After the success of Park Kensington, Peter Kalikow recognized that HJ Kalikow needed to move its offices into Manhattan to fulfill his vision of becoming an industry leader. At the time that he entered the Manhattan market, as Kalikow explained, over 100 of the Fortune 500 companies were headquartered in Manhattan.

“They were all here. You had to be here,” said Daniel Cremins, the executive vice president of HJ Kalikow.

Peter Kalikow located a mansion for sale at 733 Park Avenue in 1970. After three months of difficult negotiations, he acquired his first property in Manhattan for $1.6 million. Kalikow proceeded to tear it down to prepare the lot for an apartment building.

That sale would change everything.

Shortly after Peter Kalikow bought the site, his father and mother were at El Morocco, a popular New York City nightclub, one Saturday evening, when a man approached Harold about buying the lot at 733 Park Avenue. Harold explained that his son owned it and that it was not for sale. The man was persistent, however, and continued to make offers, each one higher than the last. Eventually, at $2.7 million, Peter Kalikow could not resist and agreed to sell. A few months after he did, the real estate market crashed.

Using the market and profits from 733 Park Avenue to his advantage, Peter Kalikow purchased three more sites in 1971. By 1973, he had opened the doors to three new luxury apartment buildings: Kenilworth (178 East 80th), East Winds (345 East 80th), and Corniche (301 East 87th).

Kalikow recalls talking to his friends at the time about their current apartment buildings and asking what they disliked about them.

He used this input when building his own to ensure the apartment buildings would be highly sought after by tenants for their desirable features, such as 24-hour doormen.

In 1973, Peter Kalikow also formally became the president of HJ Kalikow. Although he had been leading the company in the years prior, he and his father felt it was best to wait until Peter turned 30 for him to officially become the head of the company.

Two years earlier, on June 20, 1971, Peter Kalikow married Mary Typaldos Jacobatos. They had two children together: Nicholas Alexander (Feb. 20, 1980) and Kathryn Harold (March 23, 1986).

Harold Kalikow remained a partner until he died in 1983. Peter attributes much of his early success to his father, stating he was “irreplaceable” when it came to real estate advice.

Today, Peter Kalikow seeks guidance from his sister, Penny, to channel the wisdom that their late father would have offered him.

Younger by 12 years, Penny grew up admiring her brother and considered him her role model. Peter was always there for her, providing support through life’s challenges.

After Harold Kalikow’s passing, Penny became more involved in HJ Kalikow. She was thrilled by her brother’s request to take on a larger role with greater responsibilities in the company.

In the absence of their late father, Harold Kalikow, Peter turned to Penny, relying on her for counsel. Recognizing the significance of Harold’s advice, Peter trusted his sister to provide insights that would echo the perspective of his father.

Penny explained that growing up, she was very close with her father, Harold, and that they had an “intuitive” relationship. “I always knew what he was thinking,” said Penny.

While Penny was not as involved in the business growing up, she recalls summers working at the Kalikow family’s multiple Queens apartment buildings, “the residential standard of the day,” to assist with the recordkeeping. She also remembers the family business being a normal part of their conversations at dinnertime, especially between her brother and father.

“If it wasn’t about cars or boats, it was 100% about business,” she said.

Penny graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1976 and went to work at Chase Bank in the Foreign Accounts Division. She married John Wallerstein in 1978, and the couple had two daughters shortly after: Jill Wallerstein Goldsmith (b. Nov. 13, 1981) married to Evan Goldsmith, and Jennifer Wallerstein Silverstein (b. Feb. 7, 1984) married to Jason Silverstein. Penny Kalikow Wallerstein is a devoted wife, mother, and grandmother to her four grandchildren, Juliet Sydney Goldsmith (named after Penny’s mother, Juliet Kalikow), Jed Harris Goldsmith, Jaxon Blake Silverstein, and Jordyn Eddie Silverstein.

When Penny is not offering business advice to her brother, she enjoys golfing, playing bridge, and participating in various charity events. She is currently on the board of trustees at Temple Emanu-El in New York City, succeeding her brother Peter. The Kalikows are hopeful they can remain an integral part of Temple Emanu-El through future generations.

