News
PERSISTENCE PAYS
April 14, 2011
As money becomes more available, institutional investment in office, retail, and multifamily residential in core markets is heating up. (Think DC and NY; downtown Ypsilanti, less so.) Legal Bisnowrecently met with Seyfarth Shaw real estate attorneys Eric Sidmanand Les Bliwise, who moved from Sutherland Asbill in February and are repping institutional investors looking to make acquisitions andJV investments in major cities. The duo, who’ve worked together forfive years, says the move was influenced by a longstanding relationship with Seyfarth’s co-chair of structured finance, Peter Korda. Eric met Peter across the table in a retail development deal in ’07. After the deal closed, Peter inquired about coming over, but Eric said no. (However, Peter's persistence eventually paid off.) Les, on the other hand, has known Peter for 20 years, first meeting through involvement in bar associations. |
Eric showed us the New York Transit Museum on his giant subway map, a gift from his wife a few years ago. He's a big fan of the NYC subway system (and to our knowledge, not on its payroll) and visited the museum a few months ago with his four-year-old son to check out its rich collection of archived photographs and maps. Although Les doesn’t share Eric’s love of the MTA, he nevertheless took the train to Carnegie Hall to see his son’s former piano teacher accompany Midori a few weeks ago. |