Ed LaGrassa has had senior positions at major
financial companies and global corporations in the fields of Asset Management
and Corporate Real Estate for several decades. Ed is currently president of
Chilton Realty Inc., a real estate investment and brokerage company that raises
equity and structures joint ventures for investors and developers. Chilton also
invests as a principal in real estate ventures. Ed advises and represents
Hong-Kong based private equity clients overseeing their New York City
portfolios.
At Citigroup he was co-head of their
Asset Management workout group overseeing a portfolio of 80 large troubled
properties. He was later the Director of Global Real Estate and involved in the
strategic overview of the banks largest assets. Prior to Citicorp,
Ed ran a large diversified portfolio of investment-grade properties at Merrill
Lynch Hubbard.
At the real estate investment firm of Emmes he headed Asset Management,
where he oversaw an extensive portfolio of office buildings, shopping centers
and industrial properties. Emmes specialized in repositioning undervalued
assets. At Arrow Electronics he headed their entire real estate organization
directing strategy and transactions for Arrow's 300 global locations.
Mr. LaGrassa is a licensed real estate
broker and architect. He is an active member of The Urban Land Institute (ULI)
and their Urban Plan teaching program and The Real Estate Board of New York
(REBNY). Ed has been chairing two industry organizations; the Asset
Management Roundtable and the International Real Estate Group for about 20
years.
Ed is an adjunct Professor at New York
University’s graduate degree program and teaches the capstone course in real
estate Asset Management. He is often called “The Mayor of New York City’s Asset
Management community.”
Mr. LaGrassa is a director on several
not-for-profit boards and is also a frequent speaker at industry events. He
collects lots of “stuff” as he calls it including vintage Jaguars, wine,
corkscrews, fountain pens and walking sticks.
How Ed and I met:
It was the late 1970’s
and I was in my first Manhattan-based real estate jobs. The ones
before that were based in New Jersey. I was working for a fellow who
had started out as a commercial real estate mortgage broker and had morphed,
with the times, to doing workouts and turnarounds of problem / foreclosed
retail properties for some of the banks and insurance companies with which he
had mortgage origination relationships. During that time, Ed was at Allied
Stores and at some industry meeting he and I met – we’ve stayed in touch all
these years. Ed and I have had an ongoing friendly debate about who the
greatest networker in the industry is – him or me. Ed knows a lot of
people and has always been generous with his time as both a mentor and sponsor
for commercial real estate industry folks. He has helped numerous
people find positions. His connectivity is second to none – except me
that is (but that debate will continue for the next 30 years!). Ed
has been a great professional friend, a generous soul and a consigliore for me
during some challenging times in my career and personal life.
Q. How did you get your start in the
commercial real estate industry?
A. After getting out of the
Army, my first job was working for an architectural firm that designed regional
shopping centers for such notable developers as Ralph
Birnbaum. That’s where I became familiar with department and retail
stores, strip malls and regional shopping centers. That was my first
introduction to real estate.
Following that I went to work for a
developer who was building Dutchess Mall in Fishkill, NY. I worked on that
project until the bank foreclosed on the property. After that I answered an ad
in the New York Times for a position in the Design & Construction
Department of Allied Stores (now Macys) and became the chief of staff for the
head of that department for the next 5 years. During my tenure there I acted as
a developer, tenant and landlord for their retail properties and shopping
centers and represented such store chains as Brooks Brothers, Ann Taylor and
Jordan Marsh. I was working on the regional malls that Allied was developing
and also on those where one of Allied’ department stores was going to be an
anchor. While at Allied, I received my architecture degree and I practiced as
an architect for while. I am still a licensed architect and take my
continuing education courses to maintain that license. Sometimes I
wonder why, as I won’t be a practicing architect again. Then I
realize - it’s a matter of pride given that it took so long to get
it.
Q. What advice would you
give to someone who has been in the industry a short time or a student looking
to get her or his start?
