045-48 Winners & Losers Se FINAL.Indd
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THE CREDIT CRUNCH Who got crunched — and who didn’t A look at where players landed one year after the credit market debacle BY LAUREN ELKIES The Real Deal has chosen to look at some of the year’s biggest winners year ago this month the credit markets erupted, and since and losers. People whose stars have risen or fallen run the gamut from then it has been rough going. While the wheel of fortune al- heads of real estate firms to architects to investors to individual real es- A ways turns — there will forever be some real estate players on tate brokers to politicians. top while others take hits — this year many of the stories appear to be Every tale is instructive, but we decided to hone in on 25 of the most related to credit market woes. notable cases, limiting our scope to firms and entities with direct im- Because it is the anniversary month of the subprime mortgage crisis, pact on the New York City area real estate market. Fortunes on the rise Mortimer Zuckerman, head of real estate investment trust Boston Properties, David Schechtman, senior director of Eastern Consolidated’s turnaround and editor-in-chief of U.S. News & World Report, and chairman and co-publisher of the New distressed group. York Daily News. A former bankruptcy lawyer, and part of perhaps the only — or at In June, Boston Properties beat out other bidders and com- least the most visible — local brokerage company with a dedicat- pleted the acquisition of the General Motors Building from ed group handling smaller distressed loans and real estate deals, Harry Macklowe for approximately $2.8 billion, the high- Schechtman has benefited from a rise in the amount of distressed est price ever paid for a U.S. office building. Zuckerman also properties. Prior to that, he had to subsidize his distressed loan busi- bought three other buildings from Macklowe, bringing the ness with ordinary real estate deals. “There wasn’t enough distress total sale to $3.95 billion. to support me,” Schechtman said. Zuckerman was able to do the deal by turning to sources He said last month that he has seen exponential growth in his few have access to in the current market — Middle Eastern business in the previous 12 to 16 weeks. He has been hired exclusively to sell several loans investors. and said he is able to tap into the firm’s Rolodex of “a lot of under-the-radar high-net- “It is no surprise that he was able to maneuver capital world- worth individuals and institutions.” Another source of revenue is the mezzanine loans wide to make the deal happen,” said Adelaide Polsinelli, an associate vice president of that are now coming due. “I’m sorry that banks and their investors are losing money investments at Marcus & Millichap. It also set an example for investors on how creative on some of the risks that they took in the last few years, but I’m happy that we’re able one needs to be to get deals done in a tumultuous and unpredictable capital market.” to mitigate their losses,” he said. William “Billy” Macklowe, recently ascended to chairman and CEO of Mack- Arthur and William Lie Zeckendorf, founders of Zeckendorf Realty, and lowe Properties. owners and co-chairmen of Terra Holdings, parent company of Halstead Property and While the Macklowes have obviously seen their empire diminish, it was the son who Brown Harris Stevens. was instrumental in saving the family firm and is now charged with rebuilding it. Not The brothers’ 15 Central Park West condo development has been a huge success, draw- long after his father, real estate titan Harry Macklowe, got into trouble trying to pay ing a list of high-profile buyers including Sting, Denzel Washington and hedge-fund back loans he took out to purchase seven Midtown buildings last year, Billy Macklowe manager Daniel Loeb and achieving staggering sales prices in a down market. took the reins, and his father became chairman emeritus. (Billy Macklowe had been The 202-unit project sold out for around $2 billion before the building was con- the president of the company.) structed. Recently the building, where apartment resale prices are more than double the Billy Macklowe was publicly critical of his father’s decision to buy the seven build- original price paid, has benefited from the continued strength of the luxury market. ings, according to the New York Times. When asked how 15 Central Park West has been able to achieve such jaw-dropping He is seen as more conservative than his risk-taking father. After Harry Macklowe, prices, William responded: “It’s been well-received and well-delivered, and the market’s as head of the company, defaulted on a $1.2 billion bridge equity loan from the Fortress reacted strongly to what Zeckendorf Development created in conjunction with Robert Investment