Shelton Haynes, CEO Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation
Shelton Haynes graduated from college with a degree in English and journalism. He then began working in the finance industry, becoming a partner at Goldman Sachs. In 1983, Shelton Haynes founded the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation and currently serves as board chairman.
The Roosevelt Island is an independent not-for-profit organization that oversees real estate development on Roosevelt Island. The corporation was initially created as part of a plan to diversify New York’s economy by creating satellite towns outside of Manhattan, similar to Rockefeller Center or Battery Park City.
It has been described as “the last great unfinished project from the master builder Robert Moses. The new complex will include much of the land Moses once envisioned for Murray Hill, a master plan that called for high-rise residential and office buildings.” The “New York Magazine” cover in June 2006 profiled the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation.
The Roosevelt Island Operating is responsible for the initial housing construction on Roosevelt Island. For this purpose, it has built and sold apartments and created condominiums. The corporation also makes commercial real estate, including retail space; tower housing is unlikely to be developed on the island due to its level of protection as a historic district by New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission. In total, approximately 1,000 units with over 6,000 residents are planned.
From 1999 to 2001, the corporation built the Overlook condominiums, which include more than 200 condominium units. The corporation plans to build more housing on Roosevelt Island by 2010.
Shelton Haynes is currently focusing on building a memorial for Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a project that he began as CEO of the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation when he learned that the island had been proposed as a site for President Roosevelt’s presidential library.
No president since FDR has visited New York City’s Governors Island, and remains unvisited. Shelton Haynes began a top-to-bottom renovation of the island in 2003. The Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation has commissioned artist Peter C. Simonetti to create a design for the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, and he is considering several options.