GFP Separates Development Business from Rest of Firm

Jeff Gural’s GFP Real Estate is bringing a new affiliate to life: GFP Development.

Gural’s nephew, Brian Steinwurtzel — fresh off an appearance at The Real Deal’s roundtable event — was named chief executive officer of the entity, the Commercial Observer reported. The business will be focused on development projects in New York City and Jersey City.

Gural said the split was done to limit market confusion and give credit when it’s due to Steinwurtzel.

“Every time he was doing a deal and I would look in the magazines, it would have my picture and say Jeff Gural’s GFP is doing something,” Gural said, noting the disconnect between the projects the two executives worked on.

The day-to-day shouldn’t change much with the GFP Development inception, as Steinwurtzel was already leading the parent company’s development division. It’s more an acknowledgment that Steinwurtzel and Gural are doing different things as the latter focuses on the company’s legacy portfolio, which includes properties in Soho and the Garment District.

Steinwurtzel’s development projects at GFP have included a number of Manhattan conversions, including 100 Gold Street, 25 Water Street and 222 Broadway.

Towards the end of last year, the New York City Economic Development Corporation selected GFP to redevelop the 10-story office building at 100 Gold in the Financial District into a mixed-income residential building, which is planned for 3,700 units, including 25 percent designated as affordable.

Going forward, Steinwurtzel said the development entity would take an “agnostic” approach to decisions, continuing to eye assets such as office developments, life sciences buildings and ground-up residential projects.

GFP Real Estate’s pursuits, meanwhile, appear to include the Chrysler Building. Last month, Gural was reported to be in advanced talks with Cooper Union to acquire the ground lease for the property. Cooper Union began marketing the ground lease last spring after terminating its deal with Aby Rosen’s RFR, which had defaulted on rent payments.

— Holden Walter-Warner