PETER BYNOE He Takes the Ball and Runs with It
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SM When it Comes to Sports Stadiums, PETER BYNOE He Takes the Ball and Runs With It by Keith D. Picher As the real estate market softened in mid- help of NBA Commissioner David Stern and Lee I. Miller, today a DLA Piper joint CEO 1987, Peter C.B. Bynoe was in Los Angeles partners Jay Pritzker, Jerold Wexler and but then the head of Rudnick’s real estate advising business investors to pull the plug on others. For his trouble, Bynoe became the first practice, says he thought the practice would a project. A telephone call came from Mayor African-American managing general partner grow because of Bynoe’s people skills, his Harold Washington’s office. He wanted to see and owner of a major U.S. sports franchise. entrepreneurial ability, and his contacts in both Bynoe, so they met when Bynoe returned home. His tenure was brief but interesting; he sold his business and sports. “Peter,” Washington said, “the White Sox interest in 1992. “Peter brings something that a lot of lawyers are threatening to leave Chicago.” Next, Bynoe turned to Atlanta, where he had don’t bring,” including experiences from his It was the most important day of Bynoe’s worked with Mayor Maynard H. Jackson Jr. on Boston upbringing and his business career. The mayor wanted him to be the CEO minority contracting issues for the city’s perspectives, he says. For instance, Bynoe’s in charge of building a new Comiskey Park, the airport. Atlanta’s Olympic authority enlisted his master’s in business administration from city’s first professional sports venue to open assistance, and eventually Bynoe helped Harvard emphasized finance and marketing. since 1929 when Chicago Stadium debuted. Atlanta and Fulton County negotiate with the He also earned his undergraduate and law Bynoe had worked for and contributed to Atlanta Braves so the 85,000-seat Centennial degrees there. Washington’s campaign. He had chaired Olympic Stadium could morph into the Success confirmed Miller’s instincts within a Chicago’s landmarks commission. He had put 45,000-seat Turner Field. month. The firm landed the Milwaukee together complex real estate projects. Through Brewers stadium deal, representing Wisconsin local politics, he knew Gov. James R. A Sports Facilities Practice and the county and city of Milwaukee. Then Thompson, who had to affirm the mayor’s Late in 1994, he pondered his career. the firm inked a deal involving the Cincinnati Illinois Sports Facilities Authority appointment. Bynoe sensed the handful of new sports Reds and Bengals. Then came projects for the “That really changed my life,” says Bynoe, arenas would set off a chain reaction, because Miami Heat and Washington Redskins. now a member of DLA Piper U.S. LLP’s Executive Committee. The authority opened the stadium in 1991 under budget with only four employees. The $250 million project trained Bynoe in negotiating from the likes of White Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and Thomas R. Reynolds, Thompson’s choice to chair the authority. Julian C. D’Esposito Jr., a government partner at Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw who represented the authority, says Bynoe had a talent for dealing with board members, elected officials, displaced neighbors, contractors and the White Sox. He especially remembers Bynoe’s remarkable presence and his rare combination of “tremendous intellectual ability, personality and practical street sense.” The park’s original design took a lot of heat, Bynoe admits, but it was what the ball club requested. Recent changes to U.S. Cellular stadiums create revenues that owners do not “We were on a roll,” Bynoe says, thanks to Field have been well received, Bynoe says, have to share. his unfettered access to the firm’s financial and because the industry has learned much since “I was uniquely positioned,” he explains, human resources. the early ’90s. Criticism often is enlightening, “since I was involved successfully in two of the A deal for a San Francisco 49ers stadium he adds. “I’ve learned more from my mistakes first deals, and since I actually built one.” cratered when Edward J. DeBartolo, Jr., was than from anything I’ve done right.” So he approached five law firms pitching the implicated in the corruption case of Louisiana Bynoe’s career quickly blossomed. He idea of a sports facilities practice. Rudnick Gov. Edwin Edwards. rescued a deal by African-American investors & Wolfe, which later merged into DLA But other deals hatched from adversity. to take a controlling interest in the Denver Piper, responded aggressively. The firm had Bynoe’s father, a public official and lawyer Nuggets when the lead partner could not worked with Bynoe on an Oakland, Calif., who had done work for Bill Russell, often perform. He worked the most intense six redevelopment