Armed with a large battle chest from his late father—the pugnacious billionaire Sheldon Solow—Stefan Soloviev is vying to carve his personal identify into the brutal enterprise of New York Metropolis actual property.
This week, Soloviev, 47, publicly touted what is probably his most audacious gambit: a proposal to nab certainly one of three forthcoming on line casino licenses in New York, with a bid that contains a ferris wheel, lodge, and four-acre park.
The deliberate web site, close to the United Nations on the east aspect of Manhattan, “is the perfect location that anybody in Manhattan has by far,” Soloviev instructed The Every day Beast, swaggering the way in which builders do.
Rounding out the pitch, which might safe him a massively profitable stream of playing income, is an enticement for socially minded New Yorkers: a so-called “democracy museum” that can show segments of the Berlin Wall. The museum could be “devoted solely to the promotion of freedom of press, human rights, civil rights, [and] justice,” defined Soloviev Group CEO Michael Hershman, talking by cellphone from the generally repressive nation of Qatar, the place he was attending the World Cup.
The New York State Gaming Fee wouldn’t touch upon Soloviev’s proposal. One member of the state’s Gaming Facility Location Board, Vicki Been, instructed The Every day Beast that functions haven’t formally opened, which means that at this level, Soloviev and his opponents are primarily vying for public consideration.
Proposals from different events, together with in Instances Sq., Coney Island, and billionaire Stephen Ross’ Hudson Yards, are additionally on the desk, with others certainly to come back. Bloomberg beforehand reported on the existence of Soloviev’s pitch.
Marc Edelman, an skilled in gaming regulation on the Zicklin College of Enterprise at Baruch Faculty, stated the state’s choice might merely hinge on which internet sites will generate probably the most tax income. He additionally expressed doubt that neighborhoods close to the U.N. might deal with a large inflow of crowds.
“One might moderately query whether or not putting a on line casino in any a part of Manhattan apart from maybe Instances Sq. could be creating extra chaos and hurt to the group than profit,” he stated.
John Wolohan, professor of sports activities regulation at Syracuse College, was barely extra optimistic. Whereas he known as Manhattan a “laborious pitch,” owing partially to excessive land prices, he famous {that a} on line casino “could possibly be seen as a golden alternative to convey extra individuals to the town” within the wake of the pandemic.
Soloviev inherited his dad’s affinity for creating wealth and shutting offers. “I’ve traded commodities since I used to be a child,” he stated. “I began with forex, moved into metals, and finally discovered my means into grains.” Later, he traveled to Wichita, Kansas, to purchase grain in the course of the summer time, which he held till winter, when costs have been greater.
At age 17, Soloviev began working together with his dad, at first merely parking automobiles. He enrolled on the College of Rhode Island within the early Nineties earlier than transferring nearer to residence “to attempt to play school soccer at St. John’s.” Whereas there, Soloviev joined the household enterprise full-time.
The household reunion proved short-lived. Soloviev and his father had “a falling out,” he recalled. Soloviev doubled down on his agriculture play, shopping for large swaths of land for as little as $250 per acre in Kansas, and finally in New Mexico, Colorado, and elsewhere. (In 2018, Land Report listed him because the Thirty third-biggest farmland proprietor in America, with greater than 325,000 acres.)
It’s simple to think about why the daddy and son clashed. Solow was infamously combative. As soon as, he went to battle towards a former buddy who had repaid a $7 million mortgage quicker than anticipated, which meant fewer years of curiosity funds for the businessman. Solow took the matter to court docket. If that weren’t sufficient, he reportedly tried to humiliate his previous pal by printing advertisements associated to the buddy’s chapter in each The New York Instances and the New York Publish.
A decide described Solow’s conduct on the time as “cheesy, shabby, base, low, malicious, petty, nasty, unsavory,” in accordance with The Instances. The billionaire misplaced the battle.
Solow—who at his peak, in 2019, was price $5.2 billion—was “a tricky cookie,” acknowledged Hershman, who has recognized the household for many years. That was true each in private and enterprise issues. When a tenant would strategy Solow to ask for one thing, Hershman stated, “the primary reply you’d get is ‘no.’”
However over time, Soloviev managed to patch issues up together with his dad, and he returned to the true property dynasty. His father saved a decent grip on the crown jewel of his portfolio, the Solow Constructing on West 57th Avenue, whereas Soloviev managed the residential property.
After Solow’s loss of life, the Soloviev Group remained a household affair. Stefan chairs the board, whereas his sons Quintin and Hayden function government vice chairman and vice chairman, respectively.
Even from his base in New York, Soloviev hasn’t given up his pastoral desires. He travels west roughly each three weeks to work on Crossroads Agriculture, the farming firm he based in 1999 and is constructing into an agriculture big that crops, transports, and sells its personal crops.
Within the brief time period, nonetheless, the on line casino pitch is more likely to garner extra consideration. In the intervening time, the Soloviev Group has approval just for a extra typical development plan on the positioning: a 1.2 million square-foot industrial constructing and three residential towers, Soloviev stated.
Chatting with The Every day Beast, he downplayed that proposal as simply “extra buildings.” The actual alternative, he continued, lies with the huge leisure complicated. Soloviev stated he couldn’t forecast how a lot income the on line casino would usher in, although Hershman claimed the undertaking would create over 2,000 jobs and generate no less than $100 million in new taxes for the town.
It’s a giant play, one that might assist Soloviev cement a definite public identification, which might be useful now that he’s attracted a number of the identical adverse consideration that shadowed his father. In December, Soloviev and his teenage son misplaced what seemed to be a frivolous lawsuit they filed after the son was allegedly bullied on a faculty journey. (The go well with is below enchantment.)
Quickly after, in January, Insider printed a protracted exposé depicting Soloviev as “erratic and hot-tempered,” that includes the memorable anecdote of a nanny descending a laundry chute to keep away from his wrath. (“I am profitable at every part that I do,” Soloviev instructed the outlet, referring to each his private {and professional} lives. “And if I wasn’t, I might change.”)
Hershman complimented his boss, describing Soloviev as way more philanthropic than Solow and praising his softer contact with tenants. In April, he famous, the Soloviev Basis introduced a $1 million donation to help Ukrainians impacted by the battle.
For his half, Soloviev insisted to The Every day Beast that he has nothing left to show, no want to tell apart himself from his dad.
“For eight years, I didn’t take a cent from him,” he stated. “‘I established my very own legacy.”
