Who’s New On Power 100 — and Who’s Returned
Like Gatsby sending his chauffeur — dressed in a uniform of robin’s egg blue — out with a majestically scripted invitation, we have asked some new names to join us on this year’s Power 100. Some have...
View ArticleClik here to view.
New York’s Richard LeFrak Has Been Putting On a Clinic in Miami
Richard LeFrak is standing on the back deck of the leasing office of his North Miami project. He is gazing out at a clear blue, 7-acre lagoon. His eyes have some of the same sparkle as the water. “Did...
View ArticleLeFrak Appoints First Non-Family Executive in Company History
For the first time, New York developer LeFrak will have a person outside the LeFrak lineage on its executive team. LeFrak has named Adam Silfen as its new president and chief operating officer, the...
View ArticleSunday Summary: Housing Good. Office Meh.
Scott Fitzgerald once said that the test of a first-rate mind was being able to hold two contradictory ideas in one’s head at the same time and still retain the ability to function. Was Scott talking...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Richard LeFrak On South Florida, New York Affordability and Succession
Richard LeFrak could well be considered the elder statesman of New York’s real estate scene — the scion of a rental empire, the LeFrak Organization, which built and owns tens of millions of square feet...
View ArticleNYC Real Estate Heads Join Call for Trump to Aid Biden Transition
A group of 164 New York City business owners — including the heads of powerful landlords and brokerages — called on President Donald Trump to concede the election to President-elect Joseph Biden and...
View ArticleThe Power 100: Commercial Real Estate’s Most Powerful Players
As Marc Holliday began explaining all SL Green Realty Corp. had done in the last year, he paused. “I don’t know where to begin.” SL Green had a banner year. It announced plans for One Madison Avenue,...
View ArticleFrustrated With Trump, Starwood’s Sternlicht Cheers Investments Abroad
Donald Trump may enjoy the support of a handful of his former peers among the New York City real estate club. (Here’s looking at you, Steven Roth and Richard LeFrak). But count Barry Sternlicht out,...
View ArticleThe Power 100
When interviewing Jeff Blau, the CEO of Related Companies, for this year’s Power 100 we asked a question Commercial Observer had never raised in the past: Who do you think should be No. 1 on our list?...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Optimism Abounds at REBNY’s 2018 Prom
Despite a tumultuous year for real estate—with investment sales falling off a cliff, retail suffering due to e-commerce and banks tightening their lending—it was a night full of splendor, high spirits...
View ArticleREBNY 2018: Thrills and Frills
A changing of the guard is a good moment for reflection. Last June, it was announced that Rob Speyer would be stepping down as chairman of the Real Estate Board of New York and be replaced by Bill...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Andrew Cuomo Announces Panel to Revamp Penn Station, Prize to Fix the Subway
A week after claiming he doesn’t have much control over the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Governor Andrew Cuomo gave a speech in which he reiterated the need to upgrade Pennsylvania Station...
View ArticleClik here to view.
If President Trump Wants to Flash Some Cash for Infrastructure, NYC’s Got a...
If you build it, they will come. Sure, that’s the line ambitious developers will often use when trying to get a project off the ground. When it comes to New York City’s infrastructure, however, experts...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Do Developers Have a Life (or a Fantasy Life) Outside of Real Estate?
Not to get too Inside the Actors Studio on our owners, but one of the questions we felt compelled to ask was, “If you weren’t in real estate, what would you do?” Unlike the Manichean either/or of our...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Owners Magazine 2016
In 2016, a lot of Americans—including your mild-mannered Commercial Observer editor—have gone poll crazy. We’ve got a national election weeks away, so it’s only natural to check FiveThirtyEight, The...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Inheriting a Great Real Estate Empire Is More Complicated Than It Looks
Just being born into one of New York City’s family-owned real estate firms does not guarantee you a spot in the C-suite. At least, not at Rudin Management. “You have to show passion and commitment and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What Makes Starwood’s Barry Sternlicht Tick?
In the late 1990s, shortly after Barry Sternlicht, the head of Starwood Lodging Trust (and Starwood Capital Group), went through a dramatic and highly public purchase of ITT Corporation (the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Respect My Authority: What to Do With the Billions Allocated For a New Bus...
Last week, the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey took a huge step forward in its plans for a new bus terminal to replace its 65-year-old terminal on Eighth Avenue. Commissioners of the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Cuomo’s Rent Check: Governor in the Middle as Dems Split Big Real Estate
Last Thursday, Feb. 24, while journalists craned their recorders like goslings waiting to be fed, Democratic Senator Adriano Espaillat of the Bronx and Northern Manhattan gave the assembled tenant...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Real Estate’s Biggest Philanthropists, Annotated
Last week, Stephen Ross, chairman of Related Companies, became the latest signatory of the Giving Pledge. The campaign, an effort to invite the world’s wealthiest individuals to pledge to donate half...
View Article
