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FOUNDER STORIES / STEPHEN ROSS

He learned to finance the buildings before he built the skyline.

Stephen Ross started by connecting investors with affordable housing. Related’s later landmarks required a much larger version of that skill: coordinating capital, tenants and time.

By Ben · Fintok6 min read7 sources ↓
Hudson Yards towers at dusk from Weehawken (portrait crop by the uploader)Building the platform over the tracks, July 2014 (MTA photo)Time Warner Center and Columbus Circle at night, 2008
Places from the story · Photo credits ↓
THE EARLY LOAN$10,000

From his mother; not the cost of a building

THE COMPANY1972

Related starts in affordable housing

THE LATER PROJECTHudson Yards

Development above an operating rail yard

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Stephen Ross, affordable-housing finance and the path to Hudson Yards, with the ownership and financing distinctions explained. Join the free newsletter to keep reading.

  • An accounting loss could help attract an investor.
  • Related expanded beyond its first product.
  • The air rights came with a railway underneath.
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7 sources · Research reviewed October 25, 2026