Rubin Schron is an American real estate investor and the founder of Cammeby’s International Group. His career grew from a family apartment-building business into extensive residential, commercial, and industrial holdings, while his investments also included nursing-home real estate. He is known for major New York property transactions and Orthodox Jewish communal philanthropy.
Background
Schron grew up on Manhattan’s Lower East Side in an Orthodox Jewish family. The Lower East Side was historically one of New York’s principal Jewish immigrant neighborhoods, with dense tenement housing, synagogues, religious schools, and small family businesses shaping community life.
His family entered real estate after using proceeds associated with the wartime death of Schron’s brother to purchase a small apartment building on Delancey Street. Managing that building introduced Schron to property operations and helped establish the family circumstances from which his later investment career developed.
Education
Schron received religious education at Mirrer Yeshiva and became a musmach of the institution. Mirrer Yeshiva belongs to the Lithuanian-style Orthodox yeshiva tradition, whose educational culture centers on intensive study of the Talmud and Jewish legal texts.
His religious education accompanied his development in the family real estate business and remained connected with his later support for yeshiva education and Orthodox communal institutions.
Schron began in the family real estate business, purchasing and managing apartment buildings in New York. In 1967 he founded Cammeby’s International Group, a privately held real estate company whose investments expanded across residential, commercial, and industrial property. The company’s strategy emphasized acquiring and operating existing properties, particularly apartment buildings, rather than relying exclusively on ground-up development.
Cammeby’s became associated with large portfolios of outer-borough and Mitchell-Lama housing. In 2003, an investment group led by Schron acquired approximately 6,000 outer-borough apartments from Donald Trump for about $705.6 million. In 2007, Cammeby’s sold approximately 4,000 Mitchell-Lama apartments to Urban American Management and City Investment Fund for about $940 million, a major multifamily transaction.
Schron also pursued high-profile New York property investments. In 2011 he sold the Lionel Hampton Houses in Harlem for $32.5 million, and in 2013 he purchased the 521-unit Monterey apartment tower on Manhattan’s Upper East Side from The Related Companies for $250 million. That year he made an unsuccessful bid of approximately $2 billion for the Empire State Building.
Beginning in the early 2000s, Schron financed and acquired interests connected with nursing-home real estate and operating companies. In 2003 and 2004, transactions involving SavaSeniorCare and Mariner Health Care separated ownership of nursing-home properties from the operation of the facilities. Litigation involving Schron, Leonard Grunstein, and Murray Forman later concerned control, leases, ownership interests, and management of the nursing-home businesses; New York appellate decisions described Schron as the financier and controller of entities holding the underlying real estate.
Achievements
Founded Cammeby’s International Group in 1967 and developed it into a major privately held owner and investor in residential, commercial, and industrial real estate.
Led the 2003 acquisition of approximately 6,000 outer-borough apartments from Donald Trump, one of the most significant transactions in his real estate career.
Built a substantial investment position in nursing-home real estate through transactions involving SavaSeniorCare and Mariner Health Care, including financing the acquisition of Mariner Health Care.
Pursued major New York City property investments, including the acquisition of the 521-unit Monterey apartment tower and an unsuccessful bid for the Empire State Building.
Religion
Schron practices Yeshivish Orthodox Judaism, a traditional Orthodox Jewish movement that places particular emphasis on Torah study, halakhic observance, yeshiva education, and communal religious life.
His religious identity is connected with the American Orthodox Jewish institutions in which he has participated and provided support. He has been described as a musmach of Mirrer Yeshiva and as active in Torah-related and communal affairs, reflecting the central place of yeshiva learning and charitable support in his religious environment.
Views
Schron’s documented public outlook emphasizes discretion, Torah-centered religious life, long-term property ownership, and practical investment fundamentals. His public remarks about avoiding honor and publicity are consistent with the restrained public profile attributed to him by business and religious observers.
Quotations:
“If you run away from honor, the honor will chase you.”
Personality
Schron has been described by business associates as private, low-key, direct, and attentive to the fundamentals of real estate investing. He has generally avoided publicity and public industry events despite the scale of his holdings.
Quotes from others about the person
Business associates have characterized Schron as someone who honors his word, avoids unnecessary attention, and concentrates on fundamental property value and long-term investment considerations.
Interests
Orthodox Jewish religious life, Torah education, yeshiva support, and charitable and communal affairs.
Connections
Schron’s documented business connections include Leonard Grunstein, who served as his attorney and later became involved in nursing-home transactions financed by Schron, and Murray Forman, who served as an investment banker in related acquisitions. Litigation between Schron and entities associated with Grunstein and Forman concerned the structure and control of nursing-home properties and operating companies.
Schron was married to Marta Schron, who died in 2020. They had eight children. His family has been involved in the continuation of Cammeby’s real estate interests and in Orthodox Jewish communal and charitable activities.
Partner:
Steve Witkoff
Business partner in real estate activities.
Partner:
Leonard Grunstein
Former attorney and business associate involved with Schron in nursing-home acquisitions and related real estate transactions.
Rubin Schron
Biographical reference describing Schron’s real estate career, family background, religious identity, major transactions, and nursing-home investments.
No. 23
New York Court of Appeals decision describing Schron’s financing and control of entities involved in the acquisition and ownership of nursing-home real estate and the relationship with Leonard Grunstein and Murray Forman.
2013
Fundamental LLC v. Cammeby’s
New York Court of Appeals decision concerning entities controlled by Schron and disputes over nursing-home properties, leases, and operating companies.
2013
Rubin Schron Is a Musmach of Mirrer Yeshiva
Orthodox Jewish communal publication identifying Schron as a musmach of Mirrer Yeshiva and describing his involvement in Torah support and communal affairs.
Received an award named for Rabbi Moshe Sherer, a prominent leader of Agudath Israel of America, in recognition of Schron’s contribution to Orthodox Jewish communal and Torah-related affairs.
Received an award named for Rabbi Moshe Sherer, a prominent leader of Agudath Israel of America, in recognition of Schron’s contribution to Orthodox Jewish communal and Torah-related affairs.
