Aurora Capital Associates was founded in 2004 by Robert Cayre to more actively and strategically deploy the Cayre family's capital into the real estate market. Leveraging the family’s experience in retail, which ranges from the development and distribution of VHS movies, TV commercials, and video games to the licensed distribution of clothing brands, Aurora began as a leading owner and operator of retail property in New York City.
Since its founding, Aurora has amassed a portfolio of property across the five boroughs of New York City and the high streets of Miami, Chicago, and other major US cities. Aurora has grown to become one of the largest property owners in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood and Meatpacking District, where it is also a major developer of properties that weave modern construction with the historic fabric of their surroundings. Its approximately 60,000 square foot project at 529 Broadway, at Spring Street, features multistory retail and office at one of the gateways of SoHo. Across Lower Manhattan at 9 Ninth Avenue, Aurora restored and built a bespoke addition to one of the most important buildings on Gansevoort Plaza—the social center of the Meatpacking District.
The depth of construction capability across asset classes has made the company truly unique among its peers. Currently, Aurora has over 1.5 million square feet of construction projects in various stages on important commercial corridors throughout the city. In addition to its Meatpacking retail assets, Aurora is developed over 500,000 square feet of mixed-use, office buildings located at 61 Ninth Avenue, 40 Tenth Avenue, and 60-74 Gansevoort Street. Other notable projects Aurora completed include a 215,000 square feet Renaissance Marriot at 218 West 35th Street, a mixed-use project in Harlem at 5 West 125th Street anchored by Bed Bath & Beyond, and a 150,000 square feet mixed-use development featuring Whole Foods in the heart of Williamsburg, Brooklyn.