Wood Partners Opens Office in Midtown Manhattan

By Keith Loria, Contributing Editor

Rashid Walker, Wood Partners

Wood Partners, L.L.C. has opened a new office in New York City and named industry veteran Rashid Walker as its director to oversee the company’s development effort.

“We operated an office in White Plains, N.Y. for several years but decided to move it to Manhattan due to its proximity to our target markets,” Walker told Commercial Property Executive. “It also sends a strong signal to the market that we are committed to the region and to pursuing urban deals in core locations.”

In his new role, Walker will be responsible for sourcing new development opportunities in the market, which includes Manhattan and the outer boroughs of New York City, Long Island, Westchester and Fairfield Counties and Northern New Jersey.

According to Douglas Elliman’s March 2015 Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens Rental report, the Manhattan rental market has been rising for more than a year. Manhattan rental price indicators continued to press higher, as the local economy and tight mortgage lending conditions have helped keep upward pressure on rents. The median rental price increased 6.1 percent to $3,395 from the same month last year.

It’s these strong demographics and high barrier to entry that make New York attractive to Wood Partners.

“The move to Manhattan is in line with our strategy of focusing on development opportunities in core urban and suburban markets in some of the best markets throughout the country,” Walker added. “New York City and the surrounding areas are some of the most difficult markets in which to invest. Therefore, success in these markets will undoubtedly produce attractive risk-adjusted returns for our capital partners.”

Before joining Wood Partners, Walker served as a vice president at Jefferson Apartment Group, where he led the company’s real estate development effort. Other positions include development director with AvalonBay Communities and acquisitions officer at JPMorgan Asset Management.

Walker graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Villanova University and an MBA from Columbia Business School. He is currently on the Board of Trustees at Westbury Friends School and has served as a member of the Planning Board in the Village of Hempstead, New York.