Douglas Durst and Jody Durst

The Durst Organization has been doing one of the things it does better than most in its native New York and even nationally: leasing office space.

In fact, 2023 was the best year for leasing for the organization since 2018 with 1 million square feet of space transacting across the portfolio for the family business now run by Douglas Durst and Jonathan “Jody” Durst. That portfolio includes 13 million square feet of Class A office and retail.

Low office vacancies and higher rents at properties such as 825 Third Avenue, 1 World Trade Center, One Bryant Park and 151 West 42nd Street — the last three of which are between 95 and 100 percent leased — have become a source of pride for the cousins.

“At 825, for example, we were very focused on creating a beautiful amenity space and outdoor space on the 12th floor, which has proven to be a big selling point,” Jody Durst told Commercial Observer in April. “We were 35 percent pre-leased at that building, and we’re on the verge of announcing additional leases there.”

Durst is also seeing projects through in western Queens such as 3-24 27th Avenue, a 100 percent affordable housing development with 163 units in Astoria, as well as Halletts Point, which will eventually provide over 2,000 units of housing.

While some developers are holding back on new development due to political disagreement in Albany over housing and the effects of a replacement for the 421a development tax incentive, which expired in mid-2022, the Dursts believe it could be worse.

“We had a lot of difficulty with the previous [mayoral] administration at Halletts and have only felt comfortable starting up again under the Adams administration,” Douglas Durst said, referring to former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s City Hall. “They actually talk to us instead of lying to us. … They promised us certain benefits and misled us on the Housing New York Program, and at one point de Blasio singled me out as someone he did not cooperate with because of Halletts.”