Andrew Heiberger
Who
The founder and erstwhile chief of the rental agency Citi Habitats, Heiberger now heads the real estate development group Buttonwood Real Estate.
Backstory
The son of Long Island developer Ed Heiberger, Andrew began buying and selling vacant lots in Suffolk County at the age of 17. After graduating from the University of Michigan, the real estate recession encouraged him to take up another line of work and he retreated to law school. But by 1994, he'd returned, launching the rental agency Citi Habitats with partner Igal Feibush. (Feibush sold his stake back to Heiberger in 2000.) By 2005, Citi Habitats was the largest rental agency in the city—it had over 500 employees, controlled nearly 50% of New York's rental market, and had branched out into retail leasing and residential sales. That same year, Heiberger cashed out, selling the company to Pam Liebman-helmed Corcoran for $49.6 million. After hanging on as Citi Habitat's chief executive for a while, he quit the company in March 2005, and moved into development with the launch of Buttonwood Real Estate.
As a developer, Heiberger hasn't been terribly prolific—plans for Sundar Lofts & Tower, a mixed use building on East 32nd Street, which he was to co-develop with Joseph Sitt, came to naught. But he's now finishing his first substantial development, the Greenwich Club Residences, a 37-story, 457-unit building on Greenwich Street.
Personal
Heiberger's wife is Robyn Heiberger, a former Citi Habitats broker. The two have a son and a daughter, Lucas and Nikki. Two weeks before the sale of Citi Habitats became public, Heiberger dropped $8.1 million on a five-story townhouse on East 63rd Street. He also has a home on Dune Road in Southampton, where several years ago he and his father bought a number of lots as an investment.
For the record
Buttonwood is named after the Dix Hills street where Heiberger grew up. He's following what has turned into something of a tradition in the development industry: Henry Elghanayan's Rockrose is named after his childhood street, too.