Aby Rosen (born May 16, 1960) is a German and American real estate tycoon living in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He co-founded RFR Holding, which owns a portfolio of 93 properties valued over $15.5 billion in cities including

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, and

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

. Highlights include the

Seagram Building The Seagram Building is a skyscraper at 375 Park Avenue, between 52nd Street (Manhattan), 52nd and 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Streets, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe along with P ...

, W

South Beach South Beach, also nicknamed colloquially as SoBe, is a Neighborhoods of Miami Beach, Florida, neighborhood in Miami Beach, Florida. It is located east of Miami between Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The area encompasses Miami Beach south ...

, The Jaffa Tel Aviv,

Gramercy Park Hotel Gramercy Park Hotel was a luxury hotel located at 2 Lexington Avenue, in the Gramercy Park neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, adjacent to the park of the same name. It was known for its rich history. Originally opened in 1925, the hotel c ...

Paramount Hotel The Paramount Hotel (formerly the Century-Paramount Hotel) is a hotel in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States. Designed by architect Thomas W. Lamb, the hotel is at 235 West 46t ...

, and Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, among other properties. Rosen is also a member of, a founding investor in, and the landlord of the

CORE Club The CORE Club (styled Core:) is a private members' club in New York City. It was founded in 2005 by Jennie Enterprise with funding from the property developer Aby Rosen. From 2005 to 2022 the CORE Club was based at 66 East 55th Street in Manhatt ...

in New York. Rosen is a noted collector of

modern Modern may refer to: History *Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Philosophy ...

and

contemporary art Contemporary art is a term used to describe the art of today, generally referring to art produced from the 1970s onwards. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a ...

, owning more than 800 postwar pieces, including 100-plus works by

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...

. His collection includes pieces by

Jean-Michel Basquiat Jean-Michel Basquiat (; December 22, 1960 – August 12, 1988) was an American artist who rose to success during the 1980s as part of the neo-expressionism movement. Basquiat first achieved notoriety in the late 1970s as part of the graffiti ...

Alexander Calder Alexander "Sandy" Calder (; July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976) was an American sculptor known both for his innovative mobile (sculpture), mobiles (kinetic sculptures powered by motors or air currents) that embrace chance in their aesthetic, hi ...

Damien Hirst Damien Steven Hirst (; né Brennan; born 7 June 1965) is an English artist and art collector. He was one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United Kingdom's richest ...

Richard Prince Richard Prince (born August 6, 1949) is an American painter and photographer. In the mid-1970s, Prince made drawings and painterly collages that he has since disowned. His image ''Untitled (Cowboy)'', a photographic reproduction of a photograph ...

and

Jeff Koons Jeffrey Lynn Koons (; born January 21, 1955) is an American artist recognized for his work dealing with popular culture and his sculptures depicting everyday objects, including balloon animals produced in stainless steel with mirror- finish s ...

.''ArtNews'': "200 Top Collectors 2013"
/ref>

Early life

Rosen was born in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

, in 1960, the son of

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

Holocaust survivors Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no universall ...

.''The New York Times'': "SQUARE FEET: THE INTERVIEW -- WITH ABY ROSEN; A Taste for Timing, And Confrontational Art" By TERI KARUSH ROGERS
August 14, 2005 His mother, Anni, spent

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

hiding in a Belgian farmhouse, while his father, Isak, was held in

concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...

s in Germany and occupied Poland. After the war, Anni became a painter and Isak a real estate developer. Rosen attended local schools before going to

Goethe University Frankfurt Goethe University Frankfurt () is a public research university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealthy and active liberal citizenry of Frankfurt ...

, where he graduated with a business degree. His parents moved to Israel by the 1990s, living in

Career

In 1987, Rosen moved to

. He apprenticed at a real estate brokerage firm selling properties to

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

investors.

Real estate holdings

In 1991, he founded the partnership RFR Holding LLC with his childhood friend Michael Fuchs, also a son of Holocaust survivors. The real estate market was in a downturn at the time, but they had access to capital, initially using properties they owned in Germany as collateral. Later they leveraged their access to German investors. Their strategy was to purchase large, vacant office buildings in need of an upgrade and then refurbish them to high standards. In the 15 years after RFR Holding was established in 1991, Rosen acquired a large portfolio of office buildings, including the

, purchased for $375 million from the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association in 2000, and

Lever House Lever House is a office building at 390 Park Avenue in the Midtown East neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Constructed from 1950 to 1952, the building was designed by Gordon Bunshaft and Natalie de Blois of Skidmore, Owings & Merr ...

. In 2006, Rosen partnered with

Ian Schrager Ian Schrager (born July 19, 1946) is an American entrepreneur, hotel manager, hotelier and real estate developer, credited for co-creating the "boutique hotel" category of accommodation. Originally, he gained fame as co-owner and co-founder of S ...

, a longtime friend and co-founder of

Studio 54 Studio 54 is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater and former nightclub at 254 West 54th Street (Manhattan), 54th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York, U.S. Opened as the Gallo Opera House in 1927, it served ...