A. Go to as many industry events as
possible – especially if they’re free. A tip about what I do at
those type events: I stand near the door and see everybody coming in. It gives
me a chance to read their nametag and, when it’s someone I’d like to meet, I go
up and introduce myself. Of course, I’m not shy, but this is something I’ve
done that has proven to be very valuable. Next: begin building your
network, very early. You do this by meeting people at industry
events, getting their business card and then setting up networking situations –
meetings, coffees, etc. Maintaining and expanding your network is
very important – not just when you’re looking for a job. Remember that the most
important part after meeting someone is to follow up. In terms of your first
job, I’d recommend starting with a larger company rather than a small
firm. The reason: when people look at your background you don’t have
to explain who the big company is – everybody knows them. Having the imprimatur
and the seal of approval from a major company, which you’ve worked for, can be
important when you’re starting out in a career.
Follow-on question on building your
network and relationships.
A. It
started when I was looking for a job. I got to meet lots of people
and I started to develop a network and I would then follow up. For example,
when I saw an interesting article, I would send them the article and I would do
that every 90 days or so. This way you’re not forgotten and you’re
not a burden by sending them unwanted emails. If there’s something
that’s pertinent, send it to them. Also, young people could start to get
advisors and mentors early on in their career this could be of tremendous help
because they can help guide you and also make introductions.
I teach in the graduate real estate program at New
York University (NYU) as an Adjunct Professor and have been doing so for about
15 semesters. I remember getting a call from a student of who was attending Baruch
College. He met me at a conference, while I was standing at a door. He reached
out to me and we had breakfast. As result of very active networking he got a
job at Midwest based REIT. I encourage people to do as much networking and
staying in touch with people as possible. Maintain those
relationships. That’s still very important. And, it takes work.
Today, LinkedIn is a good way to see how people are
moving around in their careers. When I see that someone has taken a
new job or gotten a promotion, I tend to call or send him or her an email. I
also send hand-written notes congratulating them since I collect fountain pens.
People have commented to me that my hand-written note, written with a fountain
pen, is something they save. Even with all the connectivity technology
available, a hand-written note has never gone out of favor and people have told
me that they appreciate it. Btw, I still maintain a Rolodex. I find
it faster than using my digital databases.
Q. As you look back on your
career is there something that you wish you had done differently? If
so, what?
A. The first is, getting my
MBA early in my career. I was going to school full time, working
full time then studying for my architect’s exam. My wife and I talked about the
possibility of me going to graduate school, after work, for three or four
years. I think that would have seriously jeopardized my marriage and
so I didn’t do it. That was one of the tradeoffs in my life. One
consequence of that was it took me longer to learn, to gain the knowledge and
learn the terminology. The imprimatur of a graduate degree was important then
and still is now. The other thing I wish I had done earlier in my
career is to find mentors and advisors. They could have helped point
me in the right direction. I might have moved up the food chain a little
faster. For years, I’ve acted in the capacity of mentor and advisor to people –
knowing how important it is.
Q. Who have been the major
influences on your career? How? Why?
A. The four people are Tom
Brown at Merrill Lynch, Pat Goldstein at Citibank, Dan Rose at Rose Associates
(RA) and Andy Davidoff at Emmes.
For several years when I worked at RA,
Dan Rose and I used to meet in the Partners Room every Monday afternoon from
1:30 - 2:30pm. Dan would talk about the visions he had for the firm and what he
personally would like to do. He was dealing with complex situations. One
of things he taught me was the importance of industry and community
services. He liked to say, “I make it before 5pm and I give it away
after 5pm.” That resonated with me and as a result I became much more active in
community service.
Pat Goldstein: I never met anyone who
worked harder. She was one of the smartest people that I’ve ever
met. Pat would know more about every deal in her vast portfolio than
the RM (Relationship Manager) who was supposed to know everything about it. What
she taught me was to focus on the details and to know the
numbers. She was a wizard at that and I still try to emulate her –
know the details, and know the numbers.
Andy Davidoff: Emmes Asset Management.
He had one of the widest breadths of knowledge in the real estate business. He
knew real estate from the boiler room to the capital markets. He
taught me to cover as many bases as possible. I got to know more operational
things from him as well as finance, promotes, waterfalls – the structure of the
private equity world.
Tom Brown was my boss at Merrill Lynch
Hubbard. He had the ability to simplify and integrate some of the most
complex concepts and put them in terms that everyone could understand. We
would throw all these things at him and he would say, “It’s this.” And then he
would be able to help and guide us. When he left Merrill Lynch he still knew
more about parts of their operation than many people who were still
there. Their lawyers and accounts would still call him – and they still
do today – because he had a better grasp on things than many of Merrill’s
own lawyers and accountants.
