SUSI YU

“In terms of getting into development, look at what projects are going up and who the developer is, and get curious about how it is being built, how the construction site is being managed. Do your research, know the market, know your history. Figure out what is missing from your skillset and what needs enhancing. Development is all about experience, you learn by doing it.”

#WomenWhoBuild, meet Susi Yu!

Susi is the Principal and the Head of Development at MAG Partners, a woman-owned, urban real estate company based in New York City. In her role Susi is responsible for overseeing and executing the company’s development investment strategy. Prior to her time at MAG Partners, Susi served as Executive Vice President of Development for Forest City Ratner Companies where she lead the execution of large scale and impactful projects including Pacific Park Brooklyn and New York by Gehry.

Susi sat down with ArchNative to discuss her introduction to Real Estate Development, how growing up in Korea impacted her career trajectory, the beginning days of MAG Partners, and how she ensures that she is constantly growing professionally.

Can you tell us a little bit about your first introduction to Architecture and Real Estate Development? What gave you the initial push to see this field as a career?

I was born in Korea. We had immigrated to the United States when I was 10 years old to a small city outside of Richmond, Virginia. Growing up in Seoul, up until the age of 10, I was exposed to an urban environment with great mass transit and urban street life. It felt so strange to me that once I moved to Virginia you couldn’t go anywhere unless you had a car. Everything was at low density and everyone was living so far apart.

I had always loved architecture and art, it was something that I was always gravitating towards. My great great grandfather was an incredibly loved calligraphist and poet. He was really well known in Korea, because of his influence I always had this interest. My parents always pushed me to become a doctor so I went to UVA, but I flunked out the second year and told my mom I was transferring to architecture school. Instead of having me fail out, she agreed.

The day I graduated, I moved to New York City to become an architect, because where else could you go to be an architect other than New York City. I practiced architecture for 10 years. At one point I started working with a developer to obtain approvals for the firm where I was working. I spent a lot of time with him, listening and learning, and then finally came to understand that the architect's role in actually getting something built is a quarter of what is required in the life cycle of the process. So I enrolled in Columbia University's MSRED yearlong program and then started working at Forest City as an intern. I ended up staying there for (18) years and became a developer.

How did growing up in Korea impact how you approach projects as an architect and how you approach projects from a development standpoint?

What was interesting when I left Korea in 1975 was that it was still a third world country. We were just coming out of the Korean War and post-Cold War. There was a lot of tension between the US, China, and North Korea. We were essentially under a dictatorship. The president who controlled the country for (20) years decided that the economic and financial state of Korea needed to change and so that’s what he focused on. There were all of these concrete structures going up and there was a real focus on infrastructure investment.

The buildings were a mix of century old structures and new high-rise buildings which were getting built faster and faster. Buildings were getting developed without thought for creating an urban fabric or without any urban planning. It wasn’t like you were growing up in Europe, where you had Paris, London, Berlin which were very westernized. Seoul had a lot of historic structures but they were destroyed during the war.

I really gravitated towards New York because it had a small footprint and I loved the grid - you can never get lost in the grid. I loved the directional aspect of the city and the fabric of the historical neighborhood. In New York you can build a building that fits in and hints toward the future of the city. The city is forward looking but respectful of the past, which is something that I think is really important as a developer. That became a really important consideration on how you look at a project and actualize a project. We are building within a city that has a design fabric that you have to be respectful of and the buildings that we build have to be forward looking.

How do you approach each new project that you work on?

When we look at a project, the first thing we look at is the underlying zoning, and understanding a little bit of context on if the underlying zoning creates the highest potential value for the site. Is the site a part of a larger redevelopment that may be happening? Rezoning? Anything like that.

Then you vet the property for a product type. In New York City, the product types are either office or residential, maybe a mixture of both, depending on the scale of the project. In New York City, we are at a constant undersupply for the market when it comes to residential. In terms of residential units, you have to think if you want to proceed with condos or rentals. Then you determine density and what you can build. Once you have worked out all of these factors you underwrite it and start working with an architect to come up with a massing, floorplates, and a real conceptual level building. Once that is done, you generally reach out to a CM team so they will do a quick estimate of what the cost will be. That is where you start.

What does your general day to day look like?

