NMS Properties founder and CEO, Neil Shekhter of Los Angeles, California has tragically passed away. Some of the most sought-after land in the United States was originally owned by Neil Shekhter. He had apartments in Beverly Grove and Santa Monica, where one-bedroom apartments now cost around $4,000 a month on average.
Additionally, he had land in Santa Monica that was purchased for more than $18 million per acre by Tishman Speyer, the New York investment behemoth that owns Rockefeller Center. He’s lost much of what he had. Shekhter, 60, began his career as a cab driver after leaving the old Soviet Union when he was 17 and has spent the last 30 years building a portfolio of over 2,400 units around L.A. County through his company, WS Communities, which is an associate of NMS Properties.
As Shekhter put his portfolio together, he became used to dealing with legal issues. In 2014, a business partner filed a lawsuit over a $400 million portfolio. He was one of the first to test and challenge the builders remedy, a controversial California law that permits developers to avoid zoning approvals in cities without a state-approved housing plan,
when he filed applications to build thousands of units in Santa Monica in 2022. This is provided that a project includes 20% of its units for affordable housing. Losing properties, however, is a novel difficulty for Shekhter. Through deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure, WS Communities gave lenders ownership over more than half of its portfolio last month.
But Shekhter’s financial problems don’t stop there. The IOUs have grown too large to repay after burdening himself and his company with billions of dollars in debt over the previous five years. This is a problem that many developers and landlords are dealing with due to high interest rates.
At least four banks have filed lawsuits against companies that are either owned by Shekhter or his sons, Adam, Alan, and Alexander, alleging that they have defaulted on business loans and other acquisition funding totaling millions of dollars. According to several court documents, Shekhter and his sons have personal recourse guarantees, which allow the bank to seize their personal assets in the event of default.
Neil Shekhter obituary and funeral arrangements will be released by the family at a later date.
