{{Short description|American real estate developer (1882–1974)}} {{Use American English|date=March 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2026}} {{Infobox person | name = Joseph Durst | image = | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date|1882|1|15|mf=y}} | birth_place = Gorlice, Galicia, Austria-Hungary | birth_name = | death_date = {{death date and age |1973|12|31|1882|1|15|mf=y}} | death_place = New York, New York, U.S. | education = | occupation = Real estate developer | known_for = Founder of the Durst Organization | networth = | spouse = Rose Friedwald | parents = | children = 5, including Seymour Durst | relatives = Robert Durst (grandson)<br />Douglas Durst (grandson) | family = | website = }}
'''Joseph Durst''' (January 15, 1882 – December 31, 1973) was an American real estate developer, founder of the Durst Organization, and patriarch of the Durst family.<ref>{{Cite book |title=American Jews: Their Lives and Achievements ; a Contemporary Biographical Record |year=1947 |volume=1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Db0bAAAAIAAJ |access-date=2016-08-23 |archive-date=2019-12-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191215080546/https://books.google.com/books?id=Db0bAAAAIAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Early life== Born to a Jewish family, Durst immigrated to the US from Gorlice, Galicia, Austria-Hungary in 1902 with three dollars to his name.<ref>[https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704482704576072202098963980 Wall Street Journal "Taking the Helm to Change City Landscape"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190830012537/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704482704576072202098963980 |date=2019-08-30 }} January 10, 2011</ref> He worked as a tailor in New York City and in 1912, he became a full partner in the dress manufacturer, Durst & Rubin. Using the profits from his business, he invested in real estate, purchasing his first building in 1915, the Century Building (at 1 West 34th Street). In 1926, he acquired the original Temple Emanu-El (at 5th Avenue and 43rd Street)<ref name=DurstOrg /> from Benjamin Winter Sr.,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/49232241/ |via=Newspapers.com {{Open access}} |newspaper=The San Bernardino County Sun |title=N. Y. Church Site Sold for $7,000,000 for Skyscraper Use |date=December 15, 1926 |quote=Temple Emanu-El, at the north-cast corner of Forty-third street, conceded to be one of the most Valuable parcels of real estate of Its size In the world, has been sold to Joseph Durst, vice president of the Capital National bank, at a valuation of $7,000,000, almost $370 a square foot. Mr. Durst plans to erect a 40-story office building on the site when he gains possession In May, 1928. The temple was purchased from the congregation last January by Benjamin Winter, real estate dealer, for $6,500,000. |access-date=July 25, 2016 |archive-date=August 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160804083805/https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/49232241/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>[http://mcnyblog.org/tag/temple-emanu-el/ The Museum of the City of New York: "Temple Emanu-El" by Lauren Robinson] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105215454/http://mcnyblog.org/tag/temple-emanu-el/ |date=2013-11-05 }} October 11, 2011</ref> demolishing it in 1927 to build a commercial building. In 1927, he formed the Durst Organization.<ref name=NYT2>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/20/obituaries/seymour-b-durst-real-estate-developer-who-led-growth-on-west-side-dies-at-81.html |work=New York Times |title=Seymour B. Durst, Real-Estate Developer Who Led Growth on West Side, Dies at 81 |first=Alan S. |last=Oser |date=May 20, 1995 |access-date=February 10, 2017 |archive-date=July 9, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709140302/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/20/obituaries/seymour-b-durst-real-estate-developer-who-led-growth-on-west-side-dies-at-81.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Acquisitions and development== Thereafter, the Durst Organization continued to make selective acquisitions including: *In 1929, his first residential building (a 15-story building at Fifth Avenue and 85th Street);<ref name=DurstOrg /> *In 1936, the Park Hill Theater and store in Yonkers, New York;<ref name=DurstOrg /> *In 1944, 205 East 42nd Street.<ref name=DurstOrg />
Later he shifted the focus of the company from primarily real estate management to new construction and development. He assembled the parcels for and completed the following buildings (all of which the Durst Organization continues to own): *In 1958, a 29-story building at 200 East 42nd Street (655 Third Avenue);<ref name=DurstOrg /> *In 1961, the 24-story 733 Third Avenue;<ref name=DurstOrg /> *In 1966, the 32-story, 201 East 42nd Street (675 Third Avenue).<ref name=DurstOrg /> *In 1968, they purchased Henry Miller's Theatre (the theater was later demolished—although the facade was preserved—to build the Bank of America Tower) and the entire block facing Broadway between 44th and 45th Streets;<ref name=DurstOrg /> *In 1969, the 40-story 825 Third Avenue;<ref name=DurstOrg /> *In 1970, the 45-story 1133 Avenue of the Americas;<ref name=DurstOrg />
==Legacy== In 1973, Joseph Durst died and his son Seymour Durst took control of the company during the real estate crash of the 1970s.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/11/08/style/chronicle-502291.html|title=Chronicle|last=Daniels|first=Lee A.|date=November 8, 1991|work=The New York Times|access-date=2008-10-06|archive-date=2017-02-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170220060251/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/11/08/style/chronicle-502291.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The Durst family became one of the most established and prominent real estate families in New York City in the 20th century (along with the Roses, the Lefraks, the Rudins, and the Tisch family).<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/09/nyregion/09families.html |work=New York Times |title=In City Real Estate, Old Clans Are Shrewd Again |first=Charles V. |last=Bagli |date=February 8, 2010 |access-date=February 10, 2017 |archive-date=April 14, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170414184853/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/09/nyregion/09families.html |url-status=live }}</ref> {{As of|2012}}, the Durst Organization continues to be owned and operated by the third generation of the Durst family owning and managing more than 8.5 million square feet of Class A office space in Midtown Manhattan and over 1 million square feet of luxury residential rentals.<ref name=DurstOrg>[http://www.durst.org/about/timeline.php The Durst Organization: Timeline] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151225072549/http://www.durst.org/about/timeline.php |date=2015-12-25 }} retrieved July 8, 2012</ref>
==Personal life== Durst was married to Rose Friedwald; they had five children: Seymour, Roy, Alma, Edwin and David.<ref name=DurstOrg /><ref name=NYT2 /> Durst was active in the Jewish community, serving on the executive committee of the Jewish Education Association and as president of the Hebrew Free Loan Society of New York for 27 years.<ref name=DurstOrg /> Among his grandsons are screenwriter and director Peter Askin, convicted murderer Robert Durst, and head of the Durst Organization, Douglas Durst.
Durst died on New Year's Eve 1973 in his home, 1136 Fifth Avenue.<ref name="NYT obit">{{cite news |title=Joseph Durst, 92, Real Estate Man |date=January 2, 1974 |newspaper=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/01/02/archives/joseph-durst-92-real-estate-man-midtown-developer-diesled-hebrew.html |access-date=February 10, 2017 |archive-date=September 4, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190904211052/https://www.nytimes.com/1974/01/02/archives/joseph-durst-92-real-estate-man-midtown-developer-diesled-hebrew.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Durst, Joseph}} Category:1882 births Category:1973 deaths Category:American businesspeople in the real estate industry Category:Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to the United States Category:Jews from Austria-Hungary Joseph Category:People from Gorlice Category:Businesspeople from New York City Category:20th-century American businesspeople