Historic Real Estate In New York City / Commercial Real Estate 101

Historic Real Estate In New York City

This week I had the opportunity to celebrate the holidays at two historic real estate landmarks.  On Tuesday night it was the Apollo Theatre in Harlem - a legendary music and cultural venue.  Former Doobie Brother pianist and lead singer Michael McDonald brought his “Evening of Holiday & Hits” to New York City. 

The Apollo theatre is in beautiful condition and the sound was exceptional. The staff couldn’t have been friendlier.  McDonald and his band played holiday songs as well as a number of big Doobie Brothers hits.  The audience was on their feet dancing! It was so much fun!! His message of peace and understanding was punctuated in the final encore song, ‘Takin’ It To The Streets.’ 

But this was only the appetizer.  On Wednesday night I had the privilege of attending the Rockefeller Center Tree lighting ceremony with my business partner, Liz Weiner.  Thanks to the generosity of Steve Wechsler of Tishman Speyer, we were in attendance at the 81^st Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony.  It was a beautiful night in New York.  Thousands of people had lined the streets by late afternoon hoping to get close enough to see that special moment when the tree lights are turned on.

Having an invitation allows you direct access to the party held in the Sea Grill restaurant.  Interestingly enough, once inside, you find yourself wanting to go back outside and be closer to the tree! When we got out and worked our way up to one of the observation areas it was truly a site to behold – in addition to the thousands in the street, there were hundreds of people standing in the windows of the office buildings that look down on the tree; their silhouettes looked somewhat surreal.  As the time for the tree lighting drew closer, the windows filled up, as did the carpet-covered ice skating rink. 

While I have previously attended this festive event, this was the first time I was able to find a spot outside, right in front of the tree, and be there when New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Tishman Speyer’s Jerry Speyer flicked the switch that lit the 45,000 colored lights on the 76-foot tree.  

All major cities of the world have architectural wonders. For me, New York’s Rockefeller Center always brings back fond memories during the holiday season.  I remember the tradition of driving my sons in from New Jersey when they were young, on a random Sunday evening, just so they could see the tree. 

But it’s more than the ‘tree’…it’s the people ice skating, the flags blowing in the wind, the lightshow of snowflakes on the skyscrapers and the confluence of a global community. It’s the feeling and the energy created by the season and the enjoyment that fills us up during this time. Many tourists seeing the tree for the first time, and others - New Yorkers like me - who take every opportunity to walk the promenade (I especially like to see the statue 0f Prometheus on that promenade overlooking the ice) smiling to themselves with the thought, “This is what New York City is all about.”  

Come visit New York City this holiday season.  It’s magical!  

Commercial Real Estate 101

During a breakfast meeting this week the talk turned to the number of college students in university real estate programs and their plans after graduation.  Both my breakfast partner and I agreed on a recommendation for these students: learn the business from the ground up!

We talked about the life cycle of income-producing real estate and all the disciplines and jobs necessary to create or re-create profit from real estate.

I’m not certain but it feels like the real estate industry is different than others.  Maybe not.  If there is a difference, perhaps it’s that developed real estate – office buildings, apartments, shopping centers, manufacturing facilities, hotels – is part of our everyday existence… we live, work and play in real estate.  Could that be what attracted me to real estate more than 30 years ago - and what still attracts young people today?

When a college student asks you about the type of summer internship that might be most useful to them, share the concept of getting in on the ground floor and the value of gaining experience on the way up. Come to think of it, taking an internship, or even a part time job, where you carry bricks on a construction site could help build the foundation of a career in real estate.

Commercial real estate is a great industry.  No matter whether you have dreams of owning and operating - or investing - in real estate, you should know everything about what makes a property tick and how to make money for yourself and your investors.  Observe those that have been successful.  Learn what they did.  Talk with people in all different types of jobs connected to the property – leasing agents, building managers, the maintenance team and even the mailman – you can gain more knowledge, as well as a fresh perspective, from everyone you speak to. Learn how to manage costs, increase income, attract and retain tenants and be financially and environmentally responsible. And, when it comes to decision making, the ‘gut’ instinct (Is this a good location?  Is this a good investment?) should not be ignored.

On The Road...

