Lisa Gomez to succeed Ron Moelis as CEO of L+M Development

After 37 years at the helm, Moelis will transition to chairman, effective Jan. 1

L+M Development appoints COO Lisa Gomez as CEO as co-founder Ron Moelis moves into chairman role (L+M Development Partners, Illustration by Kevin Cifuentes for The Real Deal)
L+M Development appoints COO Lisa Gomez as CEO as co-founder Ron Moelis moves into chairman role (L+M Development Partners, Illustration by Kevin Cifuentes for The Real Deal)

For the first time in its nearly 40-year history, L+M Development Partners will soon have a new CEO.

Ron Moelis, who co-founded the affordable housing developer in 1984, will relinquish the chief executive role and transition to chairman, the firm said Wednesday. Chief operating officer Lisa Gomez will succeed Moelis, effective Jan 1.

“I can honestly say that my tenure at L+M was enjoyable as well as productive,” Moelis, who will continue to influence the firm’s strategic direction, said in a statement.

As chairman, Moelis will succeed co-founder Sanford Loewentheil, who will retire at the end of the year.

The appointment inserts Gomez, who joined L+M in 2005 and rose to chief operating officer in 2014, into an elite club of female chief executives in New York City real estate.

Her more than three decades’ worth of industry experience includes prior roles at JPMorgan Chase and Silverstein Properties. Under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, she spent three years in a senior management role at the New York City Housing Development Corporation.

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“I am honored to lead a company that has always stood out as an industry leader for all the right reasons,” Gomez said in a statement, noting that the need for high-quality housing “has never been more urgent.”

“I am focused on continuity and growth as we begin 2022,” she added.

L+M recently filed plans along with CIM Group to build a two-tower, 73-story apartment project in Lower Manhattan’s Two Bridges neighborhood. A quarter of the units will be affordable.

L+M also announced Wednesday the launch of a new platform, LMXD, which will focus on expanding its mixed-income and market-rate development business.

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