July 31, 2009
Sapir stares down the slowdown
Trump Soho developer plays big, but faces big obstacles
Alex Sapir, who took over as president of the Sapir Organization in 2006
While it seemed to start well, 2009 has been a rough year thus far for the Sapir Organization, the family-owned real estate empire led by Alex Sapir and his enigmatic father Tamir.
After months of legal wrangling with the city, the company announced plans to open their trophy hotel project Trump Soho by the fall of 2009. Earlier, in 2006, looking to overcome his reputation, Sapir named his son, Alex, president of the company. The younger Sapir possessed a swagger and refinement that helped him relate to the younger crowd. "Alex Sapir can give Tony Robbins a run for his money," said Jason Binn, chairman of 100 Church tenant Niche Media, in a 2008 interview. "This guy is relentless. He's on a mission and he wants to be a major player." Sapir invested more than $20 million to overhaul 100 Church with energy-efficient windows, granite-paneled elevator cabs and a lobby with Swarovski crystal suspension lamps, a sparkling two-tier fountain and streaming flat-panel LCD screens. The company even managed to bring CBRE back into the fold as the exclusive broker. "Alex is great to work with," said Brad Gerla, senior vice president at CBRE, last year. "He's very eager to do what needs to be done." In 2008, Niche relocated to a 45,000-square-foot headquarters space at 100 Church. By this March, Interactive Data Corp. signed a 15-year lease to relocate its New York offices to a 65,000-square-foot space there. The firm is moving more than 200 employees to the site by the fall, according to Richard Berzine, president of Richard Berzine & Company, who brokered the deal for the company. "We considered other spaces both in Midtown and in the Financial District," said Berzine. "We think the numbers we agreed to will hold up over the terms of the lease."
Courtesy of FGPR
