Editors’ Note

Michael Dubb is founder and chief executive officer of The Beechwood Organization. A Long Island native, Dubb is highly active in the community. An avid horseman, he is a seven-time leading thoroughbred owner in New York State and has served as a board director of the New York Racing Association since 2008. In this role, Dubb led the effort to create better living conditions for backstretch workers, which included the construction and renovation of dormitories at racetracks in Belmont and Saratoga, New York. However, Dubb views his greatest achievement for the region as bringing the New York Islanders back to Nassau County. When he learned the hockey team was contemplating a new arena at Citi Field in Queens, he immediately brought his business partner and friend, Charles Wang, to Belmont Park. Together they created the vision for a new arena and presented it to Scott Malkin, a current co-owner of the Islanders, who approved the idea. Their vision became reality when UBS Arena opened in 2021. The pinnacle of Dubb’s public service was on behalf of The Belmont Childcare Association. In 2002, Dubb spearheaded, built and donated materials for construction of Anna House, a 7,500-square-foot daycare center for the children of Belmont Park’s backstretch workers. Dubb is a lifelong director and former two-time president of the Long Island Builders Institute and a former board member of the Long Island Housing Partnership. He has been honored for his achievements and philanthropy by, among others, the American Cancer Society, American Jewish Committee, CAPTAIN Youth and Family Services, Family Service League, Long Island Business News, Mid-Island Y JCC, Sid Jacobson JCC and Suffolk Y JCC, Rockaway Development & Revitalization Corporation and Tilles Center for the Performing Arts.

Company Brief

The Beechwood Organization (beechwoodhomes.com), also known as Beechwood Homes, is at the forefront of privately-owned home builders nationwide. It is one of the largest developers of single family and multifamily housing on the East Coast and in New York State, and the largest home builder and developer of sophisticated lifestyle communities on Long Island. Since 1985, Beechwood has built more than 10,000 homes in 80 communities with new residential and mixed-use developments on the map in Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Long Island out to the Hamptons, Upstate New York in Saratoga Springs, and North Carolina in Charlotte and Chapel Hill. Transitioning from local builder to national leader, Professional Builder Magazine ranked Beechwood #53 of 240 U.S. Housing Giants in 2023 and #1 in New York by number of closings in its 2023 and 2024 reports. Cited “the most prolific home builder on Long Island” by Long Island Business News, Beechwood is recognized as its Top Multi-Family Developer in 2025 for the fifth year running and a year-on-year front runner for Top Residential, Retail, Hospitality, Historic Redevelopment and Smart Growth Projects since 2013. Community brands include Arverne by the Sea, Bishops Pond, Broadmoor, Country Pointe, Harbor Pointe, Lakeside Pointe, Marina Pointe, Meadowbrook Pointe, Oak Ridge, South Creek, The Latch and Weddington Glen. Leasing and hotel brands include The Adelphi Hotel, The Ferncliff, The Selby and The Vanderbilt. The company is known for its commitment to thoughtful land planning and design, repurposing disused land, building in harmony with nature and creating a benefit for all residents.

Will you discuss your career journey?

As a young teenager, I was driven by hard work and determination. I spent virtually every free moment in my high school years working, mostly mowing lawns, and forwent the typical high school years of sports and socializing. By the time I was 16 years old, I had bought my first truck and had employees working for me. At that time, my peers were making plans to go to college while I was just working hard to grow my business. I never went to college and developed a very successful landscaping business by the time I was 21 years old. As a result of landscaping contracts I had obtained for condominiums and banks, by the time I was 21 years old, I was also the management agent for several condominium communities on Long Island. In this role as a management agent, I had to correct construction defects and learned a lot about construction. I was very fortunate that one of the banks I was landscaping for was willing to take a chance on me in a development of a small community of homes. Beginning in the 1980s, within three years of constructing my first home, I was developing large scale condominiums on Long Island. At the same time I was having such success, I felt the need and responsibility to create housing for the less fortunate. Beechwood was among the first developers to partner with the New York City Housing Partnership in constructing affordable housing in communities such as Williamsburg and Bushwick. As the company continued to grow, we never forgot that commitment, and to this day we are developing affordable housing in Brooklyn and the Bronx as well as our market rate lifestyle communities and residences throughout Long Island, Upstate New York, and the Carolinas.

