{"id":290883,"date":"2026-07-08T23:21:25","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T23:21:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/290883\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T23:21:25","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T23:21:25","slug":"lucas-durst-named-chief-financial-officer-at-the-durst-organization-commercial-observer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/290883\/","title":{"rendered":"Lucas Durst Named Chief Financial Officer at the Durst Organization \u2013 Commercial Observer"},"content":{"rendered":"

The fourth generation of the Durst family is now in position to lead the Durst Organization<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Commercial Observer can first report that Lucas Durst, formerly director of finance at the firm, has been appointed chief financial officer of the Durst Organization. Lucas Durst is the son of Jody Durst, president of the firm, and cousin of Douglas Durst, the firm\u2019s chairman.\u00a0<\/p>\n

SEE ALSO: Kolter and Rockpoint Land $108M Loan for Palm Beach Gardens Rental<\/a><\/p>\n

Lucas Durst, 36, joined the firm over a decade ago as an associate and has since distinguished himself in recent years by spearheading numerous commercial mortgage-backed securities refinancings for several of the firm\u2019s office and residential towers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

These deals include a $1.3 billion refi at 151 West 42nd Street, the 48-story H&M Tower in Midtown; a $450 million refi at SVEN, a 71-story residential tower in Long Island City, Queens; and a $250 million refi at 1155 Avenue of the Americas, a 42-story office tower in Midtown.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the last few years, we have seen a rapidly changing capital markets environment for commercial real estate, and Lucas spearheaded some of the largest and most complex transactions in the company\u2019s history,\u201d said Jody Durst. \u201cHis stewardship as chief financial officer will reinforce the company\u2019s position of financial strength.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lucas Durst told CO that while \u201cit\u2019s certainly a new title, it\u2019s not necessarily a new role,\u201d as he\u2019s been working closely beside former CFO Ira Marx, who recently retired after 38 years with the company.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMy job is to continue to work closely with senior leadership and just be a partner to execute their vision,\u201d said Lucas. \u201cWe never wavered on New York City as an investment thesis or Class A office and Class A residential space in this city. During COVID-19, when others might have turned away, we leaned in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Durst credited several mentors who prepared him for the appointment, giving special credence to former CFO Marx, but also Controller Ed Riccio and Senior Vice President of Accounting Bill Culkin.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve tried to soak up as much commercial real estate knowledge as I could,\u201d he said. \u201cInternally, we just have a great team of professionals led by [Riccio and Culkin].\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Others in the industry have taken notice of Durst, who was selected<\/a> as one of Commercial Observer\u2019s Power Young Professionals in 2020, at the tender age of 30.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best thing about working with Lucas is the problems that never happen,\u201d said Andrew Thornfeldt, managing director at Chatham Financial. \u201cI\u2019ve worked with Lucas across dozens of financings, and that foresight is exactly what makes him the right CFO.\u201d<\/p>\n

Durst told CO that as a descendent of family leaders at the company, which was founded 1915 by Joseph Durst and his wife Rose Durst, he strives to find an equilibrium to the pressure of meeting the standards set by those who came before him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a fourth generation of the family that has been successful for the previous three generations, it\u2019s taking one day at a time, never getting too high, never too low,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s about being a contrarian, staying the course, and investing in what you know and what you believe in.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Brian Pascus can be reached at bpascus@commericalobserver.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The fourth generation of the Durst family is now in position to lead the Durst Organization.\u00a0 Commercial Observer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":290884,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[84898,111154,35024,32977,111155,9,24,63,51713,122,124,123,111156],"class_list":["post-290883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-1155-avenue-of-the-americas","tag-151-west-42nd-street","tag-douglas-durst","tag-jody-durst","tag-lucas-durst","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-people-moves","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-sven"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=290883"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290883\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/290884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=290883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=290883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=290883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}