From left: Stephen Schwarzman, Richard LeFrak, Sam Zell, Leonard Stern, Stephen Ross

Blackstone President Stephen Schwarzman, Richard LeFrak, Equity International Chairman Sam Zell and Related Companies Chairman Stephen Ross were just some of the big players in New York City real estate to make Forbes’ list of the world’s 1,226 billionaires released yesterday.

But none can match the wealth of the man who has the final say on whether many of their ambitious city projects ultimately get built: Mayor Michael Bloomberg. [more]

Top row from left: Solow Building Owner Sheldon Solow, Boston Properties Chairman Mort Zuckerman, LeFrak Organization Chairman Richard LeFrak, investor John Paulson; Bottom row from left: Donald Trump, Tishman Speyer Chairman Jerry Speyer, Blackstone Group Founder Stephen Schwarzman, Red Apple Group CEO John Catsimatidis and Related Companies Founder Stephen Ross

Of the 63 New York City residents to make Forbes new list of the 400 richest people in America at least 13 are closely tied to the real estate industry. For example, the third richest New Yorker, right after businessman David Koch and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, is John Paulson, who made billions betting against the housing market right before the crash. He’s the 17th richest person in the country, according to Forbes, with a net worth of $15.5 billion.

The 60th richest American is New York City real estate magnate Richard LeFrak, who is worth $5 billion thanks in part to the large housing developments he owns. He’s 10th among city residents. [more]

Top row, from left: Stephen Ross, Leonard Stern, Richard LeFrak. Bottom row, from left: Donald Trump, Steven Ross, Mort Zuckerman.

With a net worth of $22 billion, David Koch, executive vice president of consumer products conglomerate Koch Industries, is the richest man in New York, beating out the $18.1 billion Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who’s runner-up for that title, and the $16 billion hedge fund king John Paulson, in third. But according to Forbes’ 2011 list of the world’s billionaires, New York is home to a whopping 68 individuals with net worths in the 10- and 11-digit range, and naturally, many of them made their fortunes in New York City real estate (see The Real Deal’s November 2010 cover story, “Billionaire’s real estate club”). Click here for the latest list of the industry’s richest. TRD
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Top row, from left: Howard and Steve Rubenstein, Donald Trump, Mort Zuckerman; bottom row, from left: Jerry Speyer, Dottie Herman and Pamela Liebman

Mayor Michael Bloomberg is the most powerful man in New York City — so says the New York Observer, which released its annual list of the top 150 most powerful New Yorkers. This year’s ranking included 24 influential real estate players, including real estate PR bigwigs Howard and Steve Rubenstein of Rubenstein Communications (ranked 17th and 78th, respectively), Donald Trump (19th), Boston Properties honcho Mort Zuckerman (20th), Tishman Speyer co-founder Jerry Speyer, Prudential Douglas Elliman CEO Dottie Herman (53rd) and Pamela Liebman, president and CEO of the Corcoran Group (89th). The list included a handful of surprises, as well. TRD [more]

From the November issue: The nine New York City real estate titans that earned ink on this year’s Forbes 400 list have a combined worth of nearly $21 billion, a sum surpassing the GDP of dozens of sovereign countries. Together, they control hundreds of millions of square feet of real estate the world over — and their collective portfolio includes several newspapers, magazines, at least one cable channel, an NFL franchise and a small fleet of private jets.
To be sure, all nine members of the Forbes list have shown extreme generosity over the years, and their names dot the city’s landscape, from the LeFrak Center at New York-Presbyterian Hospital to the Leonard Stern Business School and the Sheldon Solow Library at New York University.
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Some of the top 100, from left: Stephen Ross, Marc Holliday, Andrew Mathias, Mort Zuckerman, Dolly Lenz

The New York Observer has released its list of the 100 most powerful people in New York City real estate, with Stephen Ross, chairman of Related Companies, ousting last year’s number one ranked player, President Barack Obama from the top spot. The list is populated with many long-time real estate bigwigs. SL Green honchos Marc Holliday and Andrew Mathias jointly took the second place title, up from last year’s showing at number seven, while Boston Properties CEO Mort Zuckerman stayed in the third place position. [more]

Tishman Speyer and BlackRock, the owners of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, will not make today’s scheduled $16 million mortgage payment to senior lenders for the East Side apartment complex, the companies have confirmed in a statement.

Reports surfaced this morning that a technical default on the loan was imminent, though the news was hardly surprising to the city’s real estate community, which has been closely watching the beleaguered property in recent months. In November, Tishman Speyer and BlackRock entered negotiations with special servicer CWCapital to restructure $3 billion in debt for Stuyvesant Town, and speculation abounded that its reserves could be depleted before the close of 2009.

The partners purchased the 110-building complex in 2006 for $5.4 billion; the most recent appraisal valued it at just $1.9 billion.

“Today’s announcement has no immediate impact on tenant services or the day-to-day operations of the community,” the companies said in the statement. Furthermore, the statement said, “the debt for Stuyvesant and Peter Cooper Village is secured exclusively by the property and is not cross-collateralized with any others. It does not impact, nor is it impacted by, any other properties in which Tishman Speyer or BlackRock may be invested.” TRD
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