Former NY REIT CEO In Talks To Join WeWork
Real estate veteran Wendy Silverstein, who took on the task of liquidating New York REIT as its president and CEO in 2016, is in talks to join WeWork. New York REIT's asset selloff is nearly complete.
As of yet, any position she might take at WeWork has not been specified by her or the company, Bloomberg reports, citing anonymous sources.
Recently WeWork raised about $400M in four funds to facilitate real estate investments, but it isn't clear whether Silverstein will be involved with those funds.
On Friday, Silverstein stepped down from her position at New York REIT, including membership on its board of directors. Her move came concurrently with the announcement that the company had sold the Viceroy Hotel on West 57th Street in Manhattan to Arden Group. The company will receive $41M for the property.
"With the sale of the Viceroy Hotel, the job that I set out to do at NYRT, namely the liquidation of the company's assets, will be substantially complete," Silverstein said in a statement.
Once the Viceroy Hotel deal closes, the only property still held by New York REIT will be a 50.1% interest in One Worldwide Plaza. The company sold a 48.7% stake in the Manhattan property to SL Green and RXR Realty last year.
Before joining New York REIT, Silverstein had been an executive at Vornado. Her various positions included vice president and co-head of acquisitions and capital markets. Throughout her career, she has also been on various corporate boards, including at Alexander's, TPG RE Finance Trust and Toys R Us.
