construction; licensed expeditors who carry filings and approvals through the relevant agencies; and PMP-certified project managers who run schedule, budget, and coordination from entitlement through delivery.

We keep the team deliberately small and assign our experienced specialists based on the needs of the project, so partners and lenders are in capable hands.

Partners

Development Partners

  • Alma Realty
  • ML Estates
  • KS Group
  • Watermark Capital Group
  • Fulltime Management
  • Itzhaki Acquisitions
  • SHVO
  • CW Realty
  • The Bluestone Group
  • Marin Management
  • YNH Construction
  • Sandstone Hospitality Developments
  • Kupperman Companies
  • MML Hospitality
  • CAD3 Construction
  • SLiM Co.

Lender Partners

Bring us the site everyone else walked past.

Mean High Water
800 Westchester Avenue
Rye, NY 10573

meanhigh.com
meanhighwater.nyc