Jonathan Rose’s Full-Circle Moment at the MHN Excellence Awards
In his acceptance speech, this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award winner recounted that MHN was the first publication to cover him.
Jonathan F.P. Rose, the winner of Multi-Housing News’ 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award, has nearly 50 years of experience in the real estate industry.
In his keynote address at at this year’s MHN Excellence Awards ceremony, hosted in New York City, The President of Jonathan Rose Cos., the Co-Founder and Board Chair of the Garrison Institute, executive-in-residence at the Saïd Business School at Oxford University and author of The Well Tempered City shared the importance of not being afraid to be the first to try a new idea and the importance of building relationships with the media, all the while commending the next generation of industry innovators.
Speaking at the event, Rose reminisced on his career, which started at Rose Associates, the family business where he developed the American Thread Building in the 1980s. Located in New York City’s Tribeca neighborhood, this was the first residential community to offer computer terminal access to online services in every apartment.
“I had a vision that the future of work was people living and working in the same place,” Rose recalled. “It was extremely unusual for the time, but that project (led to) the first piece that was ever written about me in the media, by Multi-Housing News.”
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Rose’s vision proved prophetic, as live-work-play models have evolve alongside mixed-use developments, coworking and hybrid work. That first feature from MHN discussed a development idea that seemed new and different at the time, but is now table-stakes for any modern development.
Balancing risk and opportunities
Rose formed Jonathan Rose Cos. in 1989, when it was just himself and his current secretary. The company started purchasing multifamily communities in the Denver metro area, though he noted that one of the difficulties he faced in this new venture was finding the right properties to invest in.
“I remember that I looked at hundreds of properties trying and figure out which was the right one,” Rose shared. Rose expressed that when looking at top-performing metros—like Denver was in the early 90s—any property would have done well.
However, Rose now he believes that opportunities are less clear due to issues with inflation, high interest rates and rising insurance costs. Rose also shared his reservations about AI and its effects on nearly every aspect of the industry.
No matter where the industry veteran looks, he sees “conditions of risk.” But with risk often comes reward. “It is through information we are able to see trends and patterns, and from this we can hopefully discern where the future opportunities are,” he said. “When we look at the past award winners, what I love about them is that every one of them was an innovator for the circumstances of their time.”
Being honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award and included in the Lifetime Achievement Hall of Fame with previous awardees was a personal honor for Rose. He expressed his gratitude to be alongside the rising star winners and stated that he is excited to see how their careers unfold.
