Advisor, Educator, Publisher

& One of Manhattan’s Most Successful Real Estate Investors

Advisor, Educator, Publisher

AND One of Manhattan’s Most Successful
Real Estate Investors

Ken is a titan in the world of real estate. He is known for his passion for helping people thrive in business and life. 

According to Ken, venturing into a real estate and being successful requires intelligence, hard work, perseverance, integrity, and a never give up mindset.

Recently selected as the real estate expert to produce a national documentary with Dennis Quaid, “Real Estate Today Keys to Investing” broadcasted to 85M households, Ken is responsible for dozens of projects in the metropolitan area which has helped change the New York City skyline. 

Ken's contribution has garnered international praise to the building trades with the completion of more than one billion in high-rise construction. 

Ken is a licensed professional engineer with advanced degrees from New Jersey Institute of Technology and New York University.

Ken’s life is a true definition of “when life gives you a lemon, make lemonade.” He had learning disabilities in grammar school and started a pre-engineering college program with a $10/week allowance. He persevered to obtain financial aid, meet the love of his life and was able to graduate six years later.

It was during this time that he began his professional career with a civil engineering design job and worked himself into the construction management of building trades. Shortly after, Ken and his wife had twins and were underpinned by a six-figure debt and his burning desire to serve others. Sixteen years later, he cut the ribbon on the development of a $17M, 72,000 square feet,113-bed assisted living asset.

He parlayed this success into a Staten Island waterfront development and began a mastery journey with Tony Robbins. While attending Tony Robbin’s Life Mastery event in Hawaii, his waterfront development was terminated due to the World Trade Center tragedies, which forced him to come home to lead others forward, never give up, and always keep his dreams alive.

Ken’s life is about paying it forward to the underprivileged and he’s an unsung hero in closeup magic by performing, educating and spreading magic into people’s lives. He has been married for over 34 years, very active for many as an assistant scout master and Eagle Scout and community advisor. He is a loving husband to his wife Terry and a proud father of three amazingly talented and successful children, Michael and Alyse, and Courtney.

INVESTOR

Real Estate Investment & Development Opportunities

Founded by Ken Van Liew and a team of diverse professionals, the Global Freedom Fund (GFF) brings together a collection of resources allowing for a unique approach to the real estate market. Our advantage begins with the relationships we’ve developed for over decades in the real estate industry and leveraging these relationships to consistently source exclusive and differentiated opportunities in targeted markets. By pooling resources, GFF offers a range of investments and growth potential for our investors.

ADVISOR

Global Real Estate Strategies World Renowned Advisors

Global Real Estate Strategies is a real estate development, investment and advisory  firm, focused on micro-distinctions that cumulatively have a disproportionate impact on the use and value of real estate. While NYC centric, our reach and experience is global. Our mission is to create extraordinary live and work properties that maximize returns by judiciously deploying funds, while encouraging innovation and minimizing risk.

EDUCATOR

Knowledge & Resources for Invesment and Business

Ken has a method of fulfillment that can be utilized immediately in real estate investing, development and building regardless of experience or financial capacity. His engineering background and 40 years of hands-on experience allows him to reverse engineer and accelerate the client's outcome. Ken has the innate ability to guide people from being static to action in real estate, business and life.

PUBLISHER

Gain The Ability to Shift Beliefs Holding You Back

Ken has the ability to touch, move and inspire people to take action when they are frustrated, confused or stopped on their next move in life and/or business. Not only will the reader be inspired and motivated to take massive action and achieve extraordinary results, they will learn real estate investing from a national expert, establishing instant experience to proceed rapidly down your path to living the life of your dreams.

Completed Projects

Below are some of the projects Ken has been a major part of in and around the city of New York.

Two Metrotech Center

The Manhattan Club

The Mall at 59

McGraw Hill, Ramsey Office Center

The Jefferson

Fort Lee Executive Park

Pace University

1055 Park Ave

The Lehman Mansion

221 West 29th Street

300 East 64th

555 West End Avenue

The Richmond

240 Park Avenue South

Thomas Jefferson &
James Madison Rentals

One Metrotech Center

One New York Plaza

The Liberty Village

Two Metrotech Center

Two Metrotech Center, headquarters for the Securities Industry Automated Corporation, a 600,000 square foot, 11 story, and $240M data center. General supervision of all field operations and site safety with building completed on schedule and within budget.

Included fully redundant emergency systems for power, water and fuel with 1500 point BMS controls completed in accordance to stringent specifications for process of all New York and American Stock Exchange transactions.

