In the fall of 2019, Paul Layne assumed the position of CEO of the Howard Hughes Corporation, as the company reorganized and refocused on its specialty: master-planned suburban communities. Layne had been with HHC for seven years, first as the executive director of master-planned communities (MPCs), and then the president of the central region, which includes most of those communities. HHC’s planned neighborhoods, like The Woodlands in Houston, Texas, which span 50 square miles, are designed to be cities unto themselves. HHC designs the street grid, including residential neighborhoods, green spaces, commercial areas, and often a walkable center. HHC then sells lots to home builders, who sell homes directly to buyers, but builds most of the multifamiy, office and retail themselves. In New York, HHC is best known for the South Street Seaport,which HHC has been redeveloping for a decade to turn it into a destination for shopping, entertainment and dining. HHC owns a collection of properties in the area, and is rebuilding the Seaport’s historic Tin Building which will house a marketplace by French-American chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, and has other projects in the works, including a development at the former Fulton Fish Market and a mixed-income tower at the edge of the district. That made him a good fit for HHC’s new direction. Click to read more at www.commercialobserver.com.

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