About us
40 years and counting
Commonwealth Development Partners, LLC (CDP) is a full-service real estate development and investment firm dedicated to providing our investors with exceptional risk adjusted returns, and to building projects that stand the test of time. CDP is focused on pursuing urban-infill development and repositioning opportunities in major markets along the East Coast, including greater New York City, Boston, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. CDP’s portfolio of current and past investments demonstrates the firm’s ability to navigate complex value-add real estate investment and development projects.
CDP’s Principals bring over 40-years of investment, development, and permitting experience into the regional markets in which CDP focuses. The firm has forged deep relationships with the investment community and works with a variety of institutional investors, private equity firms, family offices and regional and national lenders. CDP also has extensive construction experience and is able to serve as the General Contractor for select development projects. CDP prides itself on sourcing unique acquisition opportunities where CDP can add significant value even before the shovels go in the ground. CDP’s Principals strive to develop strong working relationships with the local communities where CDP works, and the firm values community input and feedback on its projects.
CDP currently has over 1,000 multi-family units under development with total project costs in excess of $400MM, with another 750 units at various levels of pre-development or under control in its pipeline.
Target Markets
– New York
– Boston
– Pittsburgh
– Philadelphia
Investment Criteria
– Mixed-use or residential development
– Ground up and value add will be considered
– 100 units minimum
Meet the Team
Matthew Faris co‐founded CDP in 2017 to pursue development and repositioning projects in major East Coast markets, including New York City, Boston, Miami, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Matt oversees acquisition, development and financing activities for CDP, and also works closely with CDP’s strategic partners and investors.
Prior to CDP, Matt was a Partner and Managing Director at Greenfield Partners for twelve years, from August 2004 to January 2017. Greenfield Partners is a real estate private equity firm that raised over $5 billion in equity across several investment funds. At Greenfield, Matt was responsible for overseeing acquisitions and asset management for several large‐scale development projects in the Northeast and Midwest regions. While at Greenfield, Matt acquired and managed a diverse portfolio of assets totaling in excess of $2.2 billion of value. An example of some of the projects Matt acquired and managed at Greenfield include the following: Riverside Center, New York, NY (3,000 residential units), 75 Tresser, Stamford, CT (344 multi‐family units), MN Office & Industrial Portfolio (2.5 million SF), The Batch Yard, Everett, MA (328 multi‐family units), TripAdvisor HQ, Needham, MA (295,000 SF), 316 Gold St., Brooklyn, NY (303 condo units). Prior to joining Greenfield, Matt was a Senior Associate in the Acquisitions & Finance Group at Rockrose Development Corp., one of New York City’s largest real estate development firms. Matt also worked as an Associate in the Real Estate Investment Banking Groups of both ING Barings and ABN AMRO prior to joining Rockrose.
Matt began his career at Arthur Andersen as an Analyst in the Real Estate Consulting and Structured Finance Group. Matt received his BS in Finance from Cornell University.
Justin Shaw co‐founded CDP in early 2017. At CDP, Justin oversees all development and construction activities and also manages the firm’s operations, financial reporting and marketing efforts.
A graduate from Fordham University with a BA in Economics and Finance, Justin started JCS Construction Group, Inc. in 2005 after working for a commercial real estate brokerage firm in NYC. Upon moving back to Greenwich, he started JCS and set out on a goal to learn real estate and construction/development from the ground up. Justin began by building spec homes in Greenwich, CT and then began to perform third party contract work in both the commercial and residential sectors including interior fit outs and ground‐up construction.
Since inception Justin through either JCS or direct developments has completed over $200 million of construction on over 1 million square feet of various product types. Justin currently lives in Greenwich with his wife and six children. He serves as President and Founder of the Greenwich Property Owners Association, is an active member of NAIOP, Greenwich Chapter of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO), and is very involved in many other local real estate and property development groups. He was awarded the honor by the Fairfield County Business Journal of being named one of Fairfield County’s people to watch under the age of 40.
Jessica has an extensive background in construction bookkeeping, accounts payable, accounts receivables and multi tiered tax reporting. She has been working for this team for over 5 years and has managed every aspect of the finances from simple data entry to complex lender reporting. She has been involved in many acquisitions and dispositions actively reconciling closing statements and closing out of capital accounts.
Alex Ching joined CDP in 2021 and is responsible for evaluating new real estate opportunities and managing existing investments.
Prior to joining CDP, Alex was a Partner and Managing Director at Greenfield Partners, LLC for fifteen years. Greenfield Partners is a real estate private equity firm that raised over $5 billion in equity across several investment funds. At Greenfield Partners, Alex acquired and managed a diverse portfolio of assets including 1 million SF of urban office, 2 million SF of suburban office, 2.5 million SF of industrial, 1,750 multifamily units, $64 million of debt originations and 825 residential units of ground up development.
Prior to Greenfield Partners, Alex was an analyst at Goldman Sachs Realty Management, L.P. (formerly Archon Group, L.P.) where he was responsible for underwriting nonperforming loan pools.
Alex holds a BS in Business Administration from the University of Southern California, an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and he is a CFA charter holder.
Dorian Washington joined CDP in 2022 and is responsible for evaluating new real estate opportunities and managing existing investments.
Prior to joining CDP, Dorian was a Real Estate Analyst and Property Manager at DLW Properties, LLC for 3 years. DLW Properties is a real estate investment company that owned and managed more than $3 million dollars in assets spread across CT. At DLW properties, Dorian managed a diverse portfolio of multifamily assets including 50 multifamily units, $1.5 million of debt originations and 70 residential units of ground up development.
Dorian holds a BA in Economics from Colgate University.
