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Henry Moskowitz (real estate investor)

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Henry Moskowitz
Born1905
Kielce, Poland
Died2008 (age 102)
NationalityUnited States
Occupationreal estate investor
Known forfounder of The Argo Corporation
SpouseRose Moskowitz
ChildrenSonia Moskowitz
Jacob Moskowitz
Mark Moskowitz
Dan Moskowitz
WebsitePrima Hotels Website
Argo Real Estate website

Henry Moskowitz (1905 – September 7, 2008) was a New York-based real estate investor and founder of the real estate management company The Argo Corporation. He also founded the Prima hotel chain in Israel.

Biography

Moskowitz was born to a Jewish family in Kielce, Poland.[1] He lost his first wife, daughter, both parents, and a brother in the Holocaust.[2] In December 1944, he was interned in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp.[3] In 1948, he remarried in Germany to his second wife, Rose. They had two children in Germany, Sonia and Jacob. In 1951, the family immigrated to the United States, settling on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and had two more children: Dan and Mark.[2] In 1952, pooling the assets of over 100 investors, many of them Holocaust survivors, he founded The Argo Corporation and began investing in real estate in New York City.[2] The partnerships' early investments were all rentals and Argo was hired by the partnerships to manage them.[4] In 1955, he purchased the Ivy Hill Park Apartment complex in the Ivy Hill neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey;[5] the complex consists of ten fifteen story buildings and is New Jersey's largest privately owned apartment complex.[6] Argo eventually converted most of its buildings in Manhattan into cooperative ownership during the 1960s and 1970s typically keeping the management contract thereafter.[4][7] In the 1980s, they expanded into third party management of buildings.[4] In 1997, he made his first condominium conversion.[7] He also founded the Prima chain of hotels in Israel.[8][9][10]

He grew the business to become one of the largest independent real estate management companies in New York City. As of 2013, Argo owns 5,500 units and manages 6,500 units on the behalf of condominiums and cooperatives.[11] In addition to management and the conversion of rental buildings to cooperatives and condominiums,[12] Argo continues to invest in building ownership and also will purchase individual unsold units in buildings for rental.[4] His son, Mark Moskowitz now runs the company.[12] Moskowitz was known for not selling any of his buildings.[13]

In 2008, the Broadway Mall Association dedicated the Henry Moskowitz North Mall in his honor.[14][15] Moskowitz was a strong supporter of Israel.[11] In 2010, the Square of Hope in the Garden of the Righteous Among the Nations at Yad Vashem was dedicated in his honor.[16][17] He was also a supporter of the Givat Haviva Educational Institute in Israel[18] and the USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education.[19] In 1998, he was recognized by former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with the Foreign Investor Jubilee Award. Although raised Hassidic, after World War II, he practiced Modern Orthodox Judaism.[3]

References

  1. ^ New York Times: "Paid Notice: Deaths MOSKOWITZ, HENRY September 9, 2008
  2. ^ a b c New York Press: "A MAN WHO WANTED TO BUILD, NOT RETREAT" November 21, 2008
  3. ^ a b USC Shoah Foundation Institute testimony of Henry Moskowitz retrieved January 1, 2014
  4. ^ a b c d The Cooperator: "The Argo Corporation - A Full-Service Real Estate Team" By Barbara Wagner November 2000
  5. ^ New Jersey & Company: "Juicy: Developers find "the Oranges" Ripe for Picking" By Katie Wagner June 1, 2008
  6. ^ Ivy Hill Park Apartments website retrieved January 1, 2014
  7. ^ a b New York Times: "Condominium Offering Plan on Upper West Side" By RACHELLE GARBARINE March 21, 1997 | Argo converted 14 properties to 2,048 cooperative units
  8. ^ Jerusalem Post: "Grapevine: Hooked on helping" by Greer Fay Cashman January 8, 2009
  9. ^ Haaretz: "Tel Aviv, still turning its back to the sea" By Keshet Rosenblum November 22, 2012
  10. ^ Globes Israel: "Henry Moskowitz buys Jerusalem’s Windmill Hotel outright" by Dalia Tal August 21, 2005
  11. ^ a b Argo Corporation website: "About Us" retrieved December 26, 2013
  12. ^ a b Real Estate Weekly: "Argo named NYARM Management Company of the Year" October 2, 2013
  13. ^ The Real Deal: "The quiet players - Meet some New York City empire builders who shun the spotlight" By Gabby Warshawer September 01, 2009
  14. ^ New York Inc: "Upper West Side Mall Dedicated in Memory of Henry Moskowitz, Real Estate Pioneer" 2008
  15. ^ Argo Residential News JANUARY 2009
  16. ^ The American & International Societies for Yad Vashem bulletin November 7, 2010
  17. ^ Yad Vashem Annual Report 2010 retrieved January 1, 2013
  18. ^ Givat Haviva Educational Institute Annual Report 2007 retrieved January 1, 2014
  19. ^ USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education: List of Donors retrieved January 1, 2014
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