Tripti Joshi (Editor)

Izak Senbahar

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Nationality
  
United States

Ethnicity
  
Jewish


Occupation
  
real estate developer

Name
  
Izak Senbahar

Izak Senbahar The 30Minute Interview Izak Senbahar The New York Times

Born
  
March 21, 1959 (age 65) (
1959-03-21
)
Istanbul, Turkey

Spouse(s)
  
Sarah Senbahar (nee Genske)

Children
  
Alexi SenbaharOliver Senbahar

Residence
  
New York City, New York, United States

Izak Senbahar (born March 21, 1959, in Istanbul, Turkey) is an entrepreneur, hotelier, and real estate developer. He is president of Alexico Group LLC, which is involved in luxury residential and hotel development. According to The Real Deal magazine, the combined value of the company’s projects in 2014 was approximately $2 billion.

Contents

Izak Senbahar Izak Senbahar Pictures The American Express Publishing

Early life and education

Izak Senbahar static01nytcomimages20130417business17INT

Born to a Jewish family, the son of Fani and Sabatay Senbahar, Senbahar studied at the French Lycée in Istanbul (Lycée français Pierre-Loti) and moved to the United States in 1977 to attend the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., earning a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering in 1981. He then attended New York University, receiving a master's degree in international finance in 1983.

Career

Izak Senbahar The Little Flower Children and Family Services Luncheon

Before entering real estate, Senbahar worked as a precious metals trader at the New York City offices of Groupe Sucre et Denrées (SUCDEN), a French commodities broker. In the mid-1980s, he joined Kiska, a Turkish construction firm, to help the company establish itself in the New York real estate market. With Kiska, Senbahar oversaw the development of various properties including 353 Central Park West, a 19-story luxury condominium building. Subsequently, he partnered with Steven Elghanayan to develop the Elektra, a 32-story condominium in New York City’s Gramercy Park neighborhood; the building, completed in 1992, was later sold to Beth Israel Medical Center (now Mount Sinai Beth Israel). In 1993, Senbahar formed Alexico Group and joint ventured with Simon Elias to develop a number of projects.

Selected projects

Izak Senbahar zak enbahar Manhattan39da 12 Gkdelen Dikti

  • The Grand Beekman, 2003. This 89-unit luxury condominium at 400 East 51st Street was designed by Costas Kondylis & Partners.
  • 165 Charles Street, 2004. Designed by Pritzker Prize–winning architect Richard Meier, this 16-story glass tower in Manhattan’s West Village neighborhood won the Housing Design Award from the American Institute of Architects New York chapter.
  • The Laurel, 2008. At 400 East 67th Street, this 129-unit condominium was designed by Costas Kondylis & Partners with interiors by Brian Callahan.
  • The Mark. Originally built in 1927, this Art Deco building at 25 East 77th Street houses a mix of hotel rooms/suites and cooperative apartments, a Frédéric Fekkai salon, a Jean-Georges restaurant, and a John Lobb shoe kiosk. Its reimagined interiors are by Jacques Grange, known for his commissions for Yves Saint Laurent, Valentino, and Princess Caroline of Monaco. Many other designers and artists—including Eric Schmitt, Mattia Bonetti, Ron Arad, Guy de Rougement, Karl Lagerfeld, Todd Eberle, Patrice Dangel, Vladimir Kagan, Piero Lissoni, and Paul Mathieu—contributed to the project.
  • 56 Leonard, scheduled for completion in 2015. Designed by the Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron, this 60-story condominium tower will stand 821 feet high and be the tallest building in Manhattan’s Tribeca neighborhood. Its cantilevered floors, extending outward from a central axis, give the building a jagged appearance. A sculpture by Anish Kapoor will stand at the building’s base. The sales office for the project, designed by Shelton, Mindel & Associates, won a professional design award from the Society of American Registered Architects. In an interview with Fox Business, Senbahar stated that at 56 Leonard, Alexico sold $700 million worth of residences in 10 weeks.

    • Personal life

    He is married to Sarah Genske; they have two children, Alexi and Oliver. In an interview with The Real Deal magazine, Senbahar said that he enjoys “drumming, percussion and bongos.” On January 1, 2014, The New York Post reported that at a New Year’s Eve party the night before, “Paul McCartney brought the house down by spontaneously jumping on stage to sing Wings’ tune ‘Goodnight Tonight’ and luxury developer Izak Senbahar accompanied him on bongos.” A self-described perfectionist, Senbahar stated in a New York Times interview, “I am working on many things in my personality—by the time I expire, I’ll be perfect.”

    References

    Izak Senbahar Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA