From left: Mort Zuckerman, Susan Breitenbach, Aby Rosen and Billy Macklowe
From Apollo Global Management head Leon Black to Boston Properties boss Mort Zuckerman, the New York City real estate industry is a critical component to the East End scene. In fact, no fewer than 14 of the 100 most powerful people to descend upon the Hamptons this summer, as compiled by Hamptons magazine, are members of the industry. [more]
From left: Harrison LeFrak, former New York Met Mookie Wilson, Gov. Chris Christie and Richard Lefrak and the ribbon cutting ceremony in front of the new Jersey City playground
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and other state and Jersey City officials this afternoon joined the Lefrak Organization for the opening of Newport Green, a 4.25-acre park at the northeastern end of its massive waterfront mixed-use complex called Newport. [more]
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]
From the December issue: The holiday season is upon us, and New York’s society scenesters are busy with glittering galas and luncheons. Real estate moguls are no strangers to these events, and clusters of the industry’s biggest players can be seen at almost every party.
“People from the real estate world really do make a splash,” said Amanda Gordon, the social columnist for Bloomberg News. “The business is all about relationships, so they thrive at events where they can develop relationships that may bear fruit later, or celebrate those [relationships] that have worked out really well for them.” [more]
The LeFrak Organization will redevelop a 13-story office tower in Rego Park into 108 luxury rental apartments, according to the Wall Street Journal. The project marks a return for the developer to the city, where it said it would no longer build because of the rising costs of construction. In fact, it’s the company’s first project in the city in 28 years.
The office building was constructed 50 years ago by LeFrak Organization CEO Richard LeFrak’s father, Samuel LeFrak, during a time when the developer was building housing geared towards the middle-income residents of the borough, most notably nearby LeFrak City. [more]
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]
Richard LeFrak, head of the LeFrak Organization that owns some 25,000 apartments across the country, including the large apartment complex in Queens known as LeFrak City, appeared on CNBC this morning to discuss the current real estate market (see video above). LeFrak said the commercial real estate market has almost fully rebounded from the downturn, thanks to the cheap interest rates set by the Federal Reserve System. In fact, LeFrak said “trophy properties” in the commercial sector are “fully priced” and are so expensive they “may even be on the edge of another bubble.” [more]
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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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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Real estate bigwigs Sam Zell, Richard LeFrak and his family and Stephen Ross cracked Forbes’ annua [more]
