William, Eric, Samantha and Michael Rudin

On a Monday night last July, just one month after Rudin celebrated its 100th anniversary as a company, a gunman walked into the family-run firm’s 345 Park Avenue and murdered four people. In the wake of this horrific tragedy, Rudin needed to find a way to mourn the losses while keeping the business moving forward.

“We are forever changed by the unthinkable tragedy of that day and will never stop mourning the lives lost. In the aftermath, the enduring culture that has always defined Rudin became the foundation we relied upon,” Samantha Rudin said in a statement to Commercial Observer. “We also received an outpouring of support from our community and beyond. We remain committed to ensuring that there is a bright, safe and healthy future for New York.”

Beyond the tragedy, Rudin had a very successful year on the business front.

The new generation of co-CEOs has split duties on the family’s 32-building, 13.1
million-square-foot portfolio, with Samantha leading multifamily and brother Michael heading up commercial office and alternative investment strategies. Both are children of William Rudin, who shares executive chairman duties with his cousin Eric Rudin.

Key endeavors for the Rudins currently include the construction of the 1.9 million-
square-foot office tower at 350 Park Avenue. The Rudins are developing the building in conjunction with Vornado and anchor tenant Citadel, which is taking slightly less than half of the building’s leasable space. Construction on the 62-floor, Norman Foster-designed supertall, located between East 51st and 52nd streets, recently commenced. 

In addition, 345 Park Avenue will receive 22,000 square feet of new food and beverage offerings, with television chef Cyril Lignac and D.ream International opening three outlets in the building. Among them is Franco-East Asian restaurant Bar des Prés, a contemporary French brasserie and an artisanal French bakery and café.

Rudin is also in the process of converting the 22-story 355 Lexington Avenue, which the family built in 1959, from office to residential.

“Every generation of leadership has faced its own unique set of challenges, and ours is no different,” Michael Rudin said in a statement to CO. “But our mandate remains the same one that has guided our company from the beginning: To be responsible stewards of the business our family has built, while creating a vision for the future and honoring a longstanding legacy with civic mindedness at our core.”