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By: Tanni Kahane
Stefan Soloviev is one of the largest landowners in the United States, according to Bloomberg, with a portfolio that includes New Mexico farmland and Manhattan skyscrapers. Soloviev is in it for the “long game,” he tells Urban Land magazine. The 49-year old’s portfolio also includes Van Goghs, Basquiats and Cezannes he inherited from his father, Sheldon Solow. (Stefan adopted the Russian spelling of the family name). Soloviev is somewhat of an enigma, even in the real estate world, according to the Real Deal. While not abandoning office towers, Soloviev is fond of farm tracts, oftentimes bringing his 7-year old son, Quintin, to talk land deals with farmers. “They wouldn’t trust me at first, but then I would bring the blond kid in,” he tells the New York Post.
Unlike his father, Soloviev holds a diverse portfolio. This may be due in part to the massive amounts of commercial real estate he had to sell upon his father’s death due to the tax bills. Soloviev remains committed to Manhattan office space while also looking to grow grain on Midwestern farms. His holdings expand beyond that as well.
People have asked about Soloviev’s $500 million art collection, but he’s not selling because he knows how much people want it, according to the Post. However, Soloviev has made the collection open to the public at the Soloviev Foundation’s museum in the family’s trophy tower at 9 West (the 50-story Solow Building at 9 West 57th Street). The skyscraper has over 1.6 million square feet and is exclusively managed by CBRE. The Solow Building boasts a nearly 100% occupancy rate, according to the Post. It’s one of the Soloviev Group’s most profitable assets, the businessman told the Real Deal in a rare public interview last year. But his priority remains “the farmers.”
Soloviev holds his cards close, sitting on massive holdings and rarely appearing for interviews. Soloviev, whose net worth is $2.3 billion, according to Forbes, is a patient real estate tycoon. He is keeping 9 West and an undeveloped site in Midtown East he calls “Freedom Plaza” where he hopes to develop a casino (providing he can obtain a license). Freedom Plaza is an old Con Edison site that has been in the family for years. Soloviev used to hang out there as a teenager.
Soloviev has had no problem to wait and see what the “best thing” would be to do with the site, he told The Real Deal. He calls the casino plans “beautiful and unique.” “If I don’t build a casino, someone else will,” he says. According to the plans, there will be a hotel, an underground casino, a 5-acre soccer park, entertainment, 1,700 apartments, 37% of which will be rent-controlled.
Stefan Soloviev is one of the largest landowners in the United States, according to Bloomberg, with a portfolio that includes New Mexico farmland and Manhattan skyscrapers According to the Post, Soloviev has a metal mine in Nevada and a hydroponic plant in Canada that’s being developed. He also has orange groves in upstate New York as well as stores in Delray Beach. Additionally, Soloviev owns Krissie farm, a vineyard named for his daughter. He could not call it Remy after another daughter due to the famous Oregon brand favored by rappers of the same name. Soloviev’s son Hayden heads the Atlantic Region of the family’s business while also attending NYU.
