Marty Burger, former longtime chief executive of Silverstein Properties, is starting his own real estate development and finance firm. Among the opportunities he plans to pursue: office-to-residential conversions.
Burger said in a statement that Infinity Global Real Estate Partners will focus on development, acquisitions, financing and fund management across the United States. Started in partnership with Andrew Farkas’ Island Capital Group, Infinity Global plans to seek opportunities including office-to-residential conversions and larger mixed-use development projects, becoming a lender to fund both operating properties and new developments through construction loans, according to the statement.
“From development of world-class projects, to acquiring great operating assets and building platforms for debt and other real estate investment strategies, there are outstanding opportunities for the firm across the industry,” Burger said in the statement, adding that he and Farkas are “already putting deals in motion.”
He told CNBC on Wednesday that "multifamily properties in New York are very robust because there’s a lack of supply,” “People want shorter commutes these days. They want to be close to the core of the city. The city isn’t producing the housing [that’s needed]. … There are opportunities to convert [vacant office] properties.”
Even so, office-to-residential conversion alone won’t solve the vacant space issue in the office market, he told CNBC. A spokesperson told CoStar News that Burger wasn’t immediately available to comment further.
Silverstein, the developer key to rebuilding lower Manhattan’s World Trade Center complex in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, said in late October it was parting ways with Burger. Silverstein said founder and Chairman Larry Silverstein’s daughter, Lisa Silverstein, would take the helm as company chief.
Burger, who joined Silverstein in 2009, became co-CEO with Larry Silverstein in 2011 before becoming the sole CEO in 2014, a Silverstein spokesperson previously told CoStar News.
Overseeing Operations
At Silverstein, Burger led its day-to-day operations from 2010 through 2023 and focused on its acquisition, development, financing and fund management efforts in the United States and abroad. His time at Silverstein involved the World Trade Center; the Four Seasons Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida; the Four Seasons Downtown New York Hotel and Residences; and One West End, a residential property on the Upper West Side of New York, according to the statement.
Burger was involved with Silverstein’s plan to build a mixed-use residential tower with about 1,200 apartments at 5 World Trade Center, the only building at the complex intended for housing units.
Burger told CNBC on Wednesday that major U.S. cities, particularly New York, will be his new firm's investment focus. As to the debt business, he said opportunities range from construction loans to “mismatch in liquidity,” with Infinity Global being able to invest in such forms as mezzanine loans and preferred equity.
Before Silverstein, Burger was president and CEO of Artisan Real Estate Ventures, a company he founded in 2006. Burger also held senior roles at Related Cos., where his 15-year history there involved working on developments such as the Time Warner Center in New York; CityPlace in West Palm Beach, Florida; and the World Market Center in Las Vegas.
Burger also had worked for private equity giant Blackstone and investment banking giant Goldman Sachs, focusing on acquisitions and real estate opportunity funds.
Farkas was previously chairman and CEO of Insignia Financial Group, a global real estate services company that he founded in 1990 and was merged with CB Richard Ellis in July 2003 to form CBRE, the world’s largest commercial real estate services company, according to its website.
He founded Island Capital in 2003. The firm manages over $5 billion of assets and has been named servicer for over $240 billion of mortgage capital since its start.