Jared Kushner
Jared Kushner, real estate magnate, Trump in-law and New York Observer owner, may add one more feather to his cap: owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers. At 31, Kushner would be the youngest owner of a major league baseball team, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Kushner is reportedly working with UBS Vice Chairman Aryeh Bourkoff, an expert in investment banking in the media and technology sectors, on the possible deal. [more]
Manhattan House unveiled its new model units at a party co-hosted by the New York Observer’s Hamptons magazine last night (see photos above). The event, at the Upper East Side condominium’s garden, showcased a preview of the model residences designed by James (Ford) Huniford and Celerie Kemble. The evening featured art, fragrances, and culinary fare. Huniford designed a three-bedroom, 3.5-bath, 3,196-square-foot floor-through residence at the building, at 200 East 66th Street, and Kemble designed a three-bedroom, three-bath, 2,240-square-foot corner residence. The Real Deal reported earlier this month that the building has sold more than 150 units and has about 140 rent-stabilized tenants, leaving more than 200 unsold units. A number of apartments are being combined into larger units. – Marc Becker
Jared Kushner
For Jared Kushner, the 30-year-old owner of the New York Observer and 666 Fifth Avenue, 2011 will be a defining year, according to the New York Times. Personally, Kushner’s wife, Ivanka Trump, is pregnant and poised to give birth to his first son. Professionally, Kushner is working to modify the loans on the $1.8 billion purchase of 666 Fifth Avenue he and his company, Kushner Companies, made at the height of the bubble, and to ensure that the Observer remains relevant through its third editor-in-chief in two years. Kushner, the story notes, was born into real estate through his father Charles. He began making deals of his own as an undergraduate at Harvard University buying apartment buildings throughout Boston. [more]
Ivanka Trump may have made headlines in the past for her show-stopping modeling career and lavish upbringing, but the Trump Organization executive vice president is focused today on making a name for herself in the real estate world, she said in a recent interview with Crain’s. The heiress and wife of fellow real estate scion Jared Kushner — who owns the New York Observer — said “real estate is still [her] primary focus,” despite a growing presence in the worlds of fashion and jewelry. She said her work in hotels is one of her proudest accomplishments. [more]
Once shunned in the down market, pricey condos could be making a comeback. Dolly Lenz, vice chairperson at Prudential Douglas Elliman, and Chloe Malle, a reporter with the New York Observer, debated the issue on CNBC. Lenz argued that buyers are looking at real estate as a long-term investment, but aren’t necessarily climbing over one another to make deals. “We’re seeing a few bidding wars, but that’s not really the norm,” Lenz said. “People are looking at ‘where do I want to live?’ [and] ‘where do I want to be five years from now?’” Malle, on the other hand, said that big financial salaries are ratcheting up condo sales again, even if the kinds of homes being sold differ from the boom years. “This year bonuses are projected to be tantamount to bonuses in 2007,” Malle said. Even so, she added, buyers are “looking for more sound investments.” Reports have surfaced that condo sales are picking up, despite seasonal trends that are typically unfavorable to the winter months.
Buying over renting was a hot topic amongst real estate pros at a panel discussion yesterday, with sales brokers insisting that now is the time to buy. Stephen Kliegerman, executive director of development marketing at Halstead Property, said that locking in a 30-year fixed mortgage rate makes more sense than grappling with mutable rental rates over the coming decades. “The only way to control your lifestyle is to own,” Kliegerman said. He argued that renting a home is akin to putting money into an investment that never returns. “Why would you want to pay off your landlord’s mortgage instead of paying off your own mortgage?” Kliegerman spoke on a panel that was part of a residential real estate event Observer Living, hosted by the New York Observer in the Puck Building on Lafayette Street. [more]
Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, and 500 guests gathered at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, NJ, yesterday for the merging of two massive New York real estate families. Ivanka Trump, the daughter of real estate mogul Donald Trump, and Jared Kushner, owner of the New York Observer and son of New Jersey real estate developer Charles Kushner, became engaged July 16 this year. The Kushner-Trump wedding drew such bigwigs as Andrew Cuomo, Sheldon Silver, Rudy Giuliani and Amir Korangy, publisher of The Real Deal. The bride, who said via Twitter that she went on a “gorgeous hike” prior to the nuptials, wore a lace-sleeved gown, reportedly inspired by Grace Kelly. The weekend marriage will be followed by another, reportedly twice as large, reception this Wednesday, after which the couple plans to honeymoon in Africa. [Post] and
From the October issue: It’s the New York real estate marriage of the century: Later this
month, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump are set to get married before 500
guests in a ceremony at the Trump National Golf Club. Jared, the boy-wonder publisher who made a name for himself when he
bought the New York Observer, is the son of Charles Kushner, founder of
the multi-billion-dollar real estate empire Kushner Companies, where
Jared is also an executive. Ivanka, of course, is the daughter of The
Donald and a vice president at the Trump Organization. Industry folk think a union between the two is almost guaranteed to
result in a real estate powerhouse. The question on some minds as the
real estate golden boy and girl prepare to marry: What would a
prenuptial agreement between the two look like?
The New York Observer is moving its offices to Midtown South at 321
West 44th Street between Eighth and Ninth avenues. Jared Kushner,
Ivanka Trump bridegroom and the paper’s owner, has tapped Newmark
Knight Frank agent David Falk to represent the Observer’s remaining
lease at 915 Broadway between 20th and 21st streets, which expires July 2014. Both the old and new
spaces are each approximately 13,000 square feet. The media outfit will be moving in the first half of 2010. [more]
From left to right: Barack Obama, Mort Zuckerman, Amir Korangy and Darcy Stacom made the New York Observer Power 100 list.
The Real Deal’s Amir Korangy made the New York Observer’s Power
100 list of the most powerful people in New York real estate, released today. President
Barack Obama ranks first on the list, which includes politicians,
developers and brokers, followed by Stephen Ross, CEO of the Related
Companies, and Mort Zuckerman, chairman and CEO of Boston Properties.
Twelve women made the list, including Corcoran Group CEO Pamela
Liebman, Elliman CEO Dottie Herman and CB Richard Ellis Vice Chairman
Darcy Stacom. The Observer also held a poll inviting readers to vote
for the most powerful people in New York real estate, and The Real Deal’s Web editor, Lauren Elkies, was named the city’s most powerful real estate blogger. [more]
