YouSaid · the spoken record

Francis Greenburger

lines on the record: 67
first: 2018-12-28
most recent: 2018-12-28
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

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“Yeah, some of those came, well, after my father died, more during my tenor. But yeah, they were very much part of my growing up and my consciousness.”
2018-12-28 · Masters in Business · Francis Greenburger Discusses Real-Estate Development (Podcast) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Buildings in the boroughs, for instance, a large complex that I undertook in Brooklyn and elsewhere, would be suitable for home ownership. And I also recognize that there were secondary buildings, some non-elevated, in very good locations in Manhattan, for instance, in Greenwich Village. That would be very desirable, and people would be interested in owning. So it was really seeing a broader market for co-ops as opposed to actually inventing the first”
2018-12-28 · Masters in Business · Francis Greenburger Discusses Real-Estate Development (Podcast) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I did. Co-ops prior to when I got involved, which was in the late 70s, were really familiar at two ends of the spectrum, either Park Avenue, very expensive apartments were... Many of those were co-op buildings. Or, interestingly, there were some low income or limited profit co-ops that were created for people who could only afford minimum affordable housing. Done in co op form. Those were done. Some unions created that housing. Some were government and some were other not-for-profit groups. But in between sort of middle-class housing, it was not yet popular. And I recognize that both”
2018-12-28 · Masters in Business · Francis Greenburger Discusses Real-