The Crossing at Jamaica Station, Awards for Excellence in Affordable Housing Development Finalist
Meredith Marshall, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, BRP Companies
Many individuals have had a tremendous influence on my career over the years, but if I had to choose one person in particular that shared the best piece of advice with me, it would have to be one of our very early investors 15 years ago. His advice to us was to grow to become a well-known expert in the field of workforce and affordable housing in historically underserved neighborhoods and leverage that expertise to become a dominant player in the development space on a national scale. We believe we have done that over the last 15 years by adhering to that advice.
When our team first conceived the development of the nominated Crossing at Jamaica Station, the parcel of land at the time was an assemblage of unimproved commercial buildings. The intention to build over 600 units of housing and 40,000 square feet of retail space, totaling over $400 million in development costs was an ambitious endeavor to say the least. My colleagues and I had to garner approvals and support from local elected officials, City, State and federal agencies, local community boards, lenders, and equity investors to bring the vision for the Crossing to fruition. We believe that the execution of the Crossing has led to many other similar transactions that account for billions of dollars in investment in housing and commercial development in the greater downtown Jamaica area, which points to the Crossing’s role as one of the most transformative and catalytic projects in the history of southeast Queens.
New York’s energy, creativity, and the diversity of its people inspires me. The fact that people from all over the world choose time and time again to come to New York City to live, work, and to make a better way for their families makes it a very unique place; not only in the country, but on a global basis. We at BRP are proud and look forward to continuing to expand our portfolio, company operations and investments in the great city of New York.