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Louis Kestenbaum (born 1952) is an American real estate developer who is the founder and chairman of New York City-based Fortis Property Group.
Louis Kestenbaum | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1952 (age 71–72) |
| Occupation | Real Estate Developer |
| Known for | Founder of Fortis Property Group |
| Spouse | married |
| Children | Joel Kestenbaum |
| Parent | Zvi Kestenbaum |
| Website | fortispropertygroup |
Kestenbaum was born to a Hasidic Jewish family, the son of Rabbi Zvi Kestenbaum.[1] His father lost most of his family in the Holocaust[2] and founded the ODA Primary Health Care Network, a federally subsidized health care center that serves the Hasidic community in South Williamsburg.[3] He is a follower of the Satmar Hasidic dynasty.[2]
Kestenbaum operated a sportswear company.[4] 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. He used part of the building for his company and leased the remainder.[4] Kestenbaum later converted the building to apartments and tripled his rental income using the proceeds to buy other properties in the neighborhood.[4] He went on to develop Northside Piers in Williamsburg.[5]
In 2004, he co-founded the Fortis Property Group with his son and Jonathan Landau, a modern Orthodox Jewish attorney from Cleveland, Ohio.[5] Within two years, the company acquired over $3 billion in properties, primarily Class A office buildings in Dallas, Boston, and Norfolk, Connecticut.[5] In 2009, Kestenbaum purchased a portion of the real estate portfolio of prolific Brooklyn real estate developer Isaac Hager who declared bankruptcy.[6] 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.[3]
Development projects he has been involved with include:
- The redevelopment of Long Island College Hospital in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn.[7]
- 161 Maiden Lane[8]
His son, Joel Kestenbaum, works with him at Fortis.[9] Kestenbaum has continued the work of his father who restored more than 50 Jewish cemeteries in eastern Europe.[10]
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