The Closing: Jody Durst

You’re one of New York’s biggest real estate owners and you’re staring down an office crisis. You can’t build rentals, and rising interest rates threaten billions of dollars worth of loans.

You have to present your shareholders a plan for navigating all this. But instead of facing a dark-suited money manager or powerful pension head, you’re at the family gathering with dozens of cousins, nieces and nephews who are counting on you to keep the business growing.

That’s the life of Jonathan “Jody” Durst — president of the Durst Organization and shepherd of one of real estate’s great dynastic fortunes. 

Does he feel the pressure to make sure the family business provides for the next generation and beyond?

“Yeah, I do feel that way,” the 67-year-old Durst said. “I don’t want it to be on my watch that we’re unable to do that.”

Patriarch Joseph Durst immigrated to the United States from what’s now Poland in the early 20th century and built a business that now spans 16 million square feet.

The family has become synonymous with New York, deeply ingrained in the city’s business and civic scenes. It’s also had its share of scandal, most notably with the sordid affair of Jody’s cousin, convicted murderer Robert Durst.

Jody, in the third generation, became co-president in 2005 with his cousin Douglas Durst, who stepped aside four years later and now serves as chair. 

Jody sat with The Real Deal on the 49th floor of the Bank of America Tower to talk about his path to leadership, taking on real estate’s biggest challenges and his passion for tinkering with muscle cars.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. 

Born: March 26, 1956
Hometown: Mt. Kisco, New York
Lives: South Salem, New York
Family: Wife, two sons

How many members of the Durst family are there?

A lot. There are 11 of the third generation. I think there are 24 in the fourth generation. And there’s a fifth generation running around the hallways here, but I’m not sure how many there are.

You worked with your dad at the company. What’s it like to work with your sons now?

It’s absolutely fantastic to be able to see them every day. With my dad, initially it was strained; he was pushing me into the business, and I wasn’t sure whether I was ready yet. Given that experience, I made sure that I didn’t do the same thing with my sons. But eventually they gravitated toward the business.

“There’s a fifth generation running around the hallways here, but I’m not sure how many there are.”

What was your hesitation when you were younger?

I had been training on an amateur level for triathlons, and there came a point where I realized that I may be able to compete on a professional level. So I was working at the Durst Organization half a day and training half a day, and after a while it became apparent that I wasn’t doing justice to either. Much to my dad’s chagrin, I opted to stop doing the half-day thing and trained full time and competed as a professional.

How did you get into triathlons?

I had a roommate in college for three years, and he moved to San Jose after graduating. My first job out of college was with Chrysler in Detroit, and I would speak to him every once in a while and say, “It’s 20 below here.” And he’d say, “Really? It’s 80 degrees here.” 

I absolutely appreciated my job at Chrysler — I was in the engine performance department and had two dynamometer rooms that I was responsible for. A dynamometer is something that tests the output of an engine —the horsepower, the torque and even emissions. I found that really interesting, but I disliked my boss quite a bit. And when you’re a youngster, you have a very short fuse, I guess. 

After a little less than a year I quit my job with Chrysler and moved down to San Jose. I moved in with my roommate, and he had started training for the triathlon. He was riding a bike to work, so I bought myself a bike and started riding to work as well. One thing led to another, and we both started competing.

Were you always interested in cars and mechanics?

My first job in high school was when I moved into my cousin’s house in Rhode Island, and he restored antique MGs and Jaguars. I worked with him for a summer. My poor dad ended up towing his cars down to the local gas station after I screwed them up. Eventually I paid him back.

And now you own one of his cars?

I do. I own a 1967 Corvette that I’ve had for 45 years now.

Do you drive it leisurely? Or do you take it out to a track?

I don’t drive them leisurely, but I don’t take them to the track either. I drive them hard around the roads where I live. Carefully, but hard.

Do you drive into the city for work?

I take Metro-North, have been for 40 years. Only on nice sunny days do I drive the Corvette.  My daily driver I’ve owned for 35 years. It’s a 1980 Toyota Land Cruiser. So that goes to the station. I’ve owned it so long. It feels like it’s a part of me.

When you were getting into triathlons, it was a very West Coast thing. People from back East were seen as outsiders.

I was called the Beast from the East. I swam and ran track in high school and swam competitively in college. Swimming was the most difficult leg for most people. 

How long did you do it for?

About four years. I felt that I had achieved what I was going to achieve. I was ready to use my head for something other than a helmet rack.

And you met your wife out there?

While I was living in San Diego, I was on a masters swim team there, and she was also on the team. 