Prior to the pandemic, 70% of my time was spent on project specific work. This included a wide array of tasks such as looking at Purchase Sales Agreements, negotiating the CMA, negotiating a contract, or overseeing the design team. Then 20% of my time I would spend looking at potential project opportunities. As a company we receive a lot of inbounds from different sources. We have really improved on our ability to say no much quicker. The first year we started MAG Partners, when we came out of our previous company, we underwrote close to 100 deals, but ended up only doing one project. Three years out, we currently have four projects either under construction or in design. You have to look at a lot of frogs before you come up on your prince. So 20% of my time has to be really dedicated to determining if we look at a project or not. The remaining 10% is the time you spend cramming in all of the things you didn’t get to do because you spent 70% of your days in meetings.

Can you tell us a little bit about the beginning days of MAG partners?

When we left Forest City, five of us had been working with MaryAnne and with each other for a very long time. I had been working with MaryAnne the longest, for 18 years. We all knew each other, had worked together, and each brought a different skill set to the organization.

Once we started our own company the biggest change was the available resources. At Forest City, I had a big corner office with an assistant and was managing 10 project managers. Once we started our own company, I didn’t have any of that. We had to do all the things that previously we had teams for. It was exciting, in a way, because we all rolled up our sleeves. We bought filing cabinets from Ikea, put the furniture together, and we had to figure out what to do with our phones. We all had to do this stuff that before we didn’t even think about.

The advantage of going out on our own was that Brookfield had bought Forest City and it was going to turn into an operating company, not a development company. MaryAnne decided that this was something she didn’t really want to do, and all of us knew that time was limited, so she was able to negotiate a two year contract with Brookfield where we would continue to oversee the development at Pacific Park. There were four buildings that had to get leased and sold, and we were going to do that work and also monitor the infrastructure work that was still going on. Brookfield wanted to make sure that all of the institutional knowledge would continue on for two years as part of the transition. MaryAnne negotiated a deal where our overhead was covered for two years. This gave us the runway to be able to manage and do what we needed to do for the Brookfield portfolio and Atlantic Yards but then also launch the new business and look at new projects.

Being in a position where you are starting your own company, and also being an executive in that company, how did you ensure that you had a good work life balance?

It sucked in the beginning. We were working 24/7. When you are starting your own business, there are no boundaries, you are constantly working. I’ll be really honest, at that point, it really sucked for our families and then COVID hit and we all needed to work from home and in a way it exacerbated that because when you are working from home, you never really shut down.

We started going back to the office in May of last year, and I have become much better at managing the two. I have also realized that unless you take that time away from work, and refresh, you are not really good for anyone. You are not good for your co-workers, not good for consultants, and not good for your family. I try to really say to myself 9pm is the last time I am going to check my email for the night and 8am is the first time I will check my email in the morning, and I try to be religious about it. I also try to only check my emails twice a day on the weekend. Also being respectful of other people’s times and not reaching out on the weekend.

“The most important thing I have learned is to say “no” more, because the thing that I am the most protective of is our time, my team’s time. I want to make sure that our team is focused and spending time on projects that are going to make our organization better. ”

How do you ensure that you are constantly growing, personally and professionally?

I have to say that the first three years out of Forest City were such a learning experience for all of us. It’s different when you are working for a large organization, you don’t have to worry about where the equity was coming from or putting up a guarantee, but when you are working for yourself, you need to figure out where to raise money and how to structure a deal. Everything we do has to be about getting revenue and projects for the company. So it has been an incredible learning experience. The most important thing I have learned is to say “no” more, because the thing that I am the most protective of is our time, my team's time. I want to make sure that our team is focused and spending time on projects that are going to make our organization better.

What is your advice for someone who is looking to get their start in the industry?

If someone is interested in development, there are a couple of books I would read, there is an amazing book by Zeckendorf where he came up with this pineapple method and it is essentially how you finance an acquisition and development. It’s about his life but it is a really great book to read to understand what a developer does.

If you are interested in working in the city, it is important to read Jane Jacobs and Robert Moses’s biography. Those two are must reads to understand the city.

In terms of getting into development, look at what projects are going up and who the developer is, and get curious about how it is being built, how the construction site is being managed. Do your research, know the market, know your history. Figure out what is missing from your skillset and what needs enhancing.

Development is all about experience, you learn by doing it.

Kay Nolan

Wendy Yam