News
NOW'S THE TIME
September 16, 2010
| Today's opportunities are in non-obvious situations. Time Equities founder Francis Greenburger, who once purchased what became a $100M building for $1 and substantial carrying costs, told a crowd at YMWREA's monthly luncheon on Tuesday about where to find them. |
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| Francis says office condos have a good future and will be included in more projects. His firm is well-known for turning assets like 125 Maiden Lane into office condos—and earning from $350/SF to as high as $650/SF in sales, a 50% premium over the likely purchase price for a single-investor play. Distress is also opportunistic right now and is trading at attractive prices, he notes. Compelling cap rates and the ability to add value over time is ideal—he'd rather pay $60/SF for a partially vacant shopping center than $300/SF for an occupied, single-tenant doughnut shop. |
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| Francis, with YMWREA's board members (clockwise): Vornado's Glen Weiss, JLL's Glenn Tolchin, Cushman & Wakefield's David Berke, Time Equities' Michael Rudder, Centric Real Estate Advisors'Lindsay Ornstein, and Newmark Knight Frank's Robin Fisher. He says that sometimes the world crawls for per-pound blind buying when prices are low enough. His firm recently paid $20/SF for a distressed office building in Baltimore—risky, but a small dose, and he points out his company plans to hold on to the building in anticipation of an upside. Other signed contracts the firm is involved in include five retail centers, a multifamily building in Murray Hill, a development site in San Diego, and the mortgage on a Silicon Valley office building. |
