Jacob Chetrit, one of four brothers in the enigmatic Chetrit family who are major players in New York real estate, has died.
Chetrit’s death was announced by the Ohel Moshe Synagogue and confirmed by The Real Deal. A representative for the family could not be reached for comment.
Jacob was a major investor in Manhattan and South Florida real estate. His Chetrit Organization owns the 366,000-square-foot 1 Whitehall Street in the Financial District. He was also developing a pair of massive projects in Pompano Beach and Hollywood Beach with his brother Joseph — among many other investments.
He had owned the 617,000-square-foot office building at 850 Third Avenue, which he sold in 2023. And in 2020 he struck a deal to buy the Daily News building from SL Green for $815 million — an agreement that became one of the biggest deals to go bust during the early days of the pandemic and led to litigation over the deposit.
Besides Joseph, Jacob’s other brothers were Meyer and Juda. The four siblings invested separately and alongside each other, which often led to confusion over which Chetrit was the subject of discussion.
Adding to the befuddlement was the brothers’ similarly named companies. They had operated under the Chetrit Group until the early 2010s when they split. Joseph and Meyer continued to invest under the Chetrit Group name while Jacob and Juda branched off under the moniker the Chetrit Organization.
Their father owned a textile-importing business in Morocco, and the brothers eventually made their way into U.S. real estate.
Funeral services are planned for Sunday, January 5, in Israel.