Forest City’s head of construction to take over Brooklyn office

Robert Sanna has been at the company for nearly 30 years

Robert Sanna
Robert Sanna

Robert Sanna, head of construction at Forest City New York, is taking over the company’s Brooklyn office once CEO MaryAnne Gilmartin steps down this week, according to representatives of the real estate investment trust.

Sanna, executive vice president and head of construction at the REIT’s local office, is taking the helm — at least for now — after Gilmartin leaves to form a new company with principals of L&L Holding, dubbed L&L MAG. It’s not clear if Sanna will ultimately ascend to the role of CEO. A spokesperson for Forest City would only say that Sanna is taking over the Brooklyn office at 1 Metrotech Center for the time being.

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The Brooklyn native joined Forest City in 1989 as a project manager and has worked on more than 40 projects during his tenure, including MetroTech, Atlantic Terminal, 80 Dekalb, New York by Gehry (a residential tower at 8 Spruce Street) and the office building at Cornell Tech’s campus, known as the Bridge. Though trained as an architect, he began his career at HRH Construction, where he worked on the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center and World Wide Plaza, according to his faculty biography page for Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. He’s served as an adjunct professor at the university.

Gilmartin’s last day at Forest City is on Friday. She’s starting a new development firm with L&L’s Robert Lapidus and David Levinson. Several of Forest City’s executives are joining the new venture.