New York-based developer LeFrak has named Adam Silfen as president and chief operating officer as the firm seeks to expand its residential portfolio across the U.S.
Silfen, 49, is the first non-family member to join LeFrak’s office of the chairman in its 120-year history, according to a statement Thursday. Silfen will oversee operations as the developer enters new markets such as ones in the Southeast. He’ll work alongside Executive Chairman Richard LeFrak and LeFrak’s sons, Harrison and Jamie, who are vice chairmen.
Silfen was previously a senior managing director in charge of acquisitions and capital markets. He started his career at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. before joining LeFrak in 2003. He left in 2007 to start a distressed-debt workout firm, then returned to LeFrak in 2013.
“Adam’s appointment is a significant milestone for our company and a recognition of his great talent,” Richard LeFrak said in the statement. “We’ve grown significantly over the past 20 years and need more senior hands on deck.”
LeFrak owns and manages properties concentrated in the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area, South Florida and the West Coast and has added more than 3,000 market-rate apartments in the past decade. The firm has nearly 1,500 residential units under development along with undeveloped land in New Jersey and Florida that could accommodate as many as 16,000 rental homes.
The company is particularly bullish on markets in North Carolina, Tennessee and southeast Florida, Silfen and Richard LeFrak said in an interview. The firm benefits from the fact that the money comes from LeFrak family wealth, meaning the business doesn’t have to rely on outside investors and can choose the right moments to seize on opportunities, Silfen said.
“I’m not a fund, I am the fund,” Richard LeFrak said.
