In January, real estate investor Alon Abady and his wife, Monique, gave Chabad of California a 16-story office tower at 9911 West Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles. Chabad plans to turn the roughly 300,000-square-foot building into a Chabad Campus for Jewish Life. The family calls it the Abady Family Center.
Chabad's spokesman, Rabbi Motti Seligson, cited a September appraisal by Partner Valuation Advisors putting the building at $103 million. Abady bought it in 2023 for $35 million. eJewishPhilanthropy reported Chabad takes on about $16 million in remaining debt. The Times of Israel and JTA also covered the gift.
The tax question
A donor who gives appreciated real estate can generally deduct its appraised fair market value. Whether and how the Abadys claimed this gift is private. So is Chabad of California's own accounting.
Chabad of California (EIN 95-4029756) is a tax-exempt organization classified as religious. We found no public Form 990 for it. Chabad's central educational arm in Brooklyn, Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch, is also designated a religious organization and files none.
West Coast Chabad is led by Rabbi Baruch Shlomo Cunin and Rabbi Chaim Nochum Cunin.
Meanwhile, in Massachusetts
On October 14, Robert Kraft and family gave $5 million to name the Kraft Family Chabad Center in Chestnut Hill. Chabad.org reported the campaign has raised $20 million with about $5 million to go.
How we reported this: from eJewishPhilanthropy, the Times of Israel, The Registry and Chabad.org. We could not confirm Chabad of California's filing status from IRS records directly. We will ask Chabad headquarters. Tips: [email protected].