When you came back to New York, what was your first job?

The first building I worked with my dad on was 1155 [Sixth Avenue]. When I started in the business in 1984, they were just completing 1155. You start at the bottom here. My job was counting sprinkler heads to make sure the sprinkler contractor hadn’t shorted us. It felt very good.

Douglas, he’s older than you … how did you guys start working together?

When I first started Douglas was here already, but my uncles and my dad were very much running the company. At a point, Douglas was told that he should run the company. My uncles and my dad still continued to come in. Between the time that I started with the company and Douglas was given the baton, we worked together quite a bit. He was a very good teacher, as were my father and uncles.

What did you pick up from them?

Probably understanding the areas that I wasn’t so prepared for. Engineering prepared me for many aspects of construction and design, but the leasing and financial side that Douglas regularly does is the area where I’ve grown most.

Is there a significant lease or financing deal that stands out?

The most significant lease in my memory was when we completed 4 Times Square. I was one of the point people for the Skadden Arps lease. Skadden would do their billable hours during the day, and then they wanted to negotiate the lease with us after their day was over. So there were nights where we were up till 2 o’clock in the morning negotiating that lease.

There is a second lease that is just as significant. With the help of our leasing department, I negotiated with Bank of America for this building [1 Bryant Park]. Initially that was for 1.2 million square feet, and by the time they were ready to move in they needed 500,000 more square feet and now they are three-quarters of this building. So it’s a huge lease for us. 

You have been really proud about the environmental features of this building. How do you feel about it becoming this sort of flashpoint for Local Law 97 and the challenges of complying with the law?

Challenge is a very good word. We agree with the philosophy of reducing the carbon footprint, but the implementation leaves something to be desired. 

 If you use this building as an example, if we did everything that the law requires us to do, we would produce more carbon than we produce now. We would have to shut down our cogeneration facility, which is cleaner than the utility power coming onto the grid. 

When we first built 4 Times Square, there was no LEED standard. It was the first environmentally responsible high-rise in the nation, and between the architect Fox and Fowle and the construction manager Tishman, we were all of a mind to try and set a model for the industry to follow. LEED took a lot of what we did when they formed the LEED standard.

You had been developing a lot of office at one point — there was 4 Times Square, this building, One World Trade Center — but it seems like you’ve stopped. Was that a conscious decision?

My cousin Douglas, who was pretty brilliant, saw that Hudson Yards was going ahead. And so he felt that there wasn’t going to be a need for competing office space. We changed our direction and started looking at residential buildings.

“If we did everything that [Local Law 97] requires us to do, we would produce more carbon than we produce now.”

You branched out to Philadelphia.

We were struggling with the previous administration, and so we decided to take our ball and go elsewhere. We started actually coming out of the ground with a project and then within two months, interest rates doubled. And over the course of Covid, construction costs went up 40 percent and it really made that project unadvisable. So we finished the foundations and we took a pause until we can make that project work. 

Are there other cities you’re looking at?

Our home is New York, and so we really want to stay focused here.

How are you navigating these high rates and maturing loans?

With great difficulty, but my son works with the chief financial officer. They’re struggling, but they’re getting done what we need to get done.

You recently topped off Halletts Point in Astoria. Were you up there hoisting the beam?

So normally on a steel structure they hoist the last beam, but on a concrete structure they hoisted a bucket purportedly filled with concrete. And below the bucket was the American flag. And that’s what everybody cheers for.

How many buildings are there left to do?

There are two additional sites, and there are zoning issues that we have to overcome before we do anything.

You’ve done some really bold buildings like the Bjarke Ingels-designed rental Via 57. How do you look at something like that with your engineering background?

It’s difficult to keep that ski-slope facade clean, and it was a real engineering feat to construct that. There were days when we would erect one panel, and it was painstaking. I think there are 4,700 panels on that facade. There was a learning curve, and after a while we started to really click. It was a little late, but I think that’s a beautiful building.

Are there any buildings going up in the city now that you particularly like?

One Vanderbilt looks beautiful. I think they really did a spectacular job with that building.

I know it’s a sensitive subject, but I’d like to ask you about Robert. Did you have a relationship with him?

I’m sorry, I can’t discuss.

Do you think about a legacy you’d like to leave?

I think my legacy would be to emphasize the values that my grandmother and grandfather created when they established the Durst Organization. The underlying component of that is integrity.

Do you think about who will take over for you one day?

I think about it. There are five members of the fourth generation here, and between the five of them I’m hoping that they figure out how to distribute the responsibilities of running the firm. I’m not going anywhere yet, so there’s time.