Dec. 9:  Welco Real Estate Holiday Party, New York, NY

Jan. 22 - 24, 2014:  IMN (Information Management Network) Winter Forum on Opportunity and Private Fund Investing, Laguna Beach, CA

Mar. 11 - 14: MIPIM, Cannes, France

May 4 - 7:  CRE (Counselors of Real Estate) Mid-year meetings, Austin, TX

May 16:  Annual meeting of The Hoyt Fellows, North Palm Beach, FL

Rockefeller Center Tree 2014

Disclaimer 

All content in this blog is created for informational purposes only. Content, which includes all text, photos, video and graphics is not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company or individual.  Steve Felix makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or other information as a result of following any featured link to or from this site.  The intention of this blog is to do no harm in regards to injury, defamation or libel. What is written or shown is not to be taken as fact or absolute.  Steve Felix will hold himself harmless for any errors or omissions in this blog’s information; including but not limited to external link information, translation or interpretation of content or incorrect grammar or punctuation. 

November 22, 1963 / The "D" Word

November 22, 1963

There were long-standing plans to move from Forest Hills, NY to Livingston, NJ on November 22, 1963.  It was going to be a huge event – my Dad just closed on his very first home and the family was leaving the city and moving to the suburbs.  Little did anyone know what would transpire that day and how truly huge the events would be for the world - let alone the Felix family. 

President John Kennedy and my Dad were both born in 1917.  My dad, Manney Felix, died four years ago this week at 92.  John Kennedy - assassinated on that day in 1963 - was 46. 

Everyone of a certain age remembers exactly where he or she was when they heard JFK was shot.  We had stopped at my grandparents’ apartment in Rego Park to say ‘goodbye’ before we moved exactly 30.7 miles west.  Someone came out of the elevator and exclaimed, “The President is dead!”  What?? The youthful and charismatic president, dead??  Impossible.  But it was true. 

We were on a tight schedule that day and had to get into the car and meet the moving van at our new home. Had things been different, we probably would have camped out at my grandparents’ apartment and watched the news.

The movers finished delivering the furniture from our small apartment (not nearly enough to fill the new split-level).  We unpacked only one thing - the black and white TV.  We didn’t stop watching it the entire weekend as the craziness unfolded and magnified.

This is the 50^th anniversary of JFK’s death.  My generation lost our innocence that day.   Other generations have lost theirs on other dates....December 7, 1941; September 11, 2001.  The relative safety a generation had grown up with disappeared in the blink of an eye. 

There are significant days in all our lives; those that are etched into our memories forever.  Some are recorded in public history - others in personal or family legend.

I would have loved if my Dad had documented some stories about his life although I do have a few cassette tapes of ‘interviews’ I conducted with him and his sister Phyllis.  From their different recollections you would have thought they had grown up in different families!  My Mom, who died relatively quickly after being diagnosed with brain cancer, simply never had the chance after getting sick. 

I have been documenting my own stories, on and off, for a number of years as a project called, “Driving With Your Knees.”  It’s not easy for me to be disciplined about it – I do it in fits and starts.  Perhaps you may want to consider beginning this type of project.  And this work continues, for as long as you live….whenever you feel like it…  You don’t even need to be sick to start a project like this…How nice to begin when you’re feeling your best. It doesn’t have to be in writing, you can speak into a recording device (like your phone). You don’t have to self-edit…just let it flow. The stories will accumulate and paint a picture of a life…yours! It’s fun to reread some of your own highlights. And this may simply be another way to share yourself with others who care about you.

The "D" Word

The ‘D’ word is in vogue.  In real estate I’m talking about ‘development.’  This week it came up in two different university Masters of Real Estate programs; we heard it directly from the students at Johns Hopkins and read it in student bios from the University of Wisconsin.

Some of the international students at Johns Hopkins Real Estate and Infrastructure program at the Carey Business School plan to bring acquired knowledge, gained through education and internships, back to their home country and develop various types of properties.  Some of the US students mentioned they may be more likely to seek positions with existing development companies - and some hope to strike out on their own immediately.  

Having worked for three developers in my career I can confirm that development is exciting.  At times however it is also excruciating, frustrating, exasperating, and perplexing. It is certainly always challenging and, ultimately, rewarding.  

At the Global Real Estate Markets Conference in New York - hosted by the James A. Graaskamp Center for Real Estate, Wisconsin School of Business - the discussion was around global development.

David Simon, Chairman and CEO of Simon Property Group, (global retail real estate developer) said, “At some point too much building will occur and the guy that has the capital will be able to buy things cheaply and clean things up.” 

Doing business in emerging markets requires partnering up with the right development company.  While there are certain challenges in the US, for example, when a New York City developer decides to build a shopping center in Glendive, Montana, they pale in comparison to the lack of transparency issues that are known to exist in China.   

