Izak Senbahar Explained

Izak Senbahar
Birth Place:	Istanbul, Turkey
Occupation:	Real estate developer
Spouse:	Sarah Senbahar (née Genske)
Children:	Alexi Senbahar Oliver Senbahar

Izak Senbahar is an entrepreneur, hotelier, and real estate developer. He is president of Alexico Group LLC, which is involved in luxury residential and hotel development.^[1] According to The Real Deal magazine, the combined value of the company’s projects in 2014 was approximately $2 billion.^[2]

Early life and education

Born to a Jewish family,^[3] he is the son of Fani and Sabatay Senbahar.^[4] Senbahar graduated from Lycée Saint Michel in Istanbul. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Catholic University of America, Washington D.C. and an MBA degree in Finance from NYU Stern School of Business.

Career

Before entering real estate, Senbahar worked as a precious metals trader at the New York City offices of Groupe Sucre et Denrées (SUCDEN), a French commodities broker.^[5] In the mid-1980s, he joined Kiska, a Turkish construction firm, to help the company establish itself in the New York real estate market.^[6] With Kiska, Senbahar oversaw the development of various properties including 353 Central Park West, a 19-story luxury condominium building.^[7] Subsequently, he partnered with Steven Elghanayan to develop the Elektra, a 32-story condominium in New York City’s Gramercy Park neighborhood; the building, completed in 1992, was later sold to Beth Israel Medical Center (now Mount Sinai Beth Israel).^[8] In 1993, Senbahar formed Alexico Group and joint ventured with Simon Elias to develop a number of projects.

Selected projects

• The Grand Beekman, 2003. This 89-unit luxury condominium at 400 East 51st Street was designed by Costas Kondylis & Partners.
• 165 Charles Street, 2004. Designed by Pritzker Prize–winning architect Richard Meier, the 16-story glass tower in Manhattan’s West Village neighborhood won the Housing Design Award from the American Institute of Architects New York chapter.^[9]
• The Laurel, 2008. At 400 East 67th Street, this 129-unit condominium was designed by Costas Kondylis & Partners with interiors by Brian Callahan.
• The Mark. Originally built in 1927, this Art Deco building at 25 East 77th Street houses a mix of hotel rooms/suites and cooperative apartments, a Frédéric Fekkai salon, a Jean-Georges restaurant, and a John Lobb Bootmaker kiosk. Its reimagined interiors are by Jacques Grange, known for his commissions for Yves Saint Laurent, Valentino, and Princess Caroline of Monaco. Many other designers and artists—including Eric Schmitt, Mattia Bonetti, Ron Arad, Guy de Rougement, Karl Lagerfeld, Todd Eberle, Patrice Dangel, Howard Spivak, Vladimir Kagan, Piero Lissoni, and Paul Mathieu—contributed to the project.^[10]
• In 2017 Bilanz magazine ranked The Mark Hotel as the Best City Hotel in the World. In 2020 Travel + Leisure Magazine The World’s Best Awards ranked The Mark Hotel; #1 Hotel in New York City and #1 City Hotel in The Continental U.S.
• 56 Leonard, completed in 2017. Designed by the Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron, this 60-story condominium tower stands 821 feet high and is the tallest building in Manhattan’s Tribeca neighborhood.
• 56 Leonard was awarded the 2017 Engineering Excellence National Recognition Award by ACEC and the 2017 Best Projects Winner in the Residential/Hospitality Category by Engineering News-Record. In 2019, 56 Leonard was named one of New York City’s 10 Most Important Buildings of the past decade by Curbed New York, a publication for American real estate and urban design.
• Senbahar released a commissioned a sculpture at 56 Leonard Street. The sculpture 48 feet long and 19 feet tall and weigh 40 tons cost Senbahar $8 million.^[11]

Cultural Depictions

Film and Television

Senbahar was featured in Season 1, Episode 1 of How Did They Build That?: Cantilevers & Lifts by the Smithsonian Channel. The show is centered on his 56 Leonard building in Tribeca, New York City.^[12]

Personal life

He is married to Sarah Genske;^[13] they have two children, Alexi and Oliver.^[14] In an interview with The Real Deal magazine, Senbahar said that he enjoys “drumming, percussion and bongos.”^[15]

Notes and References

1. AboutMe.com, Mann Report, “Committed to Building Remarkable Urban Homes.”
2. Katherine Clarke, “Izak Senbahar,” The Real Deal. Retrieved November 16, 2014.
3. http://www.haaretz.com/manhattan-transfer-1.160187 Haaretz: "Manhattan transfer - Joining the burgeoning wave of construction in the Big Apple these days are Israeli-born real-estate moguls, who are investing billions of dollars in high-profile structures of every stripe" By Haim Handwerker
4. https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE0D8133AF935A15754C0A9679D8B63 New York Times: "Paid Notice: Deaths - SENBAHAR, SABATAY
5. About Me. “Izak Senbahar.” Retrieved November 16, 2014.
6. Gawker, “Izak Senbahar.” Retrieved November 16, 2014.
7. Gawker. “Izak Senbahar.” Retrieved November 16, 2014.
8. Gawker. “Izak Senbahar.” Retrieved November 16, 2014.
9. American Institute of Architects. “AIA New York Chapter 2005 Housing Design Award Winners.” Retrieved December 1, 2014.
10. http://www.themarkhotel.com/pdf/The-Mark---Quest---August-28th-2014.pdf%20 “The Mark Hotel, So Glam!”
11. Web site: The Bean, Once Half, Is Now Whole. 2023-01-23. 2023-02-08.
12. Web site: how did they build that. 2023-02-08.
13. https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/18/classified/paid-notice-deaths-genske-william-backman.html New York Times: "Paid Notice: Deaths GENSKE, WILLIAM BACKMAN"
14. http://therealdeal.com/issues_articles/the-closing-with-izak-senbahar/ The Real Deal: "The Closing with Izak Senbahar" by Katherine Clarke
15. Katherine Clarke, “Izak Senbahar,” The Real Deal. Retrieved November 16, 2014.