Silverstein Properties to Expand its Collaboration with Metro Loft Developers to Deliver More Than 2,000 Apartments Through Office to Residential Conversions as Part of its Avenir Project
Metro Loft – New York City’s leading conversion specialist – partners with Silverstein Properties on mixed income plan that will include more than 500 permanently affordable apartments on Manhattan's West Side.
Plan comes in direct response to top priority identified by Manhattan Community Board 4 and local elected officials.
NEW YORK, NY (June 26, 2025) – Silverstein Properties announced that it will expand its collaboration with Metro Loft Developers – the city’s most prolific office to residential developer – to develop more than 2,000 apartments, including more than 500 permanently affordable homes, through conversions, should The Avenir bid be awarded a casino license. The partnership is currently evaluating potential conversion sites, and will prioritize projects on Manhattan’s West Side, where Community Board 4 and the area’s local elected officials have identified mixed-income housing production as a top priority for the area.
“We are grateful to our local elected officials and Community Board leaders for prioritizing neighborhood housing in this process,” said Tal Kerret, President of Silverstein Properties. “Amid a citywide housing shortage, these conversions will create new homes for over 2,000 families.”
Over the past 30 years, Metro Loft has pioneered residential conversions in Manhattan, earning a reputation as the leading conversion developer with more than six million square feet of results. Most notably, Silverstein Properties recently partnered with Metro Loft to convert 55 Broad Street – a former Goldman Sachs headquarters – to 571 apartments in 2024, one of the most high-profile office to residential conversions in New York City. Other notable Metro Loft office to residential conversions include the former Pfizer headquarters at 219 – 235 East 42nd Street and 180 Water Street.
Silverstein Properties is expanding its successful collaboration with Metro Loft in direct response to community feedback about priorities for the area. In 2022, Community Board 4 issued a report calling for more opportunities to create housing in the area. In its recent feedback to The Avenir team, Community Board 4 called on The Avenir project to create mixed-income housing in the area.
Silverstein Properties has longstanding roots in The Avenir’s immediate area, as well as extensive experience developing affordable housing in New York City, including in the Hell’s Kitchen / Hudson Yards neighborhood. In 1984, Larry Silverstein purchased the full square block between West 42nd and West 41st Streets and 11th and 12th Avenues in anticipation that the commercial redevelopment of Times Square would ignite the need for rental housing nearby.
Silverstein Properties was one of the first companies to spur residential development in the neighborhood when it opened River Place, a 921-apartment tower, in 2001, and Silver Towers, a 1,359-apartment residential building in two 60-story towers, in 2010. These buildings – directly across the street from the proposed development – include 549 affordable homes, including 230 apartments that the company recently converted to affordable housing in River Place.
Led by Founder and Chairman Larry Silverstein, Silverstein Properties is widely known for its civic leadership following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, when the company worked with dozens of elected officials and public agencies to rebuild the World Trade Center site and revitalize Lower Manhattan. The company is now poised to assist in the City and the State’s economic recovery through a project that will create thousands of jobs, generate billions of dollars in direct and indirect economic activity for the State and the City as well as funding for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
The expanded housing partnership follows a wave of recent news about The Avenir including a hospitality partnership with Hyatt and the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council; a community services partnership with venerable local community organizations Hudson Guild, WIN, Covenant House and Rethink Food; and a food, beverage and workforce partnership with Union Square Hospitality Group, STARR Restaurants and a host of chefs from the immediate project area.
The Avenir’s project site is fully owned and controlled by Silverstein Properties and is shovel-ready upon approval. The site is also free of complex logistical hurdles, such as land-use approvals and the need for residential or commercial displacement.
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About Silverstein Properties
Silverstein Properties is a privately held, full-service real estate development, investment, and management firm based in New York. Founded in 1957 by Chairman Larry Silverstein, the company has developed, owned, and managed more than 45 million square feet of commercial, residential, retail, and hotel space. High-profile projects include 7 World Trade Center, the first LEED-certified office tower in New York City (2006); 4 World Trade Center (2013); Four Seasons Walt Disney Resort (2014); the Four Seasons Downtown and 30 Park Place (2016); One West End (2017); and 3 World Trade Center (2018). For further information on Silverstein Properties, please visit www.silversteinproperties.com or www.wtc.com.
About Metro Loft Developers
Metro Loft is a vertically integrated real estate development and management company founded by Nathan Berman, who continues to serve as the managing principal. The company specializes in commercial-to-residential conversions in New York City, with a focus on Manhattan. For 30 years, Metro Loft has pioneered residential conversions, earning a reputation as the leading conversion developer with more than 6 million square feet of successful deliveries.
About Rush Street Gaming
Rush Street Gaming and its affiliates have developed and currently operate successful casinos in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Des Plaines, Illinois; Portsmouth, Virginia; and Schenectady, New York. All Rush Street Gaming casinos have been voted a “Best Place to Work” or “Top Workplace” by their team members. Rush Street Gaming affiliates also developed and previously operated the Fallsview Casino Resort in Niagara Falls, Canada.
About Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment
Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment and affiliates own Parx Casino, the number one revenue-generating casino property in Pennsylvania. Parx Casino is conveniently located 20 minutes north of center city Philadelphia on Street Road in Bensalem, Bucks County. Parx features over 180,000 square feet of gaming and sports wagering space with 3,000 slot machines, 148 live table games, and 48 poker tables in a private room; live thoroughbred horse racing and simulcasting; Xcite Center, a 1,500-seat live entertainment venue; nine restaurants and bars; and complimentary parking for over 5,000 cars. In 2019, Parx Casino launched sports betting with a $10 million world-class sportsbook and online sports betting. Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment and its affiliates currently conduct online casino gaming in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Michigan; and run sports wagering operations in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Michigan, Ohio, and Maryland under the betPARX brand.