El-Ad Group, (El Ad US Holding, Inc.) is a real estate development conglomerate based in Israel. Among its subsidiaries is New York City-based Elad Properties, which owns several landmark properties in that city and in May 2007 purchased the New Frontier Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada for a record $1.2 billion. The ElAd Group is a subsidiary of Delek Group, owned by Yitzhak Tshuva, a self-made businessman with assets around $4 billion. Tshuva was listed at No. 214 on the Forbes list of the world's wealthiest people in 2007, up from 382nd just a year earlier.[1]
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ElAd Group, run by CEO Amos Kol,[2] focuses on IT, one of the leading companies in the Israeli IT market since 1982.[3] Elad Hotels Ltd. took a controlling interest in the 6-hotel Sheraton Moriah Israel hotel chain.
Elad Properties is a real estate developer based in New York City, with extensive holdings in the United States, primarily New York City. The flagship property of Elad Properties, New York, is the Plaza Hotel on Central Park South, bought by ElAd affiliate CPS One LLC,[4] and reopened March 1, 2008. ElAd Properties is run by CEO and President Miki Naftali.
Established in 2004 to spearhead expansion into the southeast, El Ad National Properties began as an affiliation between El Ad Group Florida and El Ad Group Canada, and today runs properties in ten states with a focus on the south, the Midwest and northeastern United States. 55% of Elad National Properties' portfolio are rentals. Through a joint venture, El Ad National Properties controls Element National Management, a property management company.[5]
In 2007, the company expanded its holding in Los Angeles, purchasing land between Beverly Hills and Westwood as part of a $330 million development deal.[6]
Miki Naftali is President and CEO of the New York- headquartered Elad Group (and its subsidiary, Elad Properties), a leading New York and international developer and owner of prime residential and commercial real estate, including an impressive and growing multi-billion dollar collection of luxury properties. Mr. Naftali launched and guided Elad’s successful New York operation and its expansion across the country and around the globe. The highlight of Elad’s portfolio is New York’s iconic Plaza Hotel. The storied landmark has undergone a $450 million renovation, restoring it to its 1907 glory, adding state of the art technology providing the ultimate in comfort and convenience. Elad will also be expanding The Plaza brand to premier cities around the world, including Boston, Los Angeles, Paris, London, Tokyo and Shanghai. Mr. Naftali is developing the last high-rise luxury condo on the world famous Wilshire Corridor in Los Angeles and is planning a spectacular luxury high-rise in New York City designed by Daniel Libeskind. He is leading Elad into Singapore by creating a major residential, commercial, retail and hotel complex designed by Sir Norman Foster. Mr. Naftali also oversees Elad’s activities in other premier North American markets. Elad Canada’s high quality residential and commercial developments are principally located in the Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa areas, and include more than 12,000 residential units, many in newly created attractive neighborhoods, and over 6,000,000 square feet (560,000 m2) of commercial, retail and industrial space. Elad National has a growing presence in Florida, Texas, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Massachusetts.
El Ad Properties is developing the last high-rise luxury condo on the world famous Wilshire Corridor in Los Angeles and is planning a spectacular luxury high-rise in New York City designed by Daniel Libeskind.El Ad has two projects in Singapore-a major residential, commercial, retail and hotel complex designed by Sir Norman Foster, and The Futura, a super luxury high-rise residential condominium on the periphery of Orchard Road, Singapore's Fifth Avenue.
Miki Naftali oversees Elad's activities in other premier North American markets. Elad Canada's high quality residential and commercial developments are principallylocated in the Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa areas, and include more than 12,000 residential units, many in newly created attractive neighborhoods, and over 6,000,000 square feet (560,000 m2) of commercial, retail and industrial space. Elad National has a growing presence in Florida, Texas, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Massachusetts. Its assets, valued at $1.4 billion, include over 10,000 luxury units and 1,000,000 square feet (93,000 m2) of commercial and retail space, with a major focus in 10 Florida resort communities. [8]
ElAd Group runs several joint ventures with local companies in India and Singapore. In 2007, Elad Far East was established via a partnership deal with China's Zeg Investments.[9]
Elad's purchase of New York City's Plaza Hotel caused great controversy in 2004. But as the hotel was readied for opening on March 1, 2008, The New York Times observed, Tshuva and Peter Ward, president of the New York's hotel workers' union, had reconciled their differences: "It was a big change from early 2005, when Mr. Ward vowed to block Mr. Tshuva's plans to convert most of the hotel into luxury condos and reconfigure some of its Edwardian public spaces into upscale shops, moves he contended would force union members out of work".[10]
On May 15, 2007, the company announced plans to purchase the New Frontier Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada, with plans to raze the current structure and build a new resort to be branded as The Plaza Las Vegas. It sold for a record $33 million per acre.[11] In April 2008, Elad Properties faced a lawsuit between itself and the New Frontier owner. Las Vegas lawyer Gene Porter of Porter and Bello Law Corporations was hired to mediate the dispute.
Delek also operates gas stations and has interests in car dealerships, cable television, insurance and energy companies.[12]