Sergey Rybak, Rybak DevelopmentBrooklyn, NY Ten years ago, RYBAK Development founder, president, and CEO Sergey Rybak arrived for his first day on his first job out of college: erecting a six-unit ground up residential building in Brighton Beach. Today, RYBAK Development is a leader in South Brooklyn construction, having developed and erected over 1.9 million s/f of real estate across numerous projects in New York’s fastest growing borough. Among the firm’s notable sites are the 120,000 s/f Matchpoint NYC Sports Complex at 2781 Shell Rd., an elite Tennis training facility and one of Brooklyn’s largest sporting complexes, and the brand new VUE Waterfront Condominiums, a 175,000 s/f residential and retail building at the historic 1809 Emmons Ave. South Brooklyn location. Overlooking the ocean and community, the seven-story waterfront property is South Brooklyn’s first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified construction, making it the area’s first truly “green” building. Sergey attributes the firm’s steady growth to a competitive advantage earned the hard way: experience, perseverance, and a passion for every step of the journey.
“The key for us has been to stay lean and to self-perform our own work. It sounds simple enough but when you start out long on ambition and short on experience, the first instinct might be to get there faster by outsourcing, and in my case this proved a costly but valuable lesson,” said Rybak. “On my first project I realized that every subcontractor, design professional, and everyone else whose expertise I was relying on were going to prioritize their bottom line ahead of my goals. This was understandable, but it taught me the value of sitting down and learning to do the work myself, and that’s a lesson that has paid off tremendously and stuck with me ever since.”
Matchpoint NYC Sports Complex, 2781 Shell Road - South Brooklyn, NYSelf-reliance would prove its own challenge for the young developer in 2007 when the firm was executing an underpinning which collapsed, in turn collapsing the adjacent structure, a one story mechanical garage into RYBAK’s own property site. “We made the news, and not in a good way. Thankfully no one was injured,” said Sergey. Perhaps the company’s biggest trial to date, Rybak labels the fault as “widespread, but mostly on the contractor, me. A more seasoned individual would have had the expertise to catch the incomplete planning and the good sense to pause the work and seek clarification.”
After the incident, the Department of Buildings’ engineering unit closed the site, ordering RYBAK Development to hire engineers who would ensure such a thing never happen again. “Not having enough of an engineering or construction background, I worked nonstop for eight months to get the job reopened. During this time I attended numerous meetings at the Department of Buildings, where I was subjected to thorough and intense scrutiny by the DOB Engineering Unit.” Ultimately, Sergey was able to get the job reopened and successfully navigated self-performing the foundation and erecting the first seven story reinforced concrete building his firm ever embarked on constructing.
The lesson to prioritize and take personal responsibility for a structure’s quality at every step has become a staple of the RYBAK brand, known today as a South Brooklyn leader in superior quality structures, innovative design, and operational efficiency. Committing the company to self performing each step of the process from development to construction while remaining lean and agile provided RYBAK with a competitive edge in its market, and put the growing firm in position to tackle its next great challenge: erecting South Brooklyn’s first ever green building.
VUE Waterfront Condominiums - South Brooklyn, NY
VUE Waterfront Condominiums - South Brooklyn, NY“Constructing a LEED certified building is a milestone not only for RYBAK Development, but for our community as well.” Sergey said. “We now have a building that symbolizes the future of construction and environmentally conscious community planning. The VUE will enhance the living conditions of our residents, minimize our carbon footprint, and cut costs substantially in terms of energy, water, and waste.” The global benchmark for Best-in-Class building strategies and practices, LEED certification requires satisfying stringent criteria across every facet of design and execution. “Rising to the challenge of a LEED building carried quite a bit of intrinsic reward for my team and I. We proved that we have the diverse expertise, experience, and ability to execute a construction at a globally recognized level of superior quality.”
It is precisely RYBAK’s construction quality that has attracted attention and paved the way for new opportunities. “We’ve been fortunate to be approached by senior developers who recognize the value of the timely execution we bring to any deal.” Said Sergey. “With property acquisition often being one of the most challenging aspects of real estate development, the joint venture opportunities we’re seeing now are opening doors for us to expand into more centralized NYC markets.” Yet as the firm continues its growth, its CEO remains firmly rooted in the lessons he learned early on. “The integral focus is to always stay true to our central tenets: quality, efficiency, and innovation. We’re committed to leveraging our current growth not just into doing bigger projects, but to doing projects better.”
The driving force of Sergey’s motivation to constantly challenge, improve, and expand RYBAK Development is a simple one. “Love. I’m very lucky in that I truly love what I do. I love the process, the ins and outs, the daily grind. I try to work with people who feel the same about their chosen profession. After a long day I enjoy taking my time responding to emails and reading publications because I get to continue thinking about my work, analyzing the day, planning for tomorrow. I’m quite certain that without a passion for the process, none of the success I’ve experienced would have been possible. This is all I’ve ever wanted to do. I have my dream job.”
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