TerraCRG, Totem execs team up to try their own housing crisis solution

Principals of two prominent firms in Brooklyn are joining forces on a venture geared towards adding 10,000 housing units in the next five years.

TerraCRG’s Ofer Cohen — who recently stepped aside as CEO — is teaming up with Totem’s Vivian Liao and Tucker Reed on a platform called Ailanthus, Crain’s reported. (The name is a reference to the scientific name for “tree of heaven,” a tree native to China.)

The firm will take on projects at sites that are not shovel-ready and may require going through the city’s onerous rezoning process, which could turn the company’s timeline for adding the units into a pipedream. Ailanthus’ principals are out to show that there’s reason to support such projects across the city.

“Unless you have a shovel-ready site, meaning a site that’s ready to go, capital markets aren’t able to really mobilize,” Cohen said, adding that it is “a fundamental problem in solving the acute housing crisis.”

In an attempt to accelerate projects that need support from local City Council members, Ailanthus plans to engage heavily with the communities and elected officials with a stake in a project’s push. It also plans to donate 1 percent of its profits to a Brooklyn philanthropic organization.

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The firm already has a couple of projects in the pipeline, folding in a pair of Totem developments. Those projects include a 456-unit building at 1057 Atlantic Avenue in Crown Heights and a 181-unit building at 737 Fourth Avenue in Sunset Park. Overall, there are roughly 1,500 units in the pipeline, giving Ailanthus a running start towards its goal.

The principals aim to take advantage of some of the provisions in the latest state budget; whether it’s enough to make a dent in the city’s housing crisis remains to be seen.

Mayor Eric Adams laid out a plan to add 500,000 units in the city over the next decade, receiving a boost from some budget policies, including raising the residential density cap and a pilot program to legalize basement apartments. The mayor is also pursuing his City of Yes for Housing Opportunity agenda, which includes eliminating parking mandates and permitting backyard apartments.

— Holden Walter-Warner