project and later on a brought his son to Celtics game s— but they months of his life raising $65 million with the Boston deal. shunned Red Sox games. African-Americans SM often were taunted and attacked around younger firm members. Diversity is an eternal Fenway Park in the 1950s and ’60s. Today, the journey, he says, more than something to be Red Sox are his client. Bynoe began mended with a five-year plan. counseling them on real estate issues when Jane DiRenzo Pigott, managing director of the team renovated its park. He had worked R3 Group, a consulting business specializing with the team’s general counsel and one of the in diversity leadership and change, says Bynoe team’s owners, John Henry, when the Florida has been her sounding board for many years. Marlins first sought a stadium deal that “There are no other Peter Bynoes,” she remains elusive. says, describing his unflagging enthusiasm Last year, the odds looked bad for a stadium for keeping diversity at the heart of his agreement between the Washington Nationals personal agenda. and the District of Columbia. The City Council “Law firm life is traumatic for everybody,” retained Bynoe and his partner, Louis S. says Bynoe, especially during times of organic Cohen, and rescued the deal with a 2 a.m. growth and mergers and acquisitions. The vote. Bynoe says people usually call him with question, he says, is how much more difficult disasters ready to happen, not with easy deals. is it for attorneys with challenges tied to their “We’ve had good fortune making things race, gender, disability or sexual preference? work,” he says, “even in negative environments Bynoe says anything done to improve their lot with intense negotiations.” can eventually affect everyone’s quality of life. DLA Piper is one of five law firms handling Bynoe could tell countless stories. He went legal work for the 2 012 London Olympics. from Harvard to Chicago via a contact made in Opening his practice to broader national and a summer consulting gig in Tanzani a— where international ventures is what Bynoe envisioned his company helped President Nyerere all along, he says. Chicago’s 20 16 Olympic bid, reorganize the government with new though, may allow him to apply out-of-town management techniques. experience to the community. Bynoe serves on On his office walls are family photos of other the 20 16 committee. He has let the group’s government leaders from years ago, including chair, Patrick G. Ryan, and Mayor Richard M. then-Sen. John F. Kennedy and Ethiopia’s Daley know that he is happy to help. Haile Selassie. Not far away are three pieces of Sports stadium deals tie up 10 to 20 percent Chicago Bulls memorabilia autographed by a of his hours nowadays. Business development friend named Michael. Bynoe happened to and the firm’s executive committee and introduce Michael to another friend, Barack. diversity initiative take half of his time. Major Impressed by how Obama reacted after infrastructure projects and key clients such as losing in 2000, Bynoe agreed to back Obama’s Boeing, Sara Lee and CNA Insurance split his 2004 U.S. Senate run, though he told him to remaining hours. consider getting “a real job” if he lost a second time. Bynoe says the country’s racial progress The One Person to Meet in presidential politics heartens him, though he James C. Johnson, Boeing’s deputy general takes more joy in Obama’s character and counsel, says an attorney who worked on mind, which have forced the issue. Boeing’s move to Chicago told him if he had Bynoe serves on corporate boards in the to meet just one person in Chicago, it should energy and hospitality industries. His passion be Bynoe. for health care access placed him on the “Professionally, Peter is smart, savvy, boards of Rush University Medical Center and fearless and on top of things,” Johnson says, the CORE Center, which offers care and “and I try to model his behavior.” pharmaceuticals to indigent people with AIDS Johnson says Bynoe’s open, honest and and HIV. caring manner impresses him, along with his For years, Bynoe has served the Goodman way of meeting people where they are. Theatre, including heading the committee that “I enjoy finding a middle ground for a wide planned and built the Randolph and Dearborn range of constituents,” Bynoe says. site. Paul H. Dykstra, a Bell, Boyd & Lloyd He believes listening skills are his strongest partner whose board service to the theater asset, whether tuned to white people, black predates Bynoe’s, puts it simply: “If you want people, rich people or poor people. A natural to get something done, you want to go to choice for DLA Piper’s diversity initiative, Peter Bynoe.” I Bynoe recently turned over its leadership to This article originally appeared in Leading Lawyers Network Magazin e—Real Estate, Construction and Environmental Edition for 2008 and has been reprinted with permission.