UPDATED, 2:10 p.m., April 19: Oskar Brecher, a top executive at the Moinian Group who helped spearhead projects like the planned 3 Hudson Boulevard office tower in Hudson Yards, died suddenly this week. He was 69.
The cause of death was not immediately clear. In addition to his role as executive vice president and director of development at the Joseph Moinian-led real estate investment and development firm, Brecher was an avid traveler and wine connoisseur who would have turned 70 on July 25, according to a notice published Tuesday in the New York Times.
“We are truly saddened by the sudden and unexpected passing of Oskar Brecher, a dear friend and leader of the Moinian Group,” Joseph Moinian said in a statement. “Oskar will be greatly missed and we will keep our many wonderful memories of him close to our heart.”
Brecher joined the Moinian Group[TRData] in 2004 and helped grow the company into one the largest private real estate firms in the country, with a portfolio exceeding 20 million square feet nationally, according to the company’s website.
As director of development, he played a leading role in Moinian’s development of 3 Hudson Boulevard[TRData] — a planned 66-story, 1.8 million-square-foot office and residential tower in Hudson Yards. With the project contributing to the expansive redevelopment of Manhattan’s Far West Side, Brecher was appointed vice chair of the Hudson Yards/Hell’s Kitchen Business Improvement District in 2014.
Prior to joining the Moinian Group, Brecher served as president of Midtown-based residential development firm AFC Development Group. He also founded and led American Landmark Developments, which built and operated residential properties in New York, New Jersey, Toronto and the Washington, D.C., metro area.
In the 1970s, Brecher was a senior executive at Toronto-based Cadillac Fairview Corp., one of the largest publicly held development firms in North America at the time. As general manager of high-rise residential development, he oversaw various Cadillac Fairview projects in more than half a dozen markets.
A Montreal native, Brecher earned a bachelor’s degree in architecture from McGill University and an MBA from Harvard University.
Brecher is survived by his wife Adrienne Albert, the CEO of new development residential marketing firm the Marketing Directors, and his son Matthew.
Funeral services will be held at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday at Temple Israel of the City of New York, on the Upper East Side.