Nathan Berman

Managing Principal, MetroLoft

Nathan Berman didn’t just do the largest office-to-residential conversion in New York.

He’s also behind the next project that will claim that title, and he may gather more superlatives by the time things are all said and done.

Berman gained a reputation as the “King of FiDi” for transforming outdated commercial buildings in Lower Manhattan into homes in the 1990s and early 2000s. The business slowed down a bit in the 2010s as Manhattan offices saw a surge in investment.

But conversions are once again having a moment, and Berman is the man of the hour.

He recently completed the transformation of 25 Water Street into 1,320 units with his partners Rockwood Capital and GFP Real Estate, which is the biggest conversion in U.S. history. At the same time, he’s working on the former Pfizer headquarters in Midtown with David Werner, which will take the mantle of the country’s largest project when it finishes with some 1,600 apartments.

It hasn’t been all smooth sailing for Berman. In October 2025, he lost the building at 20 Broad Street he converted in 2018 to his lender. And his building at 180 Water Street was facing foreclosure earlier this year before he was able to recapitalize it.

But Berman’s moved on (“I’ve put it out of my head,” he told Crain’s about 20 Broad) and is once again atop the conversion kingdom.