Paula Roy Carethers Appointed as Director of Real Estate for the Archdiocese of New York

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, has appointed Paula Roy Carethers to serve as Director of Real Estate for the Archdiocese of New York. Carethers, founder of Unit 3 Planning + Advising, has had a 20-year career spanning the public, private, and non-profit sectors in advancing ambitious, mixed-used and mixed-income projects. Her appointment was effective Sept. 8, 2021. Carethers succeeds David Brown, who has served the archdiocese as Director of Real Estate since 1989.

In announcing her appointment, Cardinal Dolan noted that Carethers’ broad background would assist her in helping the archdiocese meet the needs of the people it serves. He said, “The church must continue to respond to the ever-changing cultural and demographic trends here in New York in a way that puts all of its resources—including the resource of real estate—at the service of people. Whether it is building and renovating churches and schools, providing much-needed affordable housing, or working with civic and community leaders on zoning and land preservation issues, the work of the Director of Real Estate is integral to the mission of the archdiocese. I am grateful to Paula Roy Carethers for her willingness to assume this position, and to carry on the tremendous legacy of her predecessor, David Brown.”

Carethers most recently led the master planning for Ford’s restoration of Michigan Central Station, and served as the liaison to public partners and key stakeholders. In her previous role, she was the executive vice president for real estate at the New York City Housing Development Corporation, a public benefit corporation which ranks among the nation’s top multi-family bond issuers surpassing $1 billion each year. In this role, Carethers oversaw the Corporation’s Real Estate Development and Asset Management departments responsible for all mixed-use new construction and preservation originations, as well as portfolio analysis, compliance, and lease up for a portfolio of more than 200,000 projects and $9.8 billion in mortgages and mortgage interests.

As part of former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration, she provided oversight of the 22-acre Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park mixed-use development in Brooklyn, NY, led the governor’s repositioning of New York State’s Mitchell Lama portfolio, and served as the President of the Queens West Development Corp. Carethers also managed pre-development activities for CPC Resources, successfully gaining public approvals for the 2.8-million-square-foot redevelopment of the historic Domino Sugar Refinery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

In his more than three decades with the Archdiocese of New York, Brown served three archbishops, including Cardinal Dolan. His many accomplishments include the relocation of Lourdes High School in Poughkeepsie, new churches built in LaGrangeville, Somers, New City, Monroe, Co-op City, Staten Island, and Roosevelt Island, and the restoration of Saint Brigid’s in Manhattan. Other notable projects include the creation of the new NYU Catholic Center, the erection of the Egan Pavilion for retired priests in Riverdale, the construction of the Sheen Center for Arts and Culture in Manhattan, and the large-scale renovations of Saint Joseph Seminary in Yonkers and the Basilica of Saint Patrick’s Old Cathedral in Manhattan. Brown will continue as a consultant to the archdiocese.