What was your vision for creating Beechwood Homes, and how do you define its mission?

Homeownership has always been the cornerstone of the American Dream. I’ve said in numerous public forums that I would be perfectly content to never build another market-rate home again if I have the opportunity to provide housing to the underserved, whether they are retirees on a fixed income looking to downsize or next-generation younger people starting a family and beginning their careers. The core mission at Beechwood has been to deliver “not just a home but a lifestyle” with signature quality construction and design for the way buyers and renters want to live today.

By way of example, just months after the tragedy of 9/11, the late Al Benjamin and I were designated by the City of New York and Mayor Rudy Giuliani as the master developer of Arverne By The Sea, a 120-acre master-planned community on the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens. Arverne was a vacant and desolate wasteland that had undergone numerous failed attempts at revitalization and development over decades. At the time, the project was the largest land use review (ULURP) in the City’s history and one of the largest urban renewal projects in the U.S. We developed over 2,000 residential units, a YMCA, the only major supermarket in the area, a charter school, retail plaza, and subway station. With foresight, we engineered the site with a raised elevation and when Hurricane Sandy devastated the peninsula in 2012, Arverne By The Sea was one of very few properties to emerge unharmed. But most meaningful to me was the construction of hundreds of two-family homes which enabled retirees, working-class public servants, and young families to attain the dreams of both homeownership and rental income. Similarly, in the Shorehaven section of the Bronx, we developed over 1,100 homes, most of which were two-family homes that enabled homeowners to produce rental income.

On Long Island, our mission has been the same. We operate in a severely supply-constrained market with insatiable demand for housing. With such limited opportunities for land development, we have been pioneers in the sustainable and adaptive re-use of properties that have outlived their useful life. Beechwood acquired the former Roosevelt Raceway site with a vision to transform the area and to provide 720 luxury condominium residences for active adults with an athletic club and spa. This project, Meadowbrook Pointe Westbury, sold out quickly and set a new standard for active adult living on Long Island. Another example is Country Pointe Plainview which comprises 750 residences with an expansive clubhouse and two pools, a boutique shopping and dining retail center and a popular ShopRite, but the site had previously been a dilapidated hospital complex. On the site of a former racetrack in Yaphank, New York, we developed 550 residences in a master planned community, with a new section currently ongoing. We’ve had vision where others have seen obstacles and have a strong sense of navigating government approvals which often can be more challenging than the physical construction of these homes and communities.

What do you feel have been the keys to Beechwood Homes’ strength and leadership in the industry?

While I did not pursue college, I’ve learned a few things being in business and chief among them is to “know what you don’t know” and to surround yourself with the best and the brightest. If you have a team of “A” players, pay them well and treat them with respect, there is no limit to what your company can achieve. The other major contributor to our success has been to always build quality homes, communities and developments, and to build and maintain a strong reputation. Nothing is more important in business than a good reputation. In addition, you must earn the trust and respect of your government partners wherever you go and whatever you do.

At Beechwood, we take a hands-on approach and pay tremendous amount of attention to detail and customer relations and that has been more effective than any type of paid marketing we could undertake.

What led to your interest in horses and horse racing?

