Make It in Brooklyn Tenant Profile: Kyanite Partners 

Kyanite Partners is a strategic consulting firm specializing in equitable economic development, real estate strategy, and community wealth building. Founded by Cali Williams after over a decade of senior leadership at New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYC EDC), the firm emerged from a vision to fill a critical gap in the consulting landscape, providing strategic guidance and partnership around economic development that centers on community needs.  

Williams launched Kyanite Partners following the pandemic, driven by both professional insight and personal commitment as a fifth-generation New Yorker and mother. She identified a need for smaller, nimbler firms that could provide not just solutions but genuine strategic partnerships.  

^{Founder Cali Williams}

Services

The firm serves a diverse range of stakeholders invested in economic outcomes: local and state government agencies, nonprofits, private sector entities, philanthropies, faith-based organizations, and regional coalitions. Their approach is relationship-forward—they don’t seek one-off engagements but rather sustained partnerships that build geographic knowledge and expertise over time.  

At the heart of Kyanite’s work is community wealth building—an economic development framework that prioritizes wealth retention over extraction. Rather than the traditional approach of recruiting large corporations for the sake of jobs, Kyanite focuses on strategies that grow and keep wealth within a community:  

• Entrepreneurship and innovation: Creating pathways for residents to start their own businesses
• Cooperative conversions: Enabling employees to become business owners
• Asset ownership: Establishing community land trusts and shared property ownership
• Local procurement: Building supply chains that keep spending within communities

What’s particularly notable is how these concepts have resonated across the political spectrum. The team has found that from progressive Bronx coalitions to more conservative upstate chambers of commerce, these ideas address universal concerns about job stability, wealth retention, and non-extractive economic growth.  

^{The Kyanite staff sits down with us to discuss their mission, past projects, and future prospects.}

Notable Projects  

Kyanite’s work with Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition exemplifies their approach. They helped craft a feasibility study and response to an RFP for the Kingsbridge Armory focused on living-wage jobs, revenue-sharing agreements, and ownership structures, exploring innovative uses like hempcrete manufacturing. This led to continued partnership on a comprehensive economic development strategy that positions the Bronx not just as a wealth generator for the city, but as a place where that wealth benefits residents.  

The firm has also significantly expanded its upstate presence, working with Empire State Development in the Finger Lakes and Southern Tier regions and recently launched a three-year economic development strategic plan for Chenango County. This work involves identifying actionable levers within broader regional plans, from housing development to commercial corridor activation. The NY SMART-I Corridor and New Energy New York have also benefited from Kyanite’s strategic guidance.  

Kyanite Partners is also working nationally to support regional coalitions around economic mobility and collective impact. From Miami to Phoenix to Syracuse and beyond, Kyanite serves as facilitators and technical experts to support peer learning and innovation. In addition, William continues to advise on infrastructure projects in Australia. 

Why Downtown Brooklyn?  

The firm chose Downtown specifically because of Williams’ longstanding relationship with FXCollaborative. Dan Kaplan, a senior partner at FX who consulted on Sunnyside Yards and several other projects while Williams was at EDC, supported her entrepreneurial venture by offering office space when FX relocated from Union Square. The location has proven ideal for multiple reasons. The team regularly enjoys the seventh-floor terrace at 1 Willoughby Square, observing the construction of projects like Abolitionist Place park. They appreciate Downtown Brooklyn destinations, including DeKalb Market Hall and value the neighborhood’s exceptional transit access.        

Beyond office space, 1 Willoughby Square provides an inspiring environment and strategic location. The team benefits from proximity to other architecture and planning firms, and to a creative workforce (80% of NYC-based architects live within 30 minutes, mostly in Brooklyn), plus the energy of Downtown Brooklyn’s ongoing evolution. They’ve literally watched the neighborhood transform from their seventh-floor perch, embodying the urban planning principles they practice professionally.  

As one team member noted: “As urban planners focused on economic development, we talk a lot about what this neighborhood is becoming and regularly reflect on what services we need.”   

^{The team at Kyanite Partners}

Looking Forward  

Kyanite Partners represents a new generation of economic development consulting; smaller, more agile. The firm is shifting focus from planning to implementation, addressing the “planning fatigue” they hear from partners across New York and the country by turning strategic plans into funded, actionable projects.   

With evolving real estate markets and statewide emphasis on housing affordability, they see opportunities to support mission-based property owners contribute to solutions. The team is optimistic about alignment with the incoming Mamdani administration, believing their expertise on community wealth building will resonate with new city leadership.   

Rather than pursuing all available work, Kyanite chooses projects thoughtfully, with long-term commitment in mind, maintaining connections to a national network of consultants and nonprofits focused on equitable economic development while deepening their presence throughout New York State — from Downtown Brooklyn to the Finger Lakes and beyond. 

If you have a company and are looking to find space in Downtown Brooklyn, please contact realestate@downtownbrooklyn.com.