Women in Real Estate Development: Meet Rella Fogliano
Posted on August 15, 2015
On December 10th, 2014, the New York Housing Conference (NYHC) and the National Housing Conference (NHC) named Rella Fogliano, President of The MacQuesten Companies, Developer of the Year.
As the daughter of prominent general contractor Sabino Fogliano, Ms. Fogliano was introduced to the real estate development industry at a young age. As a teenager she worked closely with her father on every aspect of the business, from “assisting project managers to manually preparing the American Institute of Architects forms”.
However, after graduating from Fordham University, Ms. Fogliano knew that the construction business wasn’t for her. “I didn’t want to develop projects with someone else’s vision, I wanted to do it for myself,” she said.
Distressed by the lack of affordable housing in the Bronx, Ms. Fogliano made it her mission to make a difference. She spent the 1990’s developing her father’s properties into affordable housing projects. Ms. Fogliano launched The MacQuesten Companies in 2003, making her mark on the New York State real estate development landscape.
Ms. Fogliano admits that that her role as the leading female developer of affordable housing in New York State is not always easy.
“There’s no denying that being a real estate developer has its challenges and its rewards. However, being a female in this male-dominated field takes something more. Regardless of gender, this industry takes vision, tenacity, and always creativity in order to achieve success,” she said.
“The honor, bestowed on major developers for more than 40 years, was given to me not as a ‘woman developer’, but as a housing developer.”
