James A. Allen Named 2025 Ones to Watch Rising Star by New York Real Estate Journal
The firm is pleased to announce that associate James A. Allen has been named a 2025 Ones to Watch Rising Star by the New York Real Estate Journal. This recognition is given to professionals who are making a strong impact within their firms and across the New York commercial real estate industry. The NYREJ is only able to publish a limited bio of each candidate, so we are taking this opportunity to share our full nomination for James and his full responses to questions posed by the NYREJ.
Why We Nominated James A. Allen for Rising Star Recognition
HSE Associate James A. Allen
James A. Allen is a Rising Star not only in the affordable housing community, but in the legal community and the larger New York City community. His commitment to deliver affordable housing goes beyond his “day job.” He has authored multiple articles on the topics of housing and equity and was named to Best Lawyers’ “Ones to Watch” list in 2024. He serves on the board of the New York Housing Conference’s Rising Leaders Network and helps the organization plan tours of affordable housing developments throughout the five boroughs for legal professionals. This work gives participants a first-hand view of what their work means. Perhaps even more importantly, it fosters relationship building with colleagues and peers that helps to maintain civility even in tense negotiations.
This engagement is a great example of James’ ability to simultaneously consider – and solve for – immediate, short-term, and long-term goals. This is a skill that can take lawyers years, if ever, to develop. James is adept at this and is generous about helping colleagues to adopt that same expansive thinking. He serves as an informal mentor to attorneys both within and without our office, sharing the benefits of his experiences from firm practice and from his time with Yale Law School’s Ludwig Center for Community & Economic Development.
James also brings to every deal a pragmatic optimism that encourages creative approaches and enthusiasm for what’s possible. As any lawyer doing this work knows, it can be easy to become jaded or defeatist without even realizing it. The challenges can seem insurmountable, and the feeling that there is always more to do can weigh you down. James is able to acknowledge these realities while also working toward creating a better built environment and pushing the status quo to achieve optimal results for not only the clients, but the future building occupants and surrounding community.
James A. Allen Q&A
Q. What recent professional milestone or project are you most proud of, and why?
A. When reflecting on the professional milestones and projects I’m most proud of, it’s hard not to have a bit of recency bias. The nature of my work is such that each new project builds on the lessons and experiences of the last, creating a continuous cycle of growth and refinement. I genuinely believe that every deal I’ve worked on has informed the next in meaningful ways: enhancing my skill set, deepening my understanding of the complexities of development, and broadening my perspective on what is possible in the realm of community-driven housing.
Lately, I’ve had the opportunity to work closely with several non-profit supportive housing organizations, and those experiences stand out as especially meaningful. These organizations are doing essential work at a time when supportive services are more urgently needed than ever. Being part of a deal team that collaborates with mission-driven developers to bring safe, affordable housing to people who need it—especially housing that includes on-site supportive services—is incredibly humbling. These projects aren’t just about brick and mortar. They are about dignity, stability, and long-term opportunity for individuals and families who are often marginalized. Helping bring these developments to fruition has reaffirmed for me why I chose to work in this field in the first place.
In addition to these partnerships, I’m also proud of the projects I’ve been involved in that focus on the creative, adaptive re-use of distressed or underutilized buildings and sites. There is something really rewarding about rehabilitating a space that has been neglected or overlooked, because I do think the community feels the impact. Walking past a derelict building every day will impact how you feel about yourself and about the world, and that in turn has long-reaching effects in the community and in the world. These types of projects require not only technical expertise but also vision and a commitment to sustainability. They often present complex challenges, from financing and design to navigating zoning and community concerns, but they also offer a chance to reimagine what a place can be and how it can serve the people who live in and around it.
What ties all of this work together and really makes me proud is a strong sense of purpose by all of the professionals I get to work with. Whether it’s helping to build supportive housing that integrates critical services, or transforming a vacant building into a vibrant community asset, the impact is community-centered. These projects go beyond the transactional—they’re about building stronger, more inclusive communities. I’m proud to play a role in that work, and I remain excited about the opportunities ahead to continue learning, adapting, and contributing to solutions that meet both urgent needs and long-term goals.
Q. What is your top advice for someone just starting out in your field?
A. I try to follow a lot of the advice I have heard given—and that has been given to me—by mentors and from leaders across our industry: ask a lot of questions, say “yes,” wake up early, be a sponge, ask more questions, listen, listen, listen. However, I think my top advice would be to make sure to take the time to go and see the sites and the projects that you are working on. If you are able, tour a site with the people you’re working with. Many times, and I think this is especially true for transactional real estate attorneys, projects can seem like just a mountain of paperwork or a calendar filled with working group calls. When you get to view the actual sites by seeing them at pre-development, going to ground breakings, and attending ribbon cuttings you get to appreciate the work that you are doing and it really is invigorating and energizing. Those experiences in those spaces also help inform how you approach future projects. Maybe there are contextual things that you think about in a different way than you did when you were viewing the project through a camera or a rendering. Being able to see our work in the built environment and to hear more concretely about the people it impacts is a major reason why I wanted to be an affordable housing and community development attorney. I am particularly grateful when I get to attend some of these viewings with the team that helped bring a project to fruition.
Site visits are also a really great way to develop relationships with the other people on the deal team. Pre-pandemic, in-person meetings and closings gave us the opportunity to get to really know our colleagues outside of the firm. Starting during the lockdown, we as an industry transitioned away from in-person meetings to virtual meetings, and that trend has remained. Virtual meetings do have benefits, but we lost the ability to interact face-to-face as much. Those face-to-face meetings are an important part of collaborating, which is something to be mindful of. These are people you will likely be working with repeatedly over the course of your career. All of your work will be less fraught and you will tend to have better outcomes when you have working relationships with the other parties involved. It makes everything more human, which is at the root of what we are trying to accomplish with this work.
Ultimately, I think that by visiting the sites and projects you are working on and making sure to take time to connect in person with the people that you work with you will produce better work and have a more tangible understanding of the importance of your work.