Sol Goldman

Sol Goldman, a Brooklyn-born grocer’s son, bought his first properties at age 16, scooping up foreclosures by offering $500 cash per building, his daughter Jane told TRD in a 2008 interview. “He got most of the money from going around the neighborhood, getting $50 from this one and $50 from that one,” she said. “That’s how he started.” In the 1950s, Goldman started buying properties with partner and friend Alex DiLorenzo, Jr. Together, the pair rode the city’s postwar economic boom, snapping up iconic structures like the Chrysler Building, which they bought in 1960. Goldman is legendary in industry circles for being a tough negotiator and a decisive investor. Goldman and DiLorenzo had a voracious appetite for acquisitions, which led brokers to bring them even more potential transactions, said George Ross, their attorney for about 10 years in the 1960s. “They were active buyers,” he said. “They built an empire, that is what they did, and they did it very well.” Their strategy was to buy properties, lease them out and almost never sell, Ross said. But the 1970s were more difficult. Foreclosure proceedings began on the Chrysler Building in 1975, and DiLorenzo died that same year. Despite these setbacks, Goldman continued buying properties on his own. Indeed, in 1983 he made a stunning 23 individual building purchases, and topped that in 1986 with 24, according to TRD’s research. In total, Goldman snapped up more than 600 New York City properties in the three decades before his death, including well-known buildings such as the Stanhope Hotel. That strategy paid off handsomely. Solil now has at least 245 buildings in Manhattan and at least 100 more in the outer boroughs. And according to TRD’s analysis of city Department of Finance records and court filings, the company’s Manhattan properties alone generate at least $150 million annually before taxes. According to TRD’s calculations, based on a 2.5 percent capitalization rate, the firm’s Manhattan holdings are worth some $6 billion. After Goldman’s death, Allan and Jane took over the company, which by then was called Solil Management — the combined names of Goldman and their mother, Lillian. (After a dramatic battle over his fortune — the estate was reportedly the largest ever brought before the New York Surrogate’s Court — it was settled out of court. Lillian died in 2002.) Two other children, Amy and Diane, are not actively involved in managing the company. Allan is now 70, and Jane is in her mid-50s. The two led the company together after their father’s death, but Allan now suffers from Parkinson’s disease and is less active. Jane now heads the company on a day-to-day basis, with Allan working “closely with her in an advisory capacity,” an inside source said.