Rodney Propp is a New York-based real estate developer and co-founder of Tahl-Propp Equities.

Biography

Propp was born to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family, the son of Seymour Propp.New York Sun: "A Pioneer in Harlem Real Estate Reaps the Profits" By PRANAY GUPTE
June 2, 2005 His father gained majority control of the Quincy Mining Company and took it private. His grandfather was a Jewish immigrant from Lithuania who became rich selling Christmas tree lights. He earned a B.A. from

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learnin ...

and an M.B.A. from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

Tahl Propp Equities website
retrieved December 23, 2013 and also studied at the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 mill ...

and the

School of the Museum of Fine Arts The School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University (Museum School, SMFA at Tufts, or SMFA; formerly the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) is the art school of Tufts University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusett ...

in Boston. After school, he worked for the investment bank

Drexel Burnham Lambert Drexel Burnham Lambert was an American multinational investment bank that was forced into bankruptcy in 1990 due to its involvement in illegal activities in the junk bond market, driven by senior executive Michael Milken. At its height, it was ...

and then left to work for the family real estate business. In 1997, he left the family business after being prevented from expanding the family's investments in

SoHo Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develo ...

and founded Tahl Propp Equities with Joseph Tahl, former attorney for

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of ...

. They raised $15 million and bought 16 apartment buildings in Detroit and a 300,000-square-foot office building in St. Louis. After this first investment, they focused on investing in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Harl ...

, then overlooked by other real estate investors. They also own the 500,000 square foot 3 Gateway Center in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat, seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and the second largest city within the New Yo ...

. As of 2012, they owned 4 million square feet of residential and commercial real estate, including 3,500 units of housing in Harlem, with a focus on affordable housing. They own and operate 17 affordable housing developments in Harlem and Washington Heights and eight conventional rental buildings.Real Estate weekly: "Housing developers in it for the long haul" By Orlando Rodriguez
April 17, 2013 The two partners complement each other, with Tahl making the deals and Propp focusing on the financing. They are known for rarely selling their buildings, instead letting their value grow as Harlem gentrifies.

Philanthropy and accolades

Propp is a member of the

Real Estate Board of New York The Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) is "the leading trade group advocating on policy changes in the real estate industry," a trade association for the real estate industry in New York City. Formed in 1896, its current president is James W ...

, a lifetime member of the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

, and a director of specialty chemicals manufacturer, Peninsula Copper Industries. In 2008, he received the

Foundation for Ethnic Understanding The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding (FFEU) is a not-for-profit organization based in New York that focuses on improving Muslim–Jewish relations and Black–Jewish relations. FFEU was founded in 1989 by Rabbi Marc Schneier and theatrical p ...

's Joseph Papp Racial Harmony Award for his efforts to strengthen race relations in New York's Harlem community. He serves on the Real Estate & Allied Trades Executive Committee of the

United Jewish Appeal The United Jewish Appeal (UJA) was a Jewish philanthropic umbrella organization that existed from its creation in 1939 until it was folded into the United Jewish Communities, which was formed from the 1999 merger of United Jewish Appeal (UJA), ...

Federation in New York.

Personal life

Propp was married to Eleanor Heyman, daughter of American businessman

Samuel J. Heyman Samuel J. Heyman (March 1, 1939 – November 7, 2009) was an American businessman and hedge fund manager best known for his longtime chairmanship of the GAF Materials Corporation and International Specialty Products Inc. (ISP). Early life a ...

. They have since divorced. They have three children: Stella Propp, Juliette Propp, and Clara Propp.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Propp, Rodney 1965 births Jewish American philanthropists American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent American real estate businesspeople Businesspeople from New York City Tufts University alumni University of Chicago alumni Living people Philanthropists from New York (state) 21st-century American Jews