Laurent Morali and Nicole Meyer

For Kushner Companies, a family-owned firm known for holding onto its multi-
family properties, 2021 was a year of great transitions.

The company sold 6,000 apartments and bought 8,000 residences. The shopping spree included a major expansion into the Southeast, one of the hottest multifamily markets in the country. 

“For us, real estate’s a very patient game,” Nicole Meyer, daughter of founder Charles Kushner, told Commercial Observer. “We’ve been doing this long enough that we’re able to see when pockets of opportunities open.” (Full disclosure: Meyer is married to CO Publisher and Observer Media Chairman Joseph Meyer.)

In all, Kushner Companies did $4 billion in transactions last year, which included approximately $2 billion in acquisitions, $1 billion in dispositions and $1 billion in recapitalizations. “Not too bad,” as Laurent Morali put it.

The developer now has 10,000 units in the pipeline, most of which will be delivered in the next four to five years. 

Amid the recent real estate rush to South Florida, Kushner was one of the first New York firms to spot the region’s rise, long before the pandemic. The organization bought sites in Miami’s Edgewater and Wynwood, now among the most sought-
after neighborhoods, three years ago. The mixed-use project in Wynwood is slated to open in September. 

In the executive ranks, Morali, who joined the company in 2008, was promoted to CEO, the first non-Kushner to hold the title, suggesting that the family-owned business is adopting an institutional structure. 

The partnership between president and CEO, so far, has been smooth. “We love working with one another,” Morali said. “We look forward to doing more great things together,” Meyer added.