Michael Stern (real estate developer)

Michael Stern (born June 13, 1979) is an American real estate developer.^[1]

Michael Stern
Born	(1979-06-13) June 13, 1979 (age 45)
Nationality	American
Occupation	real estate developer
Known for	Founder of JDS Development Group
Children	2

Early life

Stern was born on June 13, 1979, to a Jewish family and raised in Five Towns on Long Island.^[2] He is a graduate of Lawrence High School.^[2]

Career

After school, he took a job as a project manager for a developer in Florida and after three years - with funding from friends and family - he began to build spec homes on the side.^[2] This eventually evolved into the building of townhouses, mid-rises and high-rises.^[2] In the early 2000s, he returned to New York, where he built low-rise houses in the four boroughs.^[2]

In a joint venture with Kevin P. Maloney's Property Markets Group, JDS completed the conversion of the Walker Tower at 212 West 18th Street in Chelsea into condominiums^[3] built the 1,428 foot 111 West 57th Street in Manhattan^[3][4][5] with non-union labor, unprecedented for large-scale construction in Manhattan.^[4] JDS also developed The Copper (originally known as 626 First Avenue), a dual-tower residential skyscraper in the Kips Bay neighborhood of New York City, in Manhattan^[6] and the 1,066 foot Brooklyn Tower, which became the tallest structure in New York City outside Manhattan.^[7]

He was named to the 40 Under 40: Class of 2015 by Crain's New York.^[8]

Personal life

Stern is divorced and has two children.^[8]