Dunn Development Corp., founded in 1998, is a full-service real estate development firm specializing in affordable and supportive housing development in New York City.

Dunn Development Corp. oversees all aspects of real estate development, including:

  • Site identification and property acquisition
  • Assembling of the development team
  • Predevelopment coordination
  • Building design and construction document development
  • Securing of private financing and government subsidies
  • Construction supervision and project start-up

Dunn Development Corp. and its principal, Martin Dunn, have a long track record of creating innovative new housing models. The firm has extensive experience using numerous City, State and Federal funding programs for affordable housing, and has relationships with a wide range of lenders, equity investors, and other financing institutions. Dunn Development Corp. also has expertise in supportive housing and is pioneering the integration of people with special needs in mainstream settings.

The firm uses only the highest quality architects and general contractors and has set new standards of excellence in affordable housing design and construction. Dunn Development Corp. is also at the forefront of sustainable development and is incorporating high performance standards and green building technology into each of its projects.

Our Team

Green Building Credentials (PDF)

“Part of what makes Brooklyn great is having socially conscious developers like Martin Dunn. He lives here. He works here. And he is giving back.”

Marty Markowitz, Brooklyn Borough President

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Martin Dunn, President

Martin Dunn is a leader in the field of housing and community development in New York City. Over the last 10 years, Martin has been involved in the development of more than 1,000 units of new housing. He is currently President of Dunn Development Corp., a real estate consulting and development firm which he founded in 1998 to develop new affordable and supportive housing projects. In addition to working on traditional low-income housing projects, Dunn Development Corp. specializes in creating model housing projects for underserved

communities to be operated by non-profit partner organizations. Dunn Development Corp. is currently developing innovative initiatives to serve the homeless, people with psychiatric disabilities, people with developmental disabilities and ex-prisoners.

From 1993 to 1997, Martin was the Executive Director of the East New York Urban Youth Corps, one of New York City's most dynamic and successful non-profit community development corporations. Under his leadership, the Urban Youth Corps grew its staff from twenty to eighty members, completed the renovation of more than forty buildings for affordable housing, and secured financing for an additional $50 million of new housing. The Urban Youth Corps also developed more than a dozen innovative new programs and initiatives in areas such as crime reduction and community policing, youth development, community building and organizing.

Martin holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Cornell University. He received the prestigious Reebok Human Rights Award for his work with the Association to Benefit Children. He is a co-founder and the Board Chair of Forefront, an innovative international human rights organization; he also serves on the Boards of Hour Children, which serves incarcerated women and their children and Neighbors Against Garbage, an environmental justice organization in his neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. 

Mark Zimet, Director of Development

Mark Zimet joined Dunn Development Corp. after nearly eight years at Volunteers of America – Greater New York, a large non-profit human services organization. Mark started as a Project Manager in the newly created Capital Projects Department and worked his way to become Director of Capital Projects. As Director, Mark was responsible for the overseeing the development of new facilities and the capital investment in the agency’s more than 50 program sites.

While at Volunteers of America, Mark oversaw the development of a number of high-profile projects. He was responsible for the acquisition, financing, design, and construction of the 165th Street Residence, a 10-story pre-war building in Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood that was gut-renovated to create 146 apartments, commercial storefronts, and community meeting space. Other large projects included the closeout of a complicated SRO development in Chelsea, implementation of a three-year capital investment plan in the agency’s headquarters building on the Upper West Side, and the design and financing of a 149-bed homeless shelter in Westchester County.

Prior to Volunteers of America, Mark worked for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and for the re-election campaign of Senator Chris Dodd from Connecticut. Mark received a Masters of Public Administration from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs in 1995 and a B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis in 1990.

Maggie Poxon, Senior Project Manager

Maggie Poxon came to Dunn Development Corp in October 2004 after ten years at The Doe Fund, an innovative homeless service provider in New York City. Along with agency founders George and Harriet McDonald, Maggie helped design and implement the agency’s award-winning Ready, Willing & Able work and training program for homeless individuals. As Director of Operations, Maggie supervised all aspects of daily operations at The Doe Fund’s administrative offices and program sites and oversaw the expansion of the Ready, Willing and Able program from 70 New York City clients to 650 clients annually in three states.

Additionally, Maggie led the development team for The Doe Fund’s capital projects. She was responsible for the acquisition, financing, design and gut-renovation of the first supportive housing project for homeless persons with AIDS on New York City’s Upper East Side. In 2000 she completed development of a six story, new construction project of 74 studio apartments for formerly homeless individuals in East Harlem.

Maggie earned a B.A. from Columbia College of Columbia University.

Tara Presume, Senior Project Manager

Tara Presume has worked in the community development / affordable housing field for the past eight years and joined Dunn Development in January of 2006. In her prior position as a Community Development Officer at the NYC Local Initiative Support Corporation, she provided financial and technical assistance to nonprofit and locally based developers in the areas of affordable multi-family rental housing, home-ownership opportunities, commercial and community facilities. During her tenure at LISC she has syndicated over 400 units of rental housing ($19 million in tax credit equity) and financed over eighty 1-4 family homes.

As the Assistant Director of Housing Development at East New York Urban Youth Corps, Tara managed the design and development of family and special needs housing from predevelopment through lease-up. As a Vice-President at HSBC Bank Community Development Group, she helped build the community development loan and investment portfolio by proposing and originating lending and investment opportunities.

Tara holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Cornell University and a Masters in City and Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Robin Zimbler , Senior Project Manager

Robin Zimbler joined Dunn Development Corp. in January 2008. Previously she served as Director of Multi-Family Initiatives at New York City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development, where she oversaw a unit responsible for managing the complex development process for new construction, multi-family, mixed-use housing projects on City-owned land, from site designation through completion. In one year, she closed 1,750 units in 21 residential projects totaling $550 million in investment, and a $43 million college financed by New Markets Tax Credits.

Prior to coming to New York City, Robin worked in local and state housing and community development roles in Baltimore, Maryland. As the Director of Strategic Planning, Policy, and Programs for Baltimore Housing, she provided direction and support to the divisions of the City’s Department of Housing and Community Development and the Housing Authority of Baltimore City. Her responsibilities included developing and implementing new policies, programs, and procedures, including a $60 million Affordable Housing Program, formulating the Agency’s development priorities, and preparing the Agency’s local, state, and federal legislative agendas. She also has held positions in the Baltimore City Mayor’s Office, the Maryland Governor’s Office, and the Baltimore City Planning Department. 

Robin holds a Masters in City and Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a Bachelor of Arts from Washington University in St. Louis.

Ben Kornfeind, Associate

Ben Kornfeind has been a member of the Dunn Development team since February 2003. Ben graduated in 2005 with an M.B.A. and M.S. in Urban Planning from Columbia Business School and the Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation. He holds a B.A. in Urban Studies, cum laude, from Columbia College of Columbia University.

Ben has both hedge fund investing and venture capital experience, and has worked with a real-estate development consultant, a Business Improvement District, and a nonprofit group fighting the asthma epidemic in New York City. He is a crew leader with the NYC branch of Habitat for Humanity.