Manhattan, NY – Historic Matzo Factory for Sale

Manhattan, NY – A bakery that started a century ago by a Jewish immigrant, with thousands of matzos a day rolling out of two ovens, is fading away from New York City.

The 47,000-square-foot property of the Streit’s matzo factory is on the market for $25 million. “We’re America’s last family owned matzo factory,” said Aaron Gross the great-great-grandson of founder Aron Streit, an Austrian immigrant.

With the area quickly developing into condos, the 32-year-old matzo heir said it is just too difficult to keep manufacturing here. Streets are too congested for the company’s tractor-trailers, and he gets regular noise complaints thanks to the loud machines and two 72-foot-long steel ovens that churn out the matzo. The company makes about 16,000 pounds of matzos a day.

And about a half dozen rabbis visit the factory, where many of the 60 employees have been working for decades.

The red brick factory will keep producing the unleavened flatbread, until the family builds a new factory in about a year — probably in New Jersey.

Gross and two of his cousins will keep running their family business, whose tens of millions of dollars in annual sales represent about 40 percent of the U.S. matzo market. Streit’s competes with Manischewitz Matzo, which owns two other brands, Goodman’s and Horowitz. [AP]