, to transform the 123-year-old

with minimalist architect

John Pawson John Ward Pawson , (born 1949, Halifax, England) is a British autodidact designer whose work is known for its minimalist aesthetic. Biography Pawson was born and brought up in Halifax, Yorkshire, the youngest of five children. Coming from a w ...

. In 2014, they put the hotel on the market for $260 million, after completing a four-year, $200 million renovation. In 2006, Rosen announced plans to develop the site at 610 Lexington Avenue in NYC (directly behind the Seagram Building) into a glass hotel and condominium tower to be designed by

Sir Norman Foster Norman Robert Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank (born 1 June 1935) is an English architect. Closely associated with the development of high-tech architecture, Lord Foster is recognised as a key figure in British modernist architecture. His ...

Lever House Art Collection

The Lever House Art Collection is a collection of works commissioned by Rosen for display at the

. It is curated by Richard Marshall, an art historian and associate curator for the

Whitney Museum The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...

. The Lever House Art Collection was inaugurated in 2004 featuring a work by Jorge Pardo. Other works have included ''Bride Fight'' by E.V. Day, ''Hulks'' by

, and ''Hello Kitty'' by Tom Sachs.

Outside the United States

Rosen and Fuchs hold a large real estate portfolio in Germany, especially in Frankfurt. In early

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, they bought the headquarters building of the European Central Bank. The company also owns the Swift Haus

Jungfernstieg The Jungfernstieg () is an urban promenade in Hamburg, Germany. It is the city's foremost boulevard. Location Jungfernstieg mostly lies within the quarter of Neustadt; however at its easternmost it stretches as far as Hamburg-Altstadt. In to ...

in Hamburg.

Other activities

* Phillips, de Pury and Company, Member of the Advisory Board (since 2005).

Personal life

Rosen has been married twice. In 1991, he married Elizabeth Mina Wechsler in a Jewish ceremony at

The Pierre The Pierre is a luxury hotel located at 2 61st Street (Manhattan), East 61st Street, at the intersection of that street with Fifth Avenue, in Manhattan, New York City, facing Central Park. Designed by Schultze and Weaver, Schultze & Weaver, th ...

in Manhattan.New York Times: "Ms. Wechsler Has Wedding"
November 18, 1991 Before their separation in 2000 and divorce in 2004, they had two sons.''New York Magazine'': "The Art and the Deal" By Phoebe Eaton
February 24, 2008 In 2005, Rosen married Samantha Boardman, a psychiatrist and socialite. She converted to Judaism. They have two children.

Personal residences

Rosen resides on the

Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the boroughs of New York City, borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded approximately by 96th Street (Manhattan), 96th Street to the north, the East River to the e ...

of Manhattan with his wife and their two children. The family summers in

Southampton, New York Southampton, officially the Town of Southampton, is a town in southeastern Suffolk County, New York, partly on the South Fork of Long Island. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the town had a population of 69,036. Southampton is included in the stre ...

, where they have a $21.5 million home. In 2011, Rosen bought the A. Conger Goodyear House in

Old Westbury, New York Old Westbury is a village in the towns of North Hempstead and Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 4,671 at the 2010 census. The Incorporated Village of Old Westbury ...

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

for $3.4 million. The house was designed and built in 1938 by

Edward Durell Stone Edward Durell Stone (March 9, 1902 – August 6, 1978) was an American architect known for the formal, highly decorative buildings he designed in the 1950s and 1960s. His works include the Museum of Modern Art, in New York City; the Parliament H ...

in the

International Style The International Style is a major architectural style and movement that began in western Europe in the 1920s and dominated modern architecture until the 1970s. It is defined by strict adherence to Functionalism (architecture), functional and Fo ...

for

Anson Conger Goodyear Anson Conger Goodyear (June 20, 1877 – April 24, 1964) was an American manufacturer, businessman, author, and philanthropist and member of the Goodyear family. He is best known as one of the founding members and first president of the Museum of ...

, the first president of the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

. Rosen completed a several-year renovation of the property. He keeps many of his important pieces of art there, including ''The Virgin Mother'', a 13-ton, 33-foot-high bronze sculpture by

of a pregnant woman with peeled skin and an exposed fetus. Rosen is reported to own a $36 million vacation home in

Saint Barthélemy Saint Barthélemy, officially the Collectivité territoriale de Saint-Barthélemy, also known as St. Barts (English) or St. Barth (French), is an overseas collectivity of France in the Caribbean. The island lies about southeast of the island ...

.''New York Magazine'': "How Aby Rosen Brokered the Marriage Between Art and Real Estate"
/ref> Rosen holds an annual dinner party at the W South Beach during

Art Basel Art Basel is a for-profit, privately owned and managed, international art fair staged annually in Basel (Switzerland), Miami Beach (US), Hong Kong and Paris. Art Basel provides a platform for galleries to show and sell their work to buyers, an ...

, attended by a mix of celebrities and business leaders.''Women's Wear Daily'': "Aby Rosen Holds Annual Art Basel Dinner"
/ref>

References

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rosen, Aby 1960 births Living people Businesspeople from Frankfurt American people of German-Jewish descent American businesspeople in real estate Emigrants from West Germany to the United States 20th-century German Jews American art collectors Jewish art collectors 21st-century American Jews