  

The enthusiasm for real estate exhibited by student groups this week was undeniable.  And, the competitiveness for jobs in commercial real estate is very real.  Some of the students with development in mind may not find that opportunity right away. But as Bob Lieb, Chairman of New Jersey-based Mountain Development (and a former neighbor) once told me, “The best way to learn the real estate business is from the ground up.”  Of course, that’s the way buildings are constructed. But it also holds true for a career.  I salute those emerging commercial real estate professionals with the courage and conviction to enter the ranks of development.  The passion for the industry that I know and love - shown by all students I’ve interacted with - is a joy to be around. 

On The Road…

Dec. 4:  Tishman Speyer and RCPI Landmark Properties, 81^stRockefeller Center Tree Lighting, New York, NY

Jan. 22 - 24, 2014:  IMN (Information Management Network) Winter Forum on Opportunity and Private Fund Investing, Laguna Beach, CA

Mar. 11 - 14: MIPIM, Cannes, France

Enjoy the Thanksgiving Holiday!!  OTR will return the first week in December.

Disclaimer 

All content in this blog is created for informational purposes only. Content, which includes all text, photos, video and graphics is not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company or individual.  Steve Felix makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or other information as a result of following any featured link to or from this site.  The intention of this blog is to do no harm in regards to injury, defamation or libel. What is written or shown is not to be taken as fact or absolute.  Steve Felix will hold himself harmless for any errors or omissions in this blog’s information; including but not limited to external link information, translation or interpretation of content or incorrect grammar or punctuation. 

The Tallest Building? / Always Thanksgiving

The Tallest Building? 

On November 12, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat announced that the new One World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan has officially been ruled taller than the Willis Tower in Chicago. Because I thought you might be intrigued, I offer the following excerpt from the New York Times’ article that day titled, “By a Spire, Manhattan Regains a Title From Chicago.”

 “New York’s tallest building was deemed taller even though it has six fewer floors and its roof is more than 100 feet lower than the top side of the Willis Tower. (Formerly known as the Sears Tower, the Chicago building captured the title in the 1970s from the twin towers.)

How can that be?

It all depends on what the definition of an antenna is.

Both buildings have long masts poking skyward from their roofs. But those on the 1,451-foot Willis Tower are considered antennas, which the council does not count in calculating the height of a building.

The 408-foot long mast on 1 World Trade Center, on the other hand, is more than just a means of improving radio signals, its developers argued. They called it a spire and insisted it was a critical and permanent element of the architects’ overall design.

When 25 members of the council’s height committee met in Chicago on Friday, they heard the spire argument from the chief architect, David Childs of the firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and representatives of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which developed the trade center.

The New York contingent said the spire had always been part of the plan to achieve the symbolic height of 1,776 feet.

The committee members unanimously agreed that the spire should be counted.”

*

In the Chicago Tribune, Mayor Rahm Emanuel responded to the announcement.  "I just saw the decision. And I would just say to all the experts gathered in one room, if it looks like an antenna, acts like an antenna, then guess what? It is an antenna.” 

One might think that measuring the height of a building is a simple matter…especially with the technology available today.  Not so.  I visited the website of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat and read their ‘Criteria for the Defining and Measuring of Tall Buildings.’  Definitely complicated (Check it out for yourself - http://www.ctbuh.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=zvoB1S4nMug%3d&tabid=446&language=en-US).  And when there is room left for deliberation and debate, the human component brings subjectivity.  

Is it also possible that the decision makers had some sub-conscious sentimental reasons for the final decision?? We’ll never know….

Always Thanksgiving

A good friend and I wanted to celebrate Thanksgiving together but will not be in the same city for the holiday.  We decided to celebrate our own Thanksgiving this past week.   

Never having cooked a turkey and trimmings before, it was a fun adventure – planning the meal, buying the food, choosing which recipes to use for the turkey, stuffing, sweet potato casserole (with marshmallow topping, of course!) and making do with my limited kitchen paraphernalia.  Somehow we managed.  The meal was table-ready a little later than we had planned and the white meat may have been just a little bit dry  - but it was delicious.

Sitting down to the meal and toasting our accomplishment I closed my eyes for just a moment and realized how lucky I was – to have my health, to have a wonderful family and to be working at a business I love.  And I knew what it felt like to give ‘thanks’ and to share a special moment with a true friend.

I hope you are able to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends you want to be with and that you are able to appreciate all you have, as well as all you have to give. 

