Yedioth Ahronoth: The collapse of a Jewish Empire in the United States!

The Israeli Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper has revealed the dramatic fall of the Chetrit family, which for years has been described as one of the most powerful Jewish families in the American real estate market.

According to a report by Yedioth Ahronoth, this Jewish family has sunk into billions of dollars in debt and has been involved in civil and criminal cases that have shaken its image in economic circles.

The Chetrit family, which is of Moroccan origin and built its reputation on huge deals and extensive relationships, has relied on an expansion model based almost entirely on debt and high leverage.

This model, which seemed successful for years with low interest rates and a booming real estate market, collapsed with the Covid pandemic and rising interest rates, turning debt into a stifling burden.

The major turning point in the family’s journey came in 2004, when it partnered to buy the iconic Sears Tower in Chicago (later known as the Willis Tower) in a deal estimated at $840 million, one of the largest real estate deals in the United States at the time.

The deal introduced the family to the elite global club of giant towers real estate, and gave them wide fame, while keeping them out of the limelight.

But nearly two decades later, the family name reappeared, not in the pages of prosperity, but in credit rating agency reports, court documents, and bankruptcy warnings.

According to the report, the collapse wasn’t the result of a single failed deal, but rather the result of the collapse of an entire economic model built on the assumption that the market would always be able to refinance.

According to court documents and financial reports quoted by the Israeli newspaper, the family has accumulated declared debts worth $1.6 billion, in addition to about $300 million that is threatened with default.

Brothers Joseph and Meyer Chetrit also personally secured loans of nearly $280 million, putting their personal wealth in jeopardy.

In February 2025, the family lost the Bossert Hotel in Brooklyn after failing to pay $177 million in debt.

The Columbus Square mall on Manhattan’s Upper West Side was also classified as a distressed asset, although it houses large tenants such as Target Corporation and Whole Foods Market.

According to Yedioth Ahronoth, Chetrit’s real estate portfolio spanned about 1.3 million square meters, including high-profile assets such as the Chelsea Hotel, the Sony building at 550 Madison Avenue, the Parkhill City apartment complex in Queens, and a chain of office towers in Manhattan.

The Chetrit family has also embarked on major projects outside of New York, most notably a partnership in the Miami River District project worth approximately $525 million.

But this expansion, based on mortgaging every asset and using every future cash flow to secure new loans, has become a deadly trap as the office market shrinks and banks tighten refinancing.

Along with the financial meltdown, Yedioth Ahronoth uncovered a more serious remoteness, in the form of criminal charges.

In September, Meyer Chetrit and his company were charged with systematically molesting elderly people in two Chelsea apartment buildings, in an attempt to force them to leave their apartments in order to vacate the buildings and raise their market value.

According to the indictment, the tenants, some over 70, lived in harsh conditions that included heating failures, water leaks, and elevator failures.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg described the incident as a deliberate campaign of harassment that amounted to a criminal offense, not just a civil dispute.

Although Meyer Chetrit denied the charges, the case dealt a severe blow to the family’s image.

Yedioth Ahronoth report draws attention to the stark contrast between this image and the family’s standing within the Jewish community, where it has been known for years for its great generosity and support for religious schools and synagogues in the United States and Israel, and its close ties to prominent rabbis and well-known religious families.

But today, nearly 20 years after the height of influence, the family finds itself struggling to maintain key assets in New York, having dreamed of controlling major real estate infrastructure in both Israel and the United States.

The Chetrit family built their empire on one premise: that the market would always provide a new outlet through financing and rescheduling.

When this movement stopped, the entire model collapsed, and one of the world’s most powerful Jewish real estate empires became a stark example of the dangers of over-debt.