Jeff Sutton (real estate developer)
{{Short description|American real estate developer (born 1960)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Jeff Sutton
| image =
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption = Sutton in 2017
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1960}}
| birth_place =
| nationality = American
| education = University of Pennsylvania
| occupation = Real estate developer
| known_for = Founder of Wharton Properties
| spouse = Rachel Sutton
| children = 5
| parents =
| website =
}}
Jeff Sutton (born 1960) is an American billionaire real estate developer and the founder of Wharton Properties.{{Cite web |last=Sutton |first=Jeff |title=Wharton Properties Company |url=http://jeffsutton.com/pages/Company |access-date=November 9, 2023 |website=Wharton Properties (jeffsutton.com)}} In August 2024, his net worth was estimated at $2.7 billion by Forbes.{{Cite web |title=Jeff Sutton |url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/jeff-sutton/ |access-date=2024-08-20 |website=Forbes |language=en}}
Early life
Jeff Sutton was born into a Syrian Jewish family,{{Cite web|first=Adam |last=Pincus |authorlink= |title= Clans with plans |publisher=The Real Deal|date= February 1, 2011|url=https://therealdeal.com/issues_articles/clans-with-plans/ |via=The Wayback Machine|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304075701/https://therealdeal.com/issues_articles/clans-with-plans/| archive-date=March 4, 2016|quote= }}{{Cite news|first= Adam|last=Pincus |authorlink= |title= The Syrian retail touch - An inside look at the Syrian Jewish investors dominating NYC retail — from Sutton to Sitt, including how much revenue they're pulling in |newspaper=The Real Deal|date=January 1, 2014 |url=http://therealdeal.com/issues_articles/the-syrian-retail-touch/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120155042/https://therealdeal.com/issues_articles/the-syrian-retail-touch/| archive-date=January 20, 2021}} in Gravesend, Brooklyn. His father was an importer of retail goods.[http://observer.com/2011/08/suttons-place-finding-the-king-of-new-york-retail/ New York Observer: "Sutton’s Place: Finding the King of New York Retail" By Tom Acitelli] August 24, 2011 In 1981, he graduated with a B.A./B.S. from the University of Pennsylvania.{{cite web |title=Forbes profile: Jeff Sutton |url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/jeff-sutton/ |website=Forbes |accessdate=10 November 2019}}
Career
Wanting to get into New York real estate and lacking the funding to compete with established real estate families (e.g. Dursts, Roses, Fishers, Rudins, Tishmans, and the Lefraks), Sutton took a different tack: he would first find a potential tenant, determine where they wanted a store, and then seek to buy out the lease from the tenant at the location. In some cases, he would buy out the landlord using the signed lease as support to secure financing in order to buy the property.Adam Pincus, [http://therealdeal.com/issues_articles/hiding-in-plain-sight/ "Hiding in plain sight - Jeff Sutton's buildings are everywhere and his portfolio may be worth $1 billion, but you'd never know it"], therealdeal.com, December 1, 2010
In the early 1990s, his strategy worked with Payless Shoes in upper Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Queens. In the late 1990s, he applied the same approach with CVS Pharmacy in lower Manhattan partnering with New York City's largest landlord, SL Green Realty. Sutton emphasizes securing triple-A national retail chains as tenants.[http://www.jeffsutton.com/pages/Company Wharton Properties website]; retrieved November 2, 2013.
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Significant properties include:
- the American Eagle Outfitters store at the corner of Broadway and Houston Street;
- 717 Fifth Avenue with the Armani flagship store;
- 720 Fifth Avenue with the Abercrombie & Fitch store;
- 609 Fifth Avenue with the American Girl store;
- 1551 Broadway in Times Square with the American Eagle Outfitters flagship store;
- 1515 Broadway with the Aeropostale lease;
- 141 Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron Building with the Cole Haan store;
- 379 West Broadway with the Polo Ralph Lauren store;
- 747 Madison Avenue with the Valentino flagship store; and
- 1552 Broadway, the site of the Times Square T.G.I. Friday's.
As of 2013, Wharton Properties owned 120 properties throughout New York City.[http://mkcresummit.com/ Massey Knakal website: "4th Annual Massey Knakal CRE Investment Summit - Keynote Speaker: Jeff Sutton"] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20131104093412/http://mkcresummit.com/ |date=November 4, 2013 }} retrieved November 2, 2013
Personal life
Sutton and his wife, Rachel, have five children. In June 2013, he purchased a residential property in Deal, New Jersey for $22.6 million.{{Cite web|url=https://virtualglobetrotting.com/map/jeff-suttons-house/view/google/|title = Jeff Sutton's House in Deal, NJ (Google Maps)|date = June 5, 2014}}
[http://www.thesephardiccommunityalliance.org/resources/ImageArticle-2009-09.pdf The Sephardic Community Alliance: "Building our Future by Preserving the Past"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402102509/http://www.thesephardiccommunityalliance.org/resources/ImageArticle-2009-09.pdf |date=April 2, 2015 }} September 2009
References
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Category:American businesspeople in real estate
Category:American people of Syrian-Jewish descent
Category:Businesspeople from New York City
Category:People from Gravesend, Brooklyn
Category:University of Pennsylvania alumni
Category:American billionaires
Category:Syrian businesspeople
Category:American people of Syrian descent