Jeffrey Gural

Chair and Principal, GFP Real Estate

GFP Real Estate is a family business, and one that Jeff Gural didn’t always see himself joining. 

At a recent event held by The Real Deal, 83-year-old Gural recounted that as a young man, he didn’t want to join his father at his firm, then called Newmark & Company. But after working for a construction firm, he joined the family business in 1972 and took over the firm alongside Barry Gosin in 1978. The firm changed its name to GFP after the brokerage business was sold to BCG Cantor Fitzgerald in 2011 (at the time, the Gural family retained ownership and management of the firm’s assets). His son, Eric Gural, and nephew, Brian Steinwurtzel, now serve as co-CEOs. 

Gural’s firm owns and manages 17.5 million square feet across 70 commercial buildings. The firm is in the process of converting its iconic Flatiron Building into 38 luxury condos. The company also plans to convert its office building at 40 Exchange Place, the former headquarters of the New York Stock Exchange, into 382 residential units. They also completed the transformation of 25 Water Street, one of the largest office-to-residential conversions in U.S. history.

The city recently tapped GFP to develop 100 Gold Street, replacing a 10-story office building with 3,700 residential units. 

Gural, a longtime donor to Democratic candidates, contributed to political action committees supporting both Eric Adams and Andrew Cuomo’s campaigns for mayor. He is also managing partner of the Meadowlands Racetrack and owns a racino and a casino in upstate New York.