This week’s ‘Five Minutes With’ features Jeffrey Levine, Founding Principal and Chairman of The Douglaston Companies, whose project – 2 North 6th Place (Level) – is a 2020 Awards Finalist for Excellence in Market-Rate Housing Development.

1. Who has had the greatest influence on your career and what was the best advice he or she gave you?
I had the privilege of working for and later partnering with the late Lenny Litwin of Glenwood Management. His business model of providing a high quality of service to a market-rate residential building is one to be admired. In addition, as a developer he often said, “You only get to build a building once. You should use the opportunity to build it right.” This advice has been core to my own business for the last forty years. 

2. What qualities do you think are essential to be an effective leader?
A leader must lead by example. A moral compass is paramount to taking a path that others will follow. 

3. As a ULI NY Awards nominee, what makes you most proud of your project?
Level is the final phase of a multiyear project that afforded our organization the opportunity to transform an underutilized waterfront into a vibrant mixed-use community for all New Yorkers, including a waterfront park and pier that benefits Williamsburg each day. At Level, I am proud of the vision and dedication my team demonstrated in the creation of a well-designed building with numerous amenities that residents enjoy.