Melissa Gliatta and Joseph Sitt
Chief operating officer; chief executive officer at Thor Equities
Last year's rank: 70
Thor Equities has been casting a wide net of late, from retail and industrial assets to a proposal that could change the face of a New York City neighborhood.
The company founded by Coney Island native Joe Sitt and steered by Melissa Gliatta is not only gunning for a casino license in the People’s Playground, but it has also made industrial investments in key port markets while signing retail leases in Lower Manhattan. Gliatta expects Thor’s response to the state’s request for casino proposals to hit the jackpot.
“We’re lucky because our project is the least impacted by [zoning and other barriers],” Gliatta said. “I think we believe that our project is the best project and Brooklyn is the best location. We are most excited about the fact that one of the key parameters that the state has established is that this must drive economic vibrancy and recovery.”
The ports of Southern California and Savannah, Ga., are two markets in particular that Thor has invested in since demand for industrial assets began to skyrocket.
“We’re really interested in acquiring more in the Southeast markets,” Gliatta said. “Savannah has really been the lead part, but we’ve also been active in other parts of Georgia. We did an acquisition in Adairsville, which is not near the port, but also a big hub outside of Atlanta. I think from that logistical standpoint, we’re seeing that the ports aren’t letting up anytime soon.”
In November 2022, for example, Thor added another 40-acre parcel to what is shaping up to be its 1.04 million-square-foot Gordon Logistics Center in Edison, N.J., adding the potential for 450,000 square feet of industrial development space.
Across the Hudson, SoHo is not only a strong retail leasing market for Thor, but it also seems to be where stable investments can be made and sold at a profit. For example, Thor sold 155 Mercer Street to a U.K.-headquartered family office linked to vacuum cleaner billionaire James Dyson for $60 million in March after acquiring it for $27 million and renovating it in 2013.
“Some of our greatest realizations have come out of SoHo and, even from a buying perspective, I would really like to acquire more in the area,” Gliatta said. “The truth of the matter is that even with COVID, the pricing wasn’t really impacted. It wasn’t like there were these flash sales or bargain basement prices on real estate.”
