The Baker Program in Real Estate is pleased to welcome Ben McGrath ’80 to campus for this week’s Distinguished Speaker Series lecture. Ben McGrath is the President and Chief Operating Officer of Edward J. Minskoff Equities, Inc., which he joined in 2000 as Chief Financial Officer.
Edward J. Minskoff Equities, Inc. (EJME) was founded by Edward J. Minskoff in 1987 and it owns, manages, and develops institutional quality real estate in major urban centers. EJME oversees all phases of its properties, from design and development, to management, leasing, and financing. Its in-house team monitors all design and construction activities during the course of development, and due to the full-service firm approach, EJME is able to deliver top quality projects on a consistent basis.
EJME’s most recent project is 51 Astor Place, a new Class-A commercial office and retail development designed by Pritzker Prize winning architect Fumihiko of Maki & Associates located in the East Village area of New York City (just northeast of The Cooper Union). Bounded by Astor Place, Third Avenue, 9th Street and Fourth Avenue, the building occupies an entire city block. EJME acquired the site in January, 2008 from the Cooper Union under a 99-year ground lease, and commenced construction in 2011. The building is LEED Gold certified by the U.S. Green Building Council, and with the expansion lease for IBM earlier this year in April, the building is now 100% leased.
McGrath comes to speak with students having spent over three decades in the commercial real estate and financial sectors. Previously, McGrath was a Managing Director of the Real Estate & Lodging Investment Banking group at Chase Securities Inc. McGrath joined Chase in 1984 (then Chemical Bank) and held a variety of positions in the real estate banking function including co-head of the Global Real Estate Banking Group. He was a construction project engineer for a paper manufacturer for several years prior to joining Chase. McGrath is a member of a number of professional organizations, was the Chairman of NYU’s Real Estate Roundtable and was a long-time member of the Executive Committee of the NYU Schack Institute Advisory Board. Mr. McGrath received an M.B.A. from The Darden School of Business at The University of Virginia and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University.
