Louis Kestenbaum

Louis Kestenbaum (born 1952) is an American real estate developer who is the founder and chairman of New York City-based Fortis Property Group.

Louis Kestenbaum
Born1952 (age 67–68)
OccupationReal Estate Developer
Known forFounder of Fortis Property Group
Spouse(s)married
ChildrenJoel Kestenbaum
Parent(s)Zvi Kestenbaum
Websitewww.fortispropertygroup.com

Biography

Kestenbaum was born to a Hasidic Jewish family, the son of Rabbi Zvi Kestenbaum.[1] His father lost most of his family in the Holocaust[2] and founded the ODA Primary Health Care Network, a federally subsidized health care center that serves the Hasidic community in South Williamsburg.[3] He is a follower of the Satmar Hasidic dynasty.[2]

Kestenbaum operated a sportswear company.[4] In the early 1980s, Kestenbaum paid $4 million for Austin, Nichols and Company Warehouse, a vacant 500,000-square-foot industrial property at 184 Kent Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He used part of the building for his company and leased the remainder.[4] Kestenbaum later converted the building to apartments and tripled his rental income using the proceeds to buy other properties in the neighborhood.[4] He went on to develop Northside Piers in Williamsburg.[5]

In 2004, he co-founded the Fortis Property Group with his son and Jonathan Landau, a modern Orthodox Jewish attorney from Cleveland, Ohio who he had used for several transactions.[5] Within two years, the company acquired over $3 billion in properties, primarily Class A office buildings in Dallas, Boston, and Norfolk, Connecticut.[5] In 2009, Kestenbaum purchased a portion of the real estate portfolio of prolific Brooklyn real estate developer Isaac Hager who declared bankruptcy.[6] Initially focusing on smaller projects and asset purchases, in the early 2010s, he felt the time was ripe to participate in ground-up development.

Since its founding, Fortis has acquired or developed more than $3 billion of commercial real estate across the United States.[3]

Projects

Development projects he has been involved with include:

Personal life

His son, Joel Kestenbaum, works with him at Fortis.[9] Kestanbaum has continued the work of his father who restored more than 50 Jewish cemeteries in eastern Europe.[10]

References
  1. "Louis Kestenbaum". Fortis Property Group. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  2. "Congress Honors Memory of Rabbi Zvi Kestenbaum at 30th Anniversary of U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad". Yeshiva World. June 24, 2015.
  3. Hartocollis, Anemona (March 18, 2014). "Bidder for Long Island College Hospital Has Checkered Record in Role of Rescuer". The New York Times.
  4. "Brooklyn's miracle makers". Crain's New York Business. August 19, 2012.
  5. Kathryn Brenzel; Mark Maurer (November 1, 2016). "The Fortis of solitude. The Long Island College Hospital controversy has thrust a mid-sized player that values its privacy into the limelight". The Real Deal.
  6. Mairer, Mark; Small, Eddie (May 1, 2018). "Isaac Hager's higher power - The developer is gaining outer borough market share, despite a trail of foreclosures and lawsuits from his early real estate days". The Real Deal.
  7. "Louis Kestenbaum and Joel Kestenbaum of Fortis scores $300M for LICH redevelopment". PR web. January 20, 2019.
  8. Bendix, Aria (April 4, 2019). "A 58-story residential skyscraper in Manhattan is tilting to the side, and there's a battle over who's to blame". Business Insider.
  9. "Joel Kestenbaum". Fortis Property Group. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  10. "Washington - Chasidic Jew Instrumental in Preserving European Cemeteries Honored by Members Of Congress". Vos Iz Neias?. June 19, 2015.
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