My introduction to Saratoga and thoroughbred horse racing was sparked by a chance encounter when I was 16 years old and has since grown into a lifetime passion. I entered a landscaping client’s home to collect an account and saw an eccentric looking man barking horse bets into his phone as if he were a stock trader on the exchange floor. This man, a former NASA engineer who had worked on calculations for the moon rover landing, had developed a proprietary handicap methodology for horse racing. I developed a friendship with his son who was around my age and accompanied him on a trip to Saratoga during track season. He had a Volkswagen camper van, and I drove my landscaping van. We spent full days at the track and slept in our vans. I became enamored by the charm, character and energy of Saratoga and the allure of horse racing. We would repeat that trip for several summers and I have not missed a track season since that first trip.

Perhaps no other building represents the historic tradition and rich culture of Saratoga Springs than the iconic Adelphi Hotel on Broadway, which I have always admired. When an opportunity arose a few years ago to acquire the 175-year-old Adelphi Hotel and adjacent properties, I viewed this as a rare and deeply personal acquisition of a generational legacy asset. We have recently completed the most substantial renovation and expansion of the Adelphi Hotel in its rarified history. As a 17-year-old falling in love with Saratoga on that first trip, I could never have dreamed of one day being a steward of the crown jewel of Saratoga.

Where did you develop your passion for philanthropy?

As a passionate thoroughbred racehorse owner and breeder, I noticed a situation that I considered untenable: both poor living conditions and lack of childcare for the over 1,000 workers of the backstretch at New York’s thoroughbred racetracks. In 2001, I donated and constructed a 9,000 square foot daycare center for the children of the backstretch workers at Belmont Park that has operated successfully for 25 years. During that time, I have been the Chairman of the Belmont Child Care Association, a position I currently maintain. Building on this success, I donated and constructed a 4,500-square-foot daycare center at the Saratoga Race Course. I also had a strong desire to improve the living conditions for the 1,000 plus backstretch workers and in 2009 was appointed to the New York Racing Association Board of Directors by Governor Paterson. I immediately undertook to have new housing developed and existing housing refurbished to create suitable living conditions for all. In addition, I have assisted the New York Race Track Chaplaincy to create a home for members of the racetrack community who desire to pray and seek spiritual guidance.

Will you provide an overview of the Belmont Child Care Association?

The Belmont Child Care Association (BCCA) provides a safe, supportive and academically inspiring environment for the children of parents working in the thoroughbred racing backstretch area of Belmont Park, Aqueduct Racetrack and Saratoga Race Course. These children come from bilingual families, arrive as young as six weeks old and graduate in cap and gown. We have a fantastic program which enables these children to learn while having fun and developing physically, emotionally, socially, and cognitively in a safe and stimulating environment. Because the backstretch workers begin their morning routines at 5 AM, our programs and dedicated staffers begin at 5 AM as well.

How is BCCA promoting early childhood education, molding young minds, and encouraging the fulfillment of dreams?

Our credo is “change the first five years of a child’s life and you change everything.” To that end, we have developed a very strong focus on early childhood education at BCCA which we call the First Five Years Initiative. This curriculum incorporates STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) to prepare children for elementary school, most of whom are not native English speakers. We use assessments to track each child’s individual progress from day one until graduation and we find that our graduates are not only well equipped when they enter elementary school, they are often at the top of their classes.

When you look back at the impact that BCCA has made on so many lives, are you able to take moments to reflect on what BCCA has accomplished?

Since opening in 2002, Anna House has educated over 1,000 students, BCCA has raised over $10,000,000 to cover tuition and operational expenses and we have received the Ellen and Herb Moelis Industry Service Award presented by Thoroughbred Charities of America. But most meaningful to me are the stories of lives that have been dramatically changed as a direct result of the work of BCCA, Anna House and Faith’s House. I attend the graduation ceremonies every year (have not missed one yet) and we often have alumni presentations where we hear about what our graduates have gone on to achieve. Our children have attended some of the best universities in the country including the Ivy League. They are engineers, architects, teachers, nurses and doctors. And it all started from those “first five years” at Anna House. I’ve had great success at thoroughbred horse racing and developed close personal relationships from the sport, but I cherish these wins most of all.