As we all know, the feelings of thanks and giving are not limited to just one day.  Think about what you can do for someone else by giving just a little bit of your time…it may make all the difference in the world to the other person...and, I guarantee, to you too.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Congratulations…

Glenn Rufrano returning to O’Connor Capital Partners as Chairman and CEO

On The Road…

Nov. 20 - 21:  Johns Hopkins University to conduct a workshop for students in the Edward St. John Real Estate Program, Washington, DC

Dec. 4:  Tishman Speyer and RCPI Landmark Properties, 81^st Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting, New York, NY

Jan. 22 - 24, 2014:  IMN (Information Management Network) Winter Forum on Opportunity and Private Fund Investing, Laguna Beach, CA

Mar. 11 - 14: MIPIM, Cannes, France

Two ways to circle the world / Holidays in the Big Apple / Hot Food and Beverage Trends

Two ways to circle the world

When coaching people on how to ‘work a room’ I offer two methods:  circulate the room or let the room circulate around you.  Spinning this concept a bit - this week, rather than being ‘on the road’ I was in New York, but had numerous meetings with people from other parts of the world. 

One young professional, born and raised in the US and employed by a global real estate development company, had just returned from one of many periodic trips to China when we saw each other.  He is raising money from individual investors - the Chinese love investing in the US and especially New York City!

Another meeting was over lunch with a good friend in from San Francisco.  His capital raising efforts are strictly domestic, although he works for a global real estate investment management firm.  We talked about the not un-common challenge of getting people to reply to an email or return a phone call and the ‘elation’ when they simply do!  

Brainstorming on ideas to improve results were relegated to our next encounter which we agreed would be over cocktails and dinner and which would certainly produce the answer!

Visiting from Hong Kong was a former colleague who started her own real estate investment advisory firm about two years ago.  Her niche is partnering European and Asian capital with US real estate developers.  Business is good. She and I both favor the exciting and fulfilling ‘uncertainty’ of entrepreneurship over being an employee in a large corporation.

Imagining Manhattan as the ‘room you’re working’ is a daunting thought.  But given the magnetic character of the real estate capital of the world, if you make yourself available to your global colleagues, in time the ‘room’ will circle around you!

Holidays in the Big Apple

It’s special in New York as we head into Thanksgiving and the gift-giving season. The brisk early winter air is invigorating.  The ice on the Rockefeller Center rink has been in place since October 12 and more and more holiday lights are being plugged in every day alerting the consumer that it’s time to get busy! 

The city is a wonderful place to bring children of all ages, to simply walk around, shop or perhaps take a spin on the ice at Rock Center or Bryant Park. Hey, if you are going to be in New York over the holidays and have some extra time, please reach out to me.  I’d love to meet you and toast to a healthy, happy and prosperous 2014! 

Hot Food & Beverage Trends

Some years ago my former boss hired a restaurant consultant named Michael Whiteman.  We were planning  to build our second enclosed regional mall in the Baton Rouge, LA market and wanted to differentiate it from the first. 

Whiteman’s idea was to create a unique food court of local and regional restaurants. He suggested a Louisiana road trip to experience the indigenous cuisine. I was lucky enough to be asked to accompany Michael on this adventure.  That trip is indelibly etched in my mind and on my palate!

Over the course of four days we worked (and ate) our way through Bayou country, stopping to sample truly incredible Creole and other cooking.  It was a delightful experience as Michael really knew his way around, bringing us to some tiny gems of restaurants that only a local might know.

Baum+Whiteman, a consulting business formed by Michael and the late restaurant industry legend Joe Baum, are considered to be on the leading edge of the food and beverage world.  The firm just released their annual “12 Hottest Food & Beverage Trends for Restaurant and Hotel Dining for 2014 + 30 Buzzwords.” Take a look at it here:  (http://baumwhiteman.com/2014TrendForecast.pdf). 

After devouring it, you will be the one making the cool gastronomic suggestions to friends and colleagues.  Bon appetite!

On The Road...

Nov. 20 - 21:  Johns Hopkins University to conduct a workshop for students in the Edward St. John Real Estate Program, Washington, DC

Jan. 22 - 24, 2014:  IMN (Information Management Network) Winter Forum on Opportunity and Private Fund Investing, Laguna Beach, CA

Mar. 11 - 14: MIPIM, Cannes, France (planned)

Disclaimer 

All content in this blog is created for informational purposes only. Content, which includes all text, photos, video and graphics is not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company or individual.  Steve Felix makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or other information as a result of following any featured link to or from this site.  The intention of this blog is to do no harm in regards to injury, defamation or libel. What is written or shown is not to be taken as fact or absolute.  Steve Felix will hold himself harmless for any errors or omissions in this blog’s information; including but not limited to external link information, translation or interpretation of content or incorrect grammar or punctuation.