Kenneth Griffin

It could be argued that Ken Griffin is single-handedly keeping some corners of the real estate market humming. 

At a time when offices have become one of the most beleaguered asset classes, the billionaire founder of hedge fund Citadel and its sister trading firm Citadel Securities has vowed to build new posts for his companies. The pledge has given real estate magnates much hope.  

In New York, Griffin has partnered with Vornado Realty Trust and Rudin Management to master lease two towers in Midtown and potentially develop another site into a 1.7 million-square foot office tower, where Citadel will occupy 850,000 square feet. The deals came as Vornado paused plans to turn the area around Penn Station into a vast office campus.

In Miami, the financial juggernaut is in the early stages of developing an office high-rise as its global headquarters, away from Chicago, where it was based for over two decades. It paid $363 million last year for the vacant waterfront site — then a record for land acquisitions in the city. In the meantime, Citadel is paying one of the highest rates in Miami to lease 90,000 square feet at 830 Brickell. 

On the residential front, Griffin has long been snapping up trophy properties — seemingly keeping the luxury condo market bouncing along, too. 

Starting in 2019, he paid $238 million for a penthouse along New York’s 59th Street, facing Central Park — which at the time was the most expensive home purchase in the country. He continued his shopping spree in Miami over the past two years, purchasing two waterfront mansions and nearby parcels for just over $200 million. The home purchases were, of course, records. 

His oceanfront assemblage in Palm Beach, where Griffin plans to erect a compound, has cost more than $450 million. 

All these deals may sound expensive, but Griffin is flush with cash. Despite the market downturn last year, Citadel made $16 billion in profit last year, marking the largest annual gain by a hedge fund firm — ever.