Henry Moskowitz (real estate investor)
{{Short description|Businessperson}}
{{For|the American activist|Henry Moskowitz (activist)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Henry Moskowitz
| image =
| caption =
| birth_date = 1905
| birth_place = Kielce, Poland
| birth_name =
| death_date = September 7, 2008
| nationality = American
| education =
| occupation = real estate investor
| known_for = founder of The Argo Corporation
| networth =
| spouse = Rose Moskowitz
| parents =
| children = Sonia Moskowitz
Jacob Moskowitz
Mark Moskowitz
Dan Moskowitz
| family =
}}
Henry Moskowitz (1905 – September 7, 2008) was a New York-based real estate investor and founder of the real estate management company The Argo Corporation. He also built and owned hotels in Israel.
Biography
Moskowitz was born to a Jewish family in Kielce, Poland.[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0DE7DA123AF93AA3575AC0A96E9C8B63 New York Times: "Paid Notice: Deaths MOSKOWITZ, HENRY] September 9, 2008 He lost his first wife, daughter, both parents, and a brother in the Holocaust.[http://nypress.com/a-man-who-wanted-to-build-not-retreat/ New York Press: "A MAN WHO WANTED TO BUILD, NOT RETREAT"] November 21, 2008 In December 1944, he was interned in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp.[http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/vha43751 USC Shoah Foundation Institute testimony of Henry Moskowitz] retrieved January 1, 2014 In 1948, he remarried in Germany to his second wife, Rose. They had two children in Germany, Sonia and Jacob. In 1951, the family immigrated to the United States, settling on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and had two more children: Dan and Mark. In 1952, pooling the assets of over 100 investors, many of them Holocaust survivors, he founded The Argo Corporation and began investing in real estate in New York City. The partnerships' early investments were all rentals and Argo was hired by the partnerships to manage them.[http://cooperator.com/articles/587/1/The-Argo-Corporation/Page1.html The Cooperator: "The Argo Corporation - A Full-Service Real Estate Team" By Barbara Wagner] November 2000 In 1955, he purchased the Ivy Hill Park Apartment complex in the Ivy Hill neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey;[http://www.prismpartners.net/pdf/news_njc_2008_08.pdf New Jersey & Company: "Juicy: Developers find "the Oranges" Ripe for Picking" By Katie Wagner] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102192125/http://www.prismpartners.net/pdf/news_njc_2008_08.pdf |date=2014-01-02 }} June 1, 2008 the complex consists of ten fifteen story buildings and is New Jersey's largest privately owned apartment complex.[http://www.ivyhillparkapts.com/ Ivy Hill Park Apartments website] retrieved January 1, 2014 Argo eventually converted most of its buildings in Manhattan into cooperative ownership during the 1960s and 1970s typically keeping the management contract thereafter.[https://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/21/nyregion/condominium-offering-plan-on-upper-west-side.html New York Times: "Condominium Offering Plan on Upper West Side" By RACHELLE GARBARINE] March 21, 1997 | Argo converted 14 properties to 2,048 cooperative units In the 1980s, they expanded into third party management of buildings. In 1997, he made his first condominium conversion. He also owned hotels in Israel.[http://www.jpost.com/PArticle.aspx?id=128421 Jerusalem Post: "Grapevine: Hooked on helping" by Greer Fay Cashman] January 8, 2009[http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/tel-aviv-still-turning-its-back-to-the-sea.premium-1.479704 Haaretz: "Tel Aviv, still turning its back to the sea" By Keshet Rosenblum] November 22, 2012[http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=1000003541 Globes Israel: "Henry Moskowitz buys Jerusalem’s Windmill Hotel outright" by Dalia Tal] August 21, 2005
He grew the business to become one of the largest independent real estate management companies in New York City. As of 2013, Argo owns 5,500 units and manages 6,500 units on behalf of condominiums and cooperatives.[http://www.argo.com/about-argo-management Argo Corporation website: "About Us"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131227093503/http://www.argo.com/about-argo-management |date=2013-12-27 }} retrieved December 26, 2013 In addition to management and the conversion of rental buildings to cooperatives and condominiums,[http://www.rew-online.com/2013/10/02/argo-named-nyarm-management-company-of-the-year/ Real Estate Weekly: "Argo named NYARM Management Company of the Year"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131227154550/http://www.rew-online.com/2013/10/02/argo-named-nyarm-management-company-of-the-year/ |date=2013-12-27 }} October 2, 2013 Argo continues to invest in building ownership and also will purchase individual unsold units in buildings for rental. His son, Mark Moskowitz, now runs the company. Moskowitz was known for not selling any of his buildings.[http://therealdeal.com/issues_articles/the-quiet-players/ The Real Deal: "The quiet players - Meet some New York City empire builders who shun the spotlight" By Gabby Warshawer] September 01, 2009
In 2008, the Broadway Mall Association dedicated the Henry Moskowitz North Mall in his honor.[http://www.nyinc.uber.matchbin.net/printer_friendly/8887070 New York Inc: "Upper West Side Mall Dedicated in Memory of Henry Moskowitz, Real Estate Pioneer"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131227122131/http://www.nyinc.uber.matchbin.net/printer_friendly/8887070 |date=2013-12-27 }} 2008[http://www.olr.com/Pictures/CompanyNews/402_Jan-2009.pdf Argo Residential News] JANUARY 2009 Moskowitz was a strong supporter of Israel. In 2010, the Square of Hope in the Garden of the Righteous Among the Nations at Yad Vashem was dedicated in his honor.[http://www.yadvashemusa.org/documents/Dinner_10_Invite.pdf The American & International Societies for Yad Vashem bulletin] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141216010829/http://www.yadvashemusa.org/documents/Dinner_10_Invite.pdf |date=2014-12-16 }} November 7, 2010[http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/pressroom/annual_reports/2010/pdf/annual_report.pdf Yad Vashem Annual Report 2010] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111106034408/http://www1.yadvashem.org/yv/en/pressroom/annual_reports/2010/pdf/annual_report.pdf |date=2011-11-06 }} retrieved January 1, 2013 He was also a supporter of the Givat Haviva Educational Institute in Israel[http://www.givathaviva.org.il/english/info/Annual0607.pdf Givat Haviva Educational Institute Annual Report 2007] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005074727/http://www.givathaviva.org.il/english/info/Annual0607.pdf |date=2013-10-05 }} retrieved January 1, 2014 and the USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education.[https://sfi.usc.edu/donate/list-of-donors USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education: List of Donors] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102191104/https://sfi.usc.edu/donate/list-of-donors |date=2014-01-02 }} retrieved January 1, 2014 In 1998, he was recognized by former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with the Foreign Investor Jubilee Award. Although raised Hassidic, after World War II, he practiced Modern Orthodox Judaism.
References
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Category:American businesspeople in real estate
Category:American real estate investors
Category:Businesspeople from New York City
Category:American Modern Orthodox Jews
Category:Sachsenhausen concentration camp survivors
Category:American real estate company founders
Category:Polish emigrants to the United States