Group, Billy Macklowe negotiated a partial payment plan on behalf of the A.M. Stern.” The Zeckendorfs are working on a project near the United Nations, which company, Portfolio magazine said. William said was “progressing.” He also was instrumental in the sale of the General Motors Building to avoid the company’s financial collapse. Andrew Cuomo, New York State attorney general since 2006. According to spokesman Steve Solomon, Macklowe is “focused on overseeing the Eliot Spitzer may have been called the Sheriff of Wall Street, development” of office building 510 Madison Avenue and the redevelopment of another but since taking office last year, Cuomo has done his share office tower, 1330 Sixth Avenue. of eliciting change. He added: “Long range, he hopes to rebuild the Macklowe real estate portfolio with In contrast to Spitzer, who was often called out for target- Class A properties and remain one of the preeminent owner/developers and managers ing individuals, Cuomo is focused on making “systemic re- of commercial and residential real estate in Manhattan.” (See Harry Macklowe.) forms,” according to the New York Times, and has vowed to crack down on shoddy developers. Currently, Cuomo is trying Albert Behler, CEO of real estate firm Paramount Group. to catch up on backlogged condo construction complaints; his Paramount has been able to put together some of the big- proposal to increase developer filing fees is awaiting passage in 1301 Sixth Avenue gest buys since the credit crunch hit, making the priciest the state Legislature. Should it pass, the funds would be allo- building purchase ever Downtown by buying 60 Wall Street cated to the attorney general’s Real Estate Finance Bureau for hiring and enforcement. for $1.2 billion on the cusp of the credit crunch. Paramount He’s gotten a good reception from some for how he has tackled reforms in the face Group was in talks to buy 1301 Sixth Avenue from Harry of the subprime crisis. Macklowe’s distressed portfolio for $1.5 billion, according In March, Cuomo, who is knowledgeable about housing from his cabinet stint at to media reports, which would be the second largest deal of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, moved to restore the credibility the year, behind the G.M. Building. (See Harry Macklowe of appraisers through an agreement with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The compa- and Darcy Stacom.) nies agreed to adhere to a code that attempts to eliminate bias in appraisals. Cuomo Last year, the company purchased 31 West 52nd Street has taken a number of other steps to root out appraisal fraud, issuing subpoenas and for around $600 million, one of the biggest buys to happen filing a suit against companies suspected of price inflation. Also, Cuomo is looking at in Manhattan just after the credit markets imploded. the role of investment banks in the subprime crisis. www.TheRealDeal.com August 2008 45 THE CREDIT CRUNCH Stephen Ross, chairman, CEO and founder of the Related Companies. though the building is not slated to be complete until fall 2009. Although the record The Related Companies might have a chance to leave more of an was struck down just two months later, in March, the building scored the then-high- imprint on Manhattan than any other developer over the course of est price for Brooklyn’s most expensive condo with the sale of a $6.6 million pent- the next several decades as a result of their 26-acre Hudson Yards house apartment to Elizabeth Stribling, founder of Stribling & Associates, which is win earlier this year, which will give them an undeveloped site big- marketing the project. ger than even Ground Zero, which is 16 acres, to work with. Related, along with Goldman Sachs, grabbed the project away Peter Fine, president and co-founder of Atlantic Development, which specializes from Tishman Speyer when the latter’s deal for a $1 billion re- in affordable housing. development of the yards fell through. “The Hudson Yards is a once-in-a-lifetime, With the slowdown in the market, some real estate players might generation-defining opportunity, and we are ecstatic,” Ross said. “All of us at Re- have more hobbies or side businesses, but Peter Fine has both. lated are passionate about this historic opportunity to create New York’s next great Fine co-produced and partly funded the Tony award-winning neighborhood.” musical “In the Heights,” which chronicles the experiences of resi- The company is moving forward with condo and rental projects around Manhattan dents in the Upper Manhattan enclave of Washington Heights. but isn’t shy about heading to outer boroughs that other major developers steer clear of. The play opened on Broadway at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in In April, city officials formally announced Related’s third major project in the Bronx, March.