Peter hoped to continue building one to two apartment buildings at a time so that he could open up a new one every year. However, given that the rental market was unfavorable in the 1970s, he was forced to sit tight and wait for his next opportunity.

“The market just didn’t go with me,” said Peter, explaining how he became more cautious at that point, because the buildings he was developing were getting larger, elevating the risk each time.

An opportunity arose in 1974 when Kalikow purchased two more sites at 303 East 83rd Street (Camargue) and 220 East 65th Street (Concorde). He also bought a third site but got nervous and eventually sold it. It was another lucky break as the building that was later developed turned out to be unprofitable. The Camargue opened its doors in 1977, and the Concorde followed in 1978.

Although the real estate market was risky at the time, Peter joked that all his family ever knew how to do was keep building.

“If you waited for the right time, you would never build anything,” Kalikow said.

So that’s what he did.

He purchased another site in 1977 at 1001 Fifth Avenue, which would become one of Manhattan’s first successful co-ops in years.

Around the same time, Peter also acquired 500 Park Avenue in 1979, an iconic site that had served as the Pepsi-Cola headquarters from its construction in 1960 until 1967. The striking postmodern tower became a notable addition to his growing portfolio and remains a meaningful part of his development history, reflecting a long-standing interest in architecturally significant buildings.

Other Buildings in Manhattan

Kalikow continued constructing and managing buildings in Manhattan across the 1980s and 1990s, that included 1001 Fifth Avenue, 195 Broadway, and the Millenium Hotel. Kalikow was also responsible for two other significant apartment buildings: the Ascot and Chequers.

In 1984, HJ Kalikow acquired the site of the famous Belmore Cafeteria, founded by Philip Siegel and opened in 1929. Members of the notorious Murder, Inc. gang allegedly ate there, but the cafeteria was mainly known as the gathering spot of New York City taxi drivers. The cafeteria was featured in the hit 1976 film Taxi Driver, starring Robert De Niro. The Siegel family sold the building in 1981.

Kalikow developed the lot into a 27-story residential apartment building called the Ascot at 407 Park Avenue South. A year after its construction, the luxury apartment building was converted into a co-op of which HJ Kalikow continues to own several units. According to Kalikow, the building was named after the Royal Ascot horse races held annually in Britain.

In 1987, HJ Kalikow built Chequers in Manhattan at 62 West 62nd Street.

The Ascot

Chequers

The People Behind Kalikow: Daniel Cremins

To expand his family real estate empire, Peter Kalikow was introduced to Dan Cremins by Alan Goldberg, a Partner at Marks Shron & Co., a prominent New York accounting firm. Goldberg candidly told Peter, “You’re a great businessman, but you have no idea how to keep records.” Knowing exactly who could help, Goldberg facilitated the introduction. Nearly five decades later, this tandem of Kalikow and Cremins continues to manage the most impressive address in Manhattan real estate.

Dan’s B.S. in accounting landed him a position with the Big Eight accounting firm Deloitte & Touche (formerly Haskins & Sells) through the Honors Internship Program. He later joined the Starrett Housing Corporation to lead a major construction and development program in Tehran, Iran. These impressive references and his solid understanding of real estate and development finance made him an ideal complement to Kalikow’s vision. This partnership quickly paid off as Cremins was instrumental in securing financing for the 101 Park Avenue project.

Over the years, Dan’s loyalty to the Kalikow family and his real estate finance acumen cemented his stature within the company. He continues to serve as the Executive Vice President of HJ Kalikow and is recognized as one of the industry’s most esteemed real estate finance professionals. Dan oversees all financial, development, construction, corporate communications, and human resource matters. Under his financial leadership, the company has developed millions of square feet of commercial office space and tens of thousands of residential units. During Peter’s ownership of the New York Post, Dan served as executive vice president and provided instrumental advice to Kalikow as he navigated union strife to deliver the nation’s oldest published daily newspaper.

Dan’s journey with the Kalikow family is a testament to the firm’s unwavering loyalty, exceptional talent, and dedication to both professional excellence and community service.