Political fortunes can change fast, but that hasn’t stopped the city’s real estate power brokers from dipping into their bank accounts to place their bets on presidential candidates.
An unscientific review of federal campaign filings by The Real Deal found that many New York City developers and real estate heavyweights were more solidly behind their hometown senator, Hillary Clinton, than any other candidate in the running — at least before her chief opponent started stringing together victories.
As of the most recent campaign finance disclosures, only a few real estate outliers had written checks to Senator Barack Obama, who finished last month with 11 consecutive primary and caucus wins, tilting prospects for the Democratic Party nomination in his favor, if the headlines are to be believed.
But as always, a number of real estate bigwigs spread their cash around to multiple contenders. Here’s a sampling of who has given to whom:
Larry Silverstein, who has supported Clinton in her past elections and given money to dozens of politicians, gave Clinton the maximum allowable amount of $4,600 for both the presidential primary and general election.
Steven Roth, head of Vornado Realty Trust, also shelled out $4,600 for Clinton’s campaign. But he also donated $2,600 in June to dark-horse Democrat Christopher Dodd and $2,300 in December to the now-defunct bid by Republican Mitt Romney.
While Harry Macklowe has given to Clinton in the past, donating $5,000 to her political action committee when she was running for re-election to the Senate in 2006, federal election records show that he’s stayed out of the race this time. That may be because he’s figuring out how to pay back his roughly $7 billion debt and looks likely to sell his trophy General Motors Building. His son, William, who has managed some of Macklowe Properties’ debt restructuring, however, donated $2,000 to Clinton in June.
Meanwhile, the Zeckendorf brothers, whose most recent project is the ritzy 15 Central Park West, gave Clinton a combined $9,200 in this election cycle. William Zeckendorf listed his employer as Brown Harris Stevens, the brokerage he and his brother, Arthur, co-chair. Arthur, who also gave to former mayor Rudolph Giuliani before he dropped out of the race, cited his employer as Terra Holdings, the parent company of Brown Harris and of Halstead Property.
Several top brokers hedged their bets. Bruce Mosler, head of Cushman & Wakefield, donated both to Clinton and to Giuliani, before he dropped out of the race. Dottie Herman, chief executive of Prudential Douglas Elliman, spread her donations around with $2,300 going to Clinton, $2,300 to Senator John McCain, the presumed Republican presidential nominee, and $1,500 to Giuliani. And Kent Swig, a co-chairman of Brown Harris Stevens, gave to Clinton and to Giuliani.
Meanwhile, Jonathan Mechanic, a powerhouse real estate lawyer with Fried Frank, gave $2,000 to Clinton in the spring and $2,300 more in September. But he gave $1,000 to McCain’s political action committee the previous year.
While Obama may pick up more cash in this Democratic-leaning city if he moves into the general election, a few early backers have already sprinkled cash into his campaign war chest.
The maverick Joseph Sitt, who’s still angling to develop a big chunk of Coney Island despite a city-defined rezoning that is blocking him, gave $2,300 to Obama in the fall.
Joseph Moinian, whose Moinian Group is redeveloping 1775 Broadway, which Newsweek plans to vacate, gave Clinton $2,700, Giuliani $4,600 and Obama $2,300.
Federal Election Commission spokesperson Michelle Ryan noted that the maximum donation for both the primary and the general election from an individual is $2,300. So, when a candidate gets a $4,600 check early on in the process, he or she has to stash away half for the general election — if they make it that far.
While real estate players are notorious for showering money on local politicians, who have more direct sway over zoning laws that make or break their lucrative projects, new city rules will now limit how much they can give to local candidates.
But having the next president as an ally can be hugely important. And, because New York City real estate players often have a lot of money and, more importantly, a lot of friends with money whom they can recruit as donors, they can be important to fundraising.
Some real estate players remain staunch Republican donors. Larry Gluck of Stellar Management, which has converted several formerly rent-protected properties to market rates, and Associated Builders and Owners of Greater New York chairman Jerome Belson both donated to Giuliani’s campaign and have been inactive since that campaign ended.
So what can we expect of the relatively quiet players like Stephen Ross of the Related Companies and Douglas Durst of the Durst Organization? A telling sign comes from the contributing tactics of Bruce Ratner, who is developing the controversial Atlantic Yards site in Brooklyn.
Ratner donated $28,500 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which Senator Chuck Schumer, a major Atlantic Yards supporter, chairs.