The Manhattan Club

The Manhattan Club located at 56th Street and 8th Avenue is a site of residence-style boutique hotel located in midtown Manhattan with endless possibilities for the enjoyment of its guests. The scope of work was the conversion of 100 hotel units into timeshares while maintaining the Park Central Hotel’s operations.

The project introduced a unique experience, blending vacation ownership retreat with a luxury suite hotel with convenience to many of the New York City’s extraordinary and exciting attractions, encouraging residents to experience the pace of the City by day and pulse of the City by night. Amenities included spacious timeshare suites, private club lounge where windows provide an outstanding view of the many architectural styles of the City.

The Mall at 59

The Mall at 59, Nanuet, NY, located on Route 59, included design development, engineering, site plan design, and approval. The project included preconstruction, value engineering, and constructability review as well as preparation of project budget, schedule, and cash flow analysis to assist in site selection, acquisition and project finance.

 

McGraw Hill, Ramsey Office Center

McGraw Hill, Ramsey Office Center, Ramsey, NJ is the site of a 20-acre development site with new construction of 270,000 sf of corporate office and data center, securities infrastructure, court yard and parking structure. The project was initiated from concept to occupancy including preconstruction, budgeting, procurement, scheduling, MEP coordination, and project and field supervision. Infrastructure and site work included all building services, underground retention system, boulder retaining walls, concrete curbs, irrigation, paving and landscaping.

 

The Jefferson

The Jefferson, 211 East 13th, 208 and 214-216 East 14th Street, New York, NY is the site of an 111,000 sf. condominium complex consisting of an 8-story, 81 residential condominiums located on 13th street and (2) commercial buildings with frontage of 14th street. This project obtained LEED Gold Certification & NYSERDA Incentives. Amenities include recreation rooms, laundry, storage, green roof, & private penthouse terraces. Worked closely with the Design Team to establish an intricate logistic plan that accommodates the adjacent subway entrances and a busy 14th street commercial corridor, pre-construction design consultation, as well as managing the full construction and turnover of the project.

 

Fort Lee Executive Park

Fort Lee Executive Park, Fort Lee, NJ is the site of two 12-story office buildings located minutes from the George Washington Bridge. The project included the main office fit-out, new 70,000-square-foot data center and dining facility, and the construction of a 695,000-square-foot, 1500-car parking garage with retail space. The garage was connected to one of the office buildings by an enclosed pedestrian walkway. In charge of development from concept to occupancy including procurement and field supervision.

 

Pace University

Pace University, 55 John Street, is the site of a 17-story, 97,000 sf, and 90 unit dormitory residence only a few blocks from the main campus at One Pace Plaza and minutes from Wall Street, City Hall, and the South Street Seaport to name a few hotspots. Residents share access to an inviting lobby lounge, full kitchen, and laundry facilities. The double and triple occupancy rooms have private baths and include bedroom furnishings, a refrigerator, a flat screen TV, and Ethernet connections. Wireless Internet is available throughout the building. Plus, students can choose among theme floor options, as well as non-themed floors. The project was successfully completed in August 2009.

 

1055 Park Ave

1055 Park Avenue, New York, NY is the site of a 12-story, 35,000 sf, and high-end luxury residential condominium located on the corner of 87th Street. The design is truly sophisticated, including a glass fritted exterior with Terracotta inlay featuring five extraordinary multi-level residences. Wide plank oak flooring, luxurious spa bathrooms, sculptural stairway featuring frosted glass steps mounted on cascading white risers, and smart home automation. Amenities include a wood cladded library, exclusive gym, storage, private elevator, and landscaped terrace. The project was featured on Millionaire’s Listing.

The Lehman Mansion

The Lehman Mansion, 7 West 54th Street, New York, NY was an existing 5-story limestone Beaux-Arts historic landmark structure built in 1889 for Lehman Brothers co-founder Philip Lehman. The building is located across from the Metropolitan Museum in midtown Manhattan. The project consisted of a conversion from residential to financial data center for Zimmer Lucas Partners. The structure was reinforced with new core stairwell and elevator shaft with the addition of three stories of office space. The interior included data center, luxurious conference areas, automated retractable roof and entertainment area, and gymnasium along with 16,500 sf of office space. The restoration includes artisan’s detail to the original finishes incorporating artifacts from the Museum of Natural History.

221 West 29th Street

221 West 29th Street, New York, NY, is the site of a 102,000 sf. residential development consisting of a 21-story, 96 residential apartments with retail component on the 1st floor located between 7th and 8th Avenues. This project includes a deep foundation with two levels of parking using a secant pile foundation wall design as both the support of excavation and foundation system. Amenities include recreation rooms, laundry, storage, green roof, & landscape terrace. Ownership, Design Team, and CM worked together to formulate units that are impressively modern, with pared down aesthetics.

300 East 64th

300 East 64th, New York, NY located on 2nd Avenue is the site of a 203,000 sf, 27 story, and 103 high end rental units. This contemporary classic design by SLCE in an impeccable NYC location featured modern, light-filled residences accented by floor-to-ceiling window walls offering amazing city views. Amenities included a bike room, laundry, library, gym and landscape terraced. This was an assemblage of several properties and a new out of ground construction. Ownership, Design Team and CM worked closely to deliver the building in a timely manner. The building is also home of United Artist Multiplex Theater and Chemical Bank.

555 West End Avenue

Pre-construction services for this renovation of a 1903 High School into Condominiums. Worked with Owner on an intensive planning for this renovation, the site of a 7-story former high school built in 1903. Tamarkin purchased the building after several years of abandonment, with the design intent of constructing 13 high-end condominiums. Each of the duplex condos will feature superior in-unit amenities and common spaces such including a gymnasium and playroom. The building will be topped with a roof top terrace for all residents, featuring sweeping Hudson River views.

The Richmond

The Richmond, 201 East 80th Street, NY located on 3rd Avenue in the Yorkville section of Manhattan is the site of a luxury condominium 210,000 sf, 24-story with 101 residences. This project was challenging in the sense of a major conversion a 10-story warehouse into luxury residences. The work was quite extensive, which required reinforcing the existing structure to subgrade, an addition of core stairwells and elevators, 12 stories of reinforced concrete floor space and new masonry facade. Amenities included 4,000 sf landscape terraces, exclusive gym, library and private storage. The first floor included 15,000 sf of retail.

240 Park Avenue South

240 Park Avenue South, New York, NY is the site of a 17 story, 112,000 sf residential condominium designed by architect Charles Gwathmey, which featured curved glass corners and wide spaces between tall loft-styled windows, as a contemporary version of a masonry building. The 52-unit building has a lobby with perforated leather walls, milk glass wall accents and Pompignon limestone floors. There are two full-floor penthouses, the top floor penthouse with private rooftop pool. Amenities included a 24-hour doorman and concierge service, an entertainment library suite with daily continental breakfast, a landscaped rooftop terrace for outdoor entertainment and a 1,500-square-foot fitness center. This prime location on Park Avenue South is near Madison Square Park in the vibrant Flatiron district, with the convenience of Union Square with its shops and Greenmarket nearby.

Thomas Jefferson & James Madison Rentals

Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, Newport Center, Jersey City, NJ located on the New Jersey Waterfront. The project included 775,000 sf, 912 luxury residential apartments, 5-story parking garage and over 500-acres of site development. Out of ground new reinforced concrete constructions for twin 33-story towers adjacent to the Holland Tunnel. Managed in excess of $250M in construction, coordination of over 50 subcontractors and 600 tradesmen. Supervised field operations process from concept to occupancy, including start-up, sales coordination and move-ins.

One Metrotech Center

One Metrotech Center, headquarters for Brooklyn Union Gas. New construction of 33-story, one million square foot, $250M corporate headquarters. Directly in charge of all building and tenant construction work. Logistics included a coordinated series of phased moves including 2-story command center of the utilities infrastructure for the five boroughs. Interior included in-house television studio, photography lab, full service cafeteria, auditorium, medical center, and executive offices. The building included retail clients; Ace Hardware and Au bon Pain Bakery.

One New York Plaza

One New York Plaza is the site of a 50 story, one million sf commercial building located in Battery Park. Working three shifts 24/7 on retrofit of 21 stories to start-up securities operations including UPS and back-up generators, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems. The project included strategic logistics of 500,000 sf of data centers, trading and office support floors, sales training center with high-tech audio-visual and teleconferencing.

The Liberty Village

The Liberty Village, Union, NJ is the site of a 224-room suite hotel and 49 luxurious townhomes located at Union Train Station across from Kean University providing direct transit to New York City. The project included the pre-construction, the development and construction of 12-acre residential site. The townhomes feature 2400 sf, 2 car garages, cherry cabinets, granite counters, fireplaces, cherry hard wood floors, high ceilings, abundance of natural light and high end appliances. One of first Transit Village Developments in New Jersey successfully completed in May 2004.

Ken Van Liew with Dennis Quaid Documentary

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