Photo courtesy of Greystar
Chris Mazzola
Managing director of development, New York Metro, Greystar
Age: 38
Industry experience: 16 years
The nation’s busiest multifamily developer is looking for promising potential development sites in the tri-state region. In September, Greystar brought on board Chris Mazzola to lead development in its New York Metro office. Chris Mazzola has more than 15 years experience overseeing $1 billion in multifamily housing projects in previous roles at Victorian Group and Bijou Properties. In 2024, Greystar completed its first New York residential development, the 500-unit 25 North Lex in White Plains, and has an industry-leading national pipeline of more than 8,200 housing units that broke ground in 2024.
Q: Are you focusing exclusively on suburban sites, given the new mayoral administration’s support for rent control in New York City?
A: The short answer is we’re looking everywhere. Policy is very much shaping where we think there is a viable opportunity. We don’t see some of the more recent housing policy creating a path of predictability, so we are focusing on the more suburban markets: Long Island or Westchester County. In Connecticut, as part of the larger ecosystem, we think with some of the policy in Connecticut is on the opposite end of where New York City is, and an opportunity for a clear path of predictability. Generally, the Tri-State [Area] is a high barrier-to-entry market, and that has to do with difficult-to-navigate housing policy.
Q: How do you rank Connecticut versus New Jersey and suburban New York in multifamily permitting?
A: New Jersey causes municipalities to think a little harder and contribute to their housing production goals. So we find that favorable. As far as Connecticut, in many ways, it faces a lot of the resistance challenges that New York and New Jersey find in some of these suburban areas. In Fairfield County, people don’t want to see building in their particular neighborhood. However, at a state level, we like House Bill 8002 because it compels municipalities to really think about their housing needs and goals, and gives them a little more leniency as to how to shape those goals, as opposed to New Jersey, which is a little bit more of an allocation at the state level. So I think between the two, we think they’re both constructive steps, and we’re happy to see where they shape out as far as opportunities.
Q: As you look at potential development sites, what are the key ingredients, and minimum unit count?
A: We’ll look at any opportunity that falls under the residential rental category. For multifamily, on the shortest end of the unit count, that will be around 100 units. But again, that depends whether it’s in New York City or Stamford or Jersey City. Between 100 and 200 is our sweet spot on the multifamily side. As you go to product types like active adult or single-family, we like to be around 100 at a minimum. As we think about opportunities, it really comes down to where we can add the most value. It’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. And even though Greystar is the most active multifamily developer in the country, having the ability to leverage our expertise in active adult and single family gives us the ability to look at more opportunities. So the short answer is, we’re looking at pretty much everything that will meet a local need.
Q: How far east is your potential Connecticut territory?
A: We like to say, “Wherever the train lines touch.” We’re very opportunistic.
Q: What’s the biggest project you completed in your career?
A: The 770 House in Hoboken, New Jersey. The total count there was 424 units. We assembled 3 acres of unentitled, industrially zoned land in Hoboken, and [Bijou Properties] densified it into a 1-acre acre, opening up the rest for a public park and public gymnasium. When you look at that area, you see a bunch of 3-story buildings, and what we developed was about 14 stories. So what that represents is the ability to create meaningful housing production in an area where you create places for people that are more willing to accept some of those denser areas.
Q: Which areas in the Tri-State region have you seen the fastest rent growth in multifamily over the last 12 months?
A: It’s in the more sought-after, higher barrier-to-entry markets where we haven’t seen any meaningful housing growth. So as far as Connecticut’s concerned, that’s really Greenwich, where people really want to live. You’ve got access to great employment bases, great schools, but a very difficult to entitle and build environment. That’s where we see a lot of rent growth, and that kind of extends to other similar markets.
Q: How many office properties in Fairfield County will be suitable for multifamily redevelopment?
A: It’s difficult to state a number, but it’s definitely a development trend that we’re seeing where some of the larger office campuses that were built 30, 40 or 50 years ago are falling into obsolescence due to remote work or just structural workplace trends. It’s definitely an area that we’re working on, because it allows us to deliver a critical mass on large parcels in a meaningful way. We find there’s tremendous demand [in Connecticut’ for high-quality rental housing, and given Greystar’s breadth of product types and construction abilities, our goal is to bring the right types of housing to the right communities.
Mazzola’s Five Favorite Books:
- “The Silk Roads: A New History of the World” by Peter Frankopan
- “The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris” by David McCullough
- “The Man in the Glass House: Philip Johnson” by Mark Lamster
- “The Story of Art” by E.H. Gombrich
- “A History of the World in 6 Glasses” by Tom Standage
