Rob Stuckey

Stuckey has spent nearly three decades quietly reshaping Carlyle’s real estate empire.

Under his watch, Carlyle’s U.S. real estate arm has completed more than 1,500 investments, with 850 exits to date. Notably, Stuckey has steered Carlyle away from office, retail and hotels, instead doubling down on industrial, self-storage and rental housing.

“We’ve been skeptical of those sectors for more than a decade,” he told the Commercial Observer last year, citing structural headwinds well before Covid.

Carlyle went on a self-storage buying spree after the pandemic, amassing a portfolio of 15 properties across multiple boroughs. In January, they unloaded the portfolio in a $1 billion deal. But self-storage is just one piece of the firm’s New York bet. After making waves a few years back by snapping up $500 million worth of small Brooklyn apartment buildings, Carlyle has more recently partnered with Z+G Property Group to buy larger multifamily properties, including a 132-unit building it bought in January for $105 million.

Not every deal has gone their way. Last year, Carlyle transferred 471,000 square feet of office space at the base of 866 UN Plaza back to the lender after purchasing it for $217.5 million in 2017.

— Elizabeth Cryan