Pier 17, Awards for Excellence in Mixed-Use Development Finalist
Saul Scherl, President, New York, The Howard Hughes Corporation
When I first began my career practicing law, I worked for two real estate partners in Washington D.C.: Jay Epstein and Fred Klein. Jay and Fred not only trained me in the traditional sense, but they taught me the importance of relationships and being passionate about one’s work. Success includes building and maintaining connections to different types of people and seeking out people to collaborate with. This was before the days of LinkedIn, which has made this much easier, but their valuable advice has impacted me greatly and played a major role in how I have built my relationships, both personally and professionally.
As someone who grew up in New York and visited the Seaport as a child, I love that New Yorkers are rediscovering the neighborhood. For so many years, the Seaport was the heart of commerce in the city. After the initial redevelopment in the early 1980’s, the Seaport was predominantly a tourist destination, so locals generally avoided the area. However, over the last five years, we have witnessed a transformation in the area – not just in terms of its development, but with the return of New Yorkers to the Seaport. There is a strong community that is devoted to and supports the area, which has helped to strengthen businesses throughout the Financial District and has enriched the beloved South Street Seaport Museum and other cultural institutions. All of this has brought a renewed vibrancy to Lower Manhattan. This will continue to be a source of pride for me – the role my team and I have played in the revival of the Seaport.
Mark Twain once said, “Make your mark in New York and you are a made man.”
I love that New York is the breeding ground for endless possibilities and opportunities to make one’s mark. The city is filled with diverse voices and opinions. It is precisely these people whose varied backgrounds and perspectives inspire and inform us to achieve endless possibilities, so long as you invest your efforts in engaging with them.