Victor Elmaleh scores victories in all the right places - Profile in Construction - Biography

Real Estate Weekly,  Feb 25, 2004  

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Victor Elmaleh has managed to succeed on a grand scale--and a small one.

The 85-year old chairman of World-Wide Group has developed prominent projects on both coasts--including the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles and World-Wide Plaza and thousands of residential units in New York.

He has also developed more than 1 million square feet of space in four distinguished residential properties in lower Manhattan; his most recent development, the luxury condominium, Milan, is currently rising in the center of Manhattan's east side.

Elmaleh continues to be one of the city's most active developers of luxury residential properties.

An acclaimed artist, he has also created a body of tiny, extraordinary watercolors and collages. His work has attracted positive notices and been featured in more than 30 gallery shows here and abroad.

The distinguished Orchestra of St. Luke's recently selected a series of his works to appear as art on the jewel box covers of its CDs.

A graduate of the University of Virginia School of Architecture, he is contributing a wing to the school which will bear his name. UVA also debuted the Elmaleh Gallery there with a show of his works. And, he produced a documentary, "Mr. Jefferson and his University," that is widely shown to students, alumni and others interested in UVA and its founder.

Earlier in his career, Elmaleh was the nation's first private distributor of the Volkswagen "Bug" and his company sold more than two million VWs, Porsches, Audis and other foreign autos in the United States.

Architect, artist, classically trained pianist, he was national champion in two sports--handball and squash. In tennis he was ranked No. 1 in the over-45 category and won two tournaments with Bobby Riggs, among others. At the age of 81, he won the Brooklyn Heights Pro-Am Squash Doubles tournament with Gary Waite, the No. 1 pro in the world. Elmaleh is chairman of World-Wide Group, whose latest development, the stylish and elegant 32-story Milan is more than 30% sold just twelve weeks after the start of sales.

It is located at 300 East 55th St. at Second Avenue on the site of the former El Morocco nightclub (which catered to celebrities and members of New York's high society in the 1930s through the 1950s).

It is inspired by its neighborhood, known as the city's "Design District," the home of top designers, interior designers and manufacturer showrooms.

Elmaleh played an important role in the planning of the building and the design of the facade for Milan. Milan combines the thoughtful approach and excellence of lead project architect Peter Claman, managing director of SLCE Architects, and Jay Valgora, design principal at V Studio, a division of Walker Group/CNI.

Claman designed the tower to be aesthetically clean and sleek, with slender structural elements, wrapped in bronze windows with metallic champagne mullions creating an impressive window wall.

Milan's interior combines unique materials and fixtures with fine design--from its floor-to-ceiling window walls to its two-story, highly stylized Crema Marfil marble lobby, to its tranquil garden, which was designed by Ken Smith, the landscape architect of the roof garden at MOMA.

"Our developments are marked by the quality and character of their design," says Elmaleh. "Milan continues and builds on that defining tradition."

Elmaleh was a sponsor of the recent PBS special on the Art of the Piano and is actively involved with the Orchestra of St. Luke's, the Sports & Arts in Schools Foundation and the Concert Arts Guild, which sponsors gifted young musicians with an annual Elmaleh prize.

He has been married for 60 years to dancer Sono Osato, who was featured with the original Ballet Russe and American Ballet Theatre, and starred as the original "Miss Turnstiles," in the Leonard Bernstein/ Comden and Green/ Jerome Robbins production of "On the Town", as well as other Broadway shows.

They have two sons, Niko, a partner at World-Wide, and Antonio, a writer. Carrying on the family tradition, both sons have become nationally-ranked squash players.

COPYRIGHT 2004 Hagedorn Publication
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group