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Art Jimenez Jr. has built just about any structure you can imagine. From 2015 to 2018 alone, Jimenez oversaw $23 billion in construction projects, and acted as assistant controller for the most expensive real estate project in the country, the mammoth Hudson Yards development in Manhattan’s eponymous neighborhood.
The BEB Capital director of property management has been involved in many developments in his career, and some of the most gratifying are the ones that have had a tremendous impact in the local community: affordable housing for California seniors, safe homes for victims of domestic abuse, and residential housing for individuals who are HIV-positive.
“I’ve been able to create properties that make money for investors, which is fantastic,” Jimenez explains. “But it’s also been a blessing in my life to create properties that truly serve the community. There’s a balance to my career that has been very fulfilling when it comes to my desire to minister to others.”
“It’s also been a blessing in my life to create properties that truly serve the community. There’s a balance to my career that has been very fulfilling when it comes to my desire to minister to others.”
Art Jimenez Jr.
Jimenez’s commitment to his community is heavily rooted in his faith, one that was instilled early by his late father, Reverend Artemio Jimenez. The young Jimenez grew up on the Lower East Side of New York City at a time when it was not an ideal location for a family. Jimenez watched those around him succumb to drugs and crime, but he credits his parents, Puerto Rican immigrants working to make a better life for their family, for helping put him on the right path.
“I was blessed to be born in a home that instructed me in the word of God as a young man,” Jimenez says. “And while some of what they taught me may not have been something I was interested in hearing, it’s come to mean much more to me as an adult. If anyone can take anything from my story, it’s that you can survive and flourish. You can make it out.”
In his professional life, Jimenez’s highlights have included working for prestigious realty groups like The Related Cos, Phoenix Realty, and Kimco Realty. The Hudson Yards project, a staggering twenty-eight-acre real estate development that has been under construction since 2012, saw eleven towers under construction at the same time.
“There were over three thousand laborers that needed to be paid every week,” Jimenez recalls. “It was a massive, massive payroll, and it showed me that if I could be successful on this project, I could truly be successful anywhere developing real estate and managing construction.”
With virtually any door open to him, Jimenez opted to go help the Volunteers of America build senior housing in the Bronx. For anyone other than Jimenez, it might seem a strange move, but it was another chance to bring world-class expertise to an organization whose mission could be furthered by his skills.
The director is just as adept at developing future leaders as he is managing a build. Jimenez was tasked with training a secretary who wanted to become her company’s first asset manager. That secretary is now a vice president for real estate management at one of the most well-known names in banking.
“When you work for me, I’m going to work you hard and I’m going to push you,” the director admits. “I want my people to know more than they did when they started working for me. In fact, I demand it.”
Jimenez says he’s a nice person, but he’s tough as nails. He’s brought that tough love to BEB Capital since 2020. The director said the job was a challenge, a chance to grow a property management team that could benefit from his years of experience through the introduction of best practices.
“I want my people to know more than they did when they started working for me. In fact, I demand it.”
Art Jimenez Jr.
Jimenez increased accountability, implemented a weekly list of two-dozen tasks or projects he wants handled, and created more structure to increase productivity.
“I tell my team that I didn’t come here to be their friend, and I will challenge anyone on anything,” the director says. “We had some bad habits to break, and we’re going to bring more value to this company.”
There is the image of Jimenez as a hard-charging and challenging boss, and that is true. But there is also the devout Christian who leads a prayer team of eighty-five people dedicated to praying for those that need it most.
It might be a young child injured in a car accident, an elderly grandfather with a brain tumor, or a son or daughter struggling with a drug addiction. The prayer team is willing to drop whatever they’re doing to focus their thoughts on a family member in need. As an extension of his own late father’s own ministry, Jimenez now shares in the leadership of a flock whose well-being demands a great deal of the executive. But he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“In all things, the remedy is love,” Jimenez says. “I just try to help people with their greatest need. It’s not about lecturing people and telling them what to do. It’s about ministering and helping put the love of God in your heart.”
