For greater than a decade, Oren Alexander was one of many greatest names in ultraluxury actual property in Miami and New York Metropolis. He helped to dealer the record-setting 2019 buy of a penthouse at 220 Central Park South, a deal closed for practically $240 million.
The true property empire that he helped to construct within the sky in multimillion-dollar perches of glass and metal in each cities is now crumbling below mounting allegations of violent sexual assault.
Mr. Alexander, 36, was accused in two separate lawsuits filed earlier this yr of sexually assaulting two girls greater than a decade in the past. Oren’s an identical twin brother, Alon, an government in a non-public safety agency, can be named as a defendant in each complaints.
The twins are accused of collectively sexually assaulting two girls in separate incidents — one girl says she was assaulted at a celebration mansion within the Hamptons and the opposite says she was drugged after which assaulted in Manhattan.
On Monday, Isabelle Kirshner, a lawyer for Oren and Alon Alexander, defended the brothers and described the complaints as cash grabs in a press release to The New York Instances. “It’s disappointing [but not surprising] that plaintiffs’ counsel is resorting to their identical generic playbook — file equally fantastical boilerplate claims towards supposedly deep-pocketed people with out regard to the particular information or reality,” she wrote within the assertion. “The truth is, our preliminary investigation of the claims has uncovered clear and irrefutable proof that vindicates the Alexanders, which we sit up for presenting in court docket.”
Oren Alexander, together with his older brother Tal Alexander, made a reputation for himself in big-money actual property, together with with the record-setting penthouse. They co-founded Official, a brokerage that caters to ultrawealthy shoppers.
The brothers, with Alon practically all the time alongside them, have been a fixture on the nightlife scenes of Miami and New York, showing frequently in Web page Six dispatches and in a write-up on their weekend routine in The New York Instances.
Tal Alexander, 37, is just not named within the complaints, however Evan Torgan, founding companion of the agency Torgan Cooper + Aaron, which is representing each girls, mentioned that since final week, he has fielded extra accusations of sexual assault towards all three brothers. “The flood of cellphone calls and emails continues to be coming,” Mr. Torgan mentioned.
Tal Alexander declined to remark, however in an e-mail obtained by The New York Instances that he despatched on Sunday to his co-workers at Official, he addressed the allegations.
“I discover the actions described in these information tales to be reprehensible, and I might by no means act or behave in such a fashion. Any allegations on the contrary are merely unfaithful,” he mentioned within the e-mail. It additionally mentioned, “I’ve little doubt that given my shut relationship with my brothers, at some juncture, a lawyer or many legal professionals will quickly attempt to lump me in with the allegations towards Alon and Oren.”
The complaints have been filed simply earlier than the expiration of a statute of limitations of civil sexual assault circumstances in New York, and first reported in The Actual Deal, an actual property commerce publication, earlier this month.
Mr. Torgan mentioned he had met with girls who say they have been assaulted in New York Metropolis and the Hamptons, in addition to in Colorado, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Florida. Among the allegations date again so far as 2004, when Oren and Alon have been highschool college students in Miami.
“Plenty of girls didn’t come ahead straight away as a result of lots of them felt accountable. A few of them have been on dates when this occurred,” Mr. Torgan mentioned.
Tal and Oren based the Alexander Crew, a division inside Douglas Elliman Actual Property, in 2012.
In 2021, one yr earlier than they left Elliman to launch their very own brokerage, the Alexander Crew reported greater than $1.8 billion in gross sales.
They began Official, in 2022, alongside Nicole Oge, a former advertising and marketing government for each Douglas Elliman and WeWork, and two different co-founders. In 2023, the Alexander brothers introduced $260 million in closed offers, and have been included within the Hollywood Reporter’s 2023 Energy Brokers record of high brokers in New York Metropolis.
In an inner memo despatched to Official employees on Friday and shared with The New York Instances, Ms. Oge wrote that the brokerage’s values “have been deeply violated when the disturbing allegations towards our former companion Oren Alexander have been uncovered. They run counter to every little thing we stand for as a company.”
She added that “Oren was instantly remoted from the enterprise, his licenses have been separated, and the method of eradicating him from possession is effectively underway.”
Final week, Oren Alexander introduced he was stepping away from his position at Official, and by Friday, his {photograph} and bio had been faraway from the corporate’s web site.
As of Saturday, Official had deactivated his actual estates licenses in each Florida and New York and Oren relinquished his minority stake within the firm, Ms. Oge confirmed. Emails despatched to his Official deal with acquired an auto reply that he was not affiliated with the brokerage.
Among the many reactions from brokers and others in the true property trade have been questions of how the allegations took so lengthy to floor. One of many two girls who’ve filed lawsuits accuses each Oren and Alon of assaulting her at Sir Ivan’s Fortress, a celebration mansion within the Southhampton city of Water Mill. The opposite alleges she was drugged at a Manhattan nightclub after which taken to an residence in Chelsea the place one twin brother forcefully penetrated her whereas the opposite held her down. She mentioned they then switched locations and the assault continued, based on the lawsuit.
As information of the lawsuits hit social media, remark threads on Reddit and Instagram turned stuffed with messages from different girls who mentioned they, too, had been victims. Many inspired these with comparable tales to talk out.
“Plaintiff is just not, and was not, the one sufferer to fall prey to the twins’ heinous acts,” reads the criticism that alleges the assault within the Hamptons. “For years, defendants Alon and Oren have engaged in an identical sample of schemes, acts, and conduct with totally different girls.”
The second criticism incorporates comparable language.
The brothers have till Aug. 19 to answer the complaints.The lawyer for the ladies mentioned he isn’t conscious of any present legal investigations. The Instances reached out to legislation enforcement in Southampton and New York to inquire whether or not anybody had filed police reviews, however didn’t get a right away response.
There was shock amongst longtime professionals of the true property trade that the allegations had surfaced. A number of brokers, appraisers and public relations officers instructed The New York Instances that Official, which is barely two years previous, would have a tough time recovering from the scandal in such a aggressive surroundings.
“It appears ironic that Official, recognized for branding high-end luxurious actual property developments in New York, Miami and past, could discover it practically not possible to keep up management of their very own model,” mentioned Jonathan Miller, president and chief government of the appraisal agency Miller Samuel. “If the agency is unable to outlive the deluge of stories protection of the supposed stunning conduct of a companion, the void will solely be momentary. There’s an excessive amount of cash concerned for the trade to not transfer on shortly with out them.”
In an interview on Sunday, Ms. Oge mentioned her firm would maintain shifting ahead.
“The conflation or false impression about Official by some means being inextricably linked to any particular person, whether or not it’s me or Oren or anybody else, is simply false,” she mentioned. “Official is just not Oren Alexander.”
