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

Biography

Kestenbaum was born to a

Hasidic Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism (Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of contem ...

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 Rabbi Zvi Kestenbaum. His father lost most of his family in the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

and founded the ODA Primary Health Care Network, a federally subsidized health care center that serves the Hasidic community in South

Williamsburg Williamsburg may refer to: Places *Colonial Williamsburg, a living-history museum and private foundation in Virginia *Williamsburg, Brooklyn, neighborhood in New York City *Williamsburg, former name of Kernville (former town), California *Williams ...

. He is a follower of the Satmar Hasidic dynasty. Kestenbaum operated a sportswear company. 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 Williamsburg is a Neighborhoods in Brooklyn, neighborhood in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn, bordered by Greenpoint, Brooklyn, Greenpoint to the north; Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, Bedford–Stuyvesant to the s ...

. He used part of the building for his company and leased the remainder. Kestenbaum later converted the building to apartments and tripled his rental income using the proceeds to buy other properties in the neighborhood. He went on to develop Northside Piers in Williamsburg. In 2004, he co-founded the Fortis Property Group with his son and Jonathan Landau, a

modern Orthodox 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 Philosoph ...

attorney from

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. Within two years, the company acquired over $3 billion in properties, primarily Class A office buildings in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, and

Norfolk, Connecticut Norfolk () is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 1,588 at the 2020 census. The urban center of the town is the Norfolk census-designated place, with a population of 553 at the 2010 census. Norfolk is per ...

. In 2009, Kestenbaum purchased a portion of the real estate portfolio of prolific Brooklyn real estate developer

Isaac Hager Isaac Hager is an American real estate developer who founded the New York City-based Cornell Realty Management. Biography Isaac "Itzy" Hager was born in the 1970s and belongs to the Vizhnitz Hasidic Jewish community based in Williamsburg, Brook ...

who declared bankruptcy. Initially focusing on smaller projects and asset purchases, in the early 2010s, he began a ground-up development. Since its founding, Fortis has acquired or developed more than $3 billion of commercial real estate across the United States.

Projects

Development projects he has been involved with include: *The redevelopment of Long Island College Hospital in

Cobble Hill, Brooklyn Cobble Hill is a neighborhood in the northwestern portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. A small neighborhood comprising 40 blocks, Jackson, Kenneth T., and Kasinitz, Philip. "Cobble Hill" in Cobble Hill sits adjacent to Brooklyn He ...

. *

161 Maiden Lane 161 Maiden Lane (also known as One Seaport, 1 Seaport, or Seaport Residences) is a 670 ft (205 m) tall residential skyscraper on hold in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City. The building leans to the north as a result of ...

Personal life

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kestenbaum, Louis 1952 births Living people Businesspeople from New York City American Hasidim Satmar Hasidim American real estate businesspeople