Paramount Group is facing scrutiny over whether the company is putting the interests of its CEO Albert Behler ahead of shareholders.
Paramount, a publicly traded REIT and a major landlord in New York City and San Francisco, revealed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing earlier this year it paid millions of dollars to Behler’s outside businesses, including to a private jet company in which Behler had a 50 percent stake.
Last month, the firm disclosed it is under an SEC investigation over disclosures related to conflicts of interest, perks, related-party deals, and executive compensation.
Now, The Real Deal discovered Behler pushed for a no-bid securities contract for 60 Wall Street, a 1.6 million-square-foot vacant office building in which Paramount holds only a 5 percent stake, to Guardian Services, according to sources and communications reviewed by TRD.
Contracts of this size are not usually required to go through a bidding process or board review.
It is unusual, however, for a chief executive of a billion-dollar REIT to get directly involved in such small-scale deals. Guardian’s contract went into effect in August, amid the ongoing SEC probe into conflicts of interest and news of the company’s payments for Behler’s personal and business interests, making Behler’s decision to wade into the deal more questionable.
Compounding these questions: Behler previously dated a now-senior employee at Guardian, who was involved in attracting new business with Paramount, according to sources familiar with the matter.
After dating, the two maintained a friendly, often informal relationship at least through 2020, according to text messages reviewed by TRD. The two shared at least one lunch at high-end restaurant Le Bernadin, in addition to other meetings — not out of bounds given the employee’s role in business development — and the Paramount CEO shared internal information about his firm’s property.
In those messages, the employee, about 30 years Behler’s junior, refers to Behler as “Albertcim,” using a suffix meant to show endearment in the Turkish language, with the term roughly translating to “my dear Albert.” (TRD consulted with four Turkish speakers who said this would be unusual in a professional relationship.) In a voice memo, Behler told the Guardian employee details about internal moves in a Paramount building, telling her to “keep this to herself.”
Paramount’s board of directors said the romantic relationship began in 2009 and ended in 2012, based on documents reviewed by TRD. (Behler disclosed the relationship to Paramount and the board of directors.)
Behler’s personal relationships would not be a matter of public concern had Paramount put the contract out for a competitive bidding process. Alternatively, Behler, who is 73 years old, could have allowed Paramount’s property management team to handle minor decisions about building operations.
A Paramount spokesperson claimed the contract was arms-length and adhered to Paramount’s internal policies.
“Paramount Group and its employees followed all of the company’s internal policies and procedures, including conflict of interest policies, in connection with entering into an arms-length contract with Guardian Service Industries for security-related services at 60 Wall Street,” a Paramount spokesperson said in a statement.
Guardian did not return a request for comment.
Compensation package
An SEC probe and questionable contracts aside, Behler’s generous compensation and perks compared to his industry peers have sparked headlines and concerns.
An analyst at Green Street put out a report to clients earlier this year, noting there was a “misalignment” between the interests of Paramount’s management and shareholders, noting top executives’ high pay packages relative to Paramount’s returns. (Behler was paid over $20 million in compensation in 2023 plus additional benefits disclosed earlier this year.)
In late July, as TRD reported, Paramount disclosed in its second-quarter earnings that it was under an SEC investigation over disclosures related to executive compensation, perks, related-party transactions and conflicts of interest. In the filing, Paramount said it is cooperating with the SEC.
The 60 Wall contract wasn’t the first time Guardian, a major player in the facility services space, attempted to do business with Paramount. In late 2024, Guardian bid on a cleaning services contract for a seven-building Paramount portfolio valued in the tens of millions. That portfolio did not include 60 Wall, according to documents reviewed by TRD. By the spring of 2025, Paramount’s board did not approve Guardian’s bid and the contract was awarded to another facilities firm.
Then a smaller deal came along. One, worth just over $1 million, which did not require explicit board approval and would not even warrant a footnote in its public filings. And Behler himself directed staff to make the move.
Prior relationship
In the backdrop of these transactions is the fact that Behler and a current senior manager of Guardian, both of whom are now married, knew each other well, something Paramount’s board was aware of. The two stayed in contact and met on multiple occasions in 2019 and 2020.
TRD reviewed numerous text messages between the Guardian employee and Behler, suggesting the two maintained a friendly personal relationship. This happened while the now-Guardian employee worked in a business development role for a building maintenance company that was a competitor to Guardian and had contracts with Paramount.
On September 9, 2019, Behler texted the employee: “How are you? Hope all well. Talk tomorrow?”
Her: “Yes please 🙂 call me anytime xoxo”
AB: “time for lunch?”
Her: “That will be so nice to see you. Yes I am available.”
AB: “12:30 le Bernadin lounge.”
Her: “Perfect.
In February 2020, the employee texted: “Albertcim, thank you for meeting me today. If you google platinum, palladium and sterling they all have the same address. 120 Broadway.”
AB: “Same here. Good to see you. Xx”
Her: “Xox”
That same month, Behler sent the employee a heads-up about a recent personnel departure at 1325 Sixth Avenue of the Americas, a 34-story office tower in Manhattan. In a voice message reviewed by TRD, Behler told her that he “want[s] to talk about the 1325 thing. Keep it [to] yourself. She is going to go to another property because of a conflict they have.”
By July, Covid had forced employees to work remotely. San Francisco, where Paramount was a prominent office owner, had put a pause on all business reopenings. The entire industry was facing an existential crisis of whether the office sector would ever recover.
On July 24th, 2020, the employee texted: “Albertcim just wanted to confirm we are meeting. On the 28th. I have a few important things to go over.”
Albert Behler: “Yes, we do meet. Looking forward. I can do afternoon, say around 4/5 pm ok?”
The employee: “Perfect!! Looking forward to it. Let me know where we can meet. ❤️”
More questions than answers
Paramount said the contract at 60 Wall does not expose it to any meaningful economic impact or risk.
60 Wall is also the only contract between Guardian and Paramount, according to a spokesperson for Paramount. It was not an existing relationship.
It is an odd transaction for the firm’s CEO to personally undertake, given that Paramount barely owns the property.
The Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC took on a 95 percent stake in 60 Wall in 2017, and Paramount, which controlled a 5 percent stake, was tasked with managing the property and day-to-day operations. Paramount became the public face of the 47-story tower.
The building, once home to JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank, is now empty and undergoing a $250 million renovation. A spokesperson for GIC directed all inquiries to Paramount. GIC said it is no longer the majority owner of the property. It is unclear whether Paramount disclosed information about the contract with Guardian and Behler’s direct involvement in the deal to the building’s majority owners.
Paramount is now exploring a potential sale of the company as its stock is trading under $7. It hired Bank of America as a financial advisor.
Paramount’s board previously rejected two bids to sell the company, including one in February 2022, at as high as $12 a share. Once private, shareholder concerns and public disclosure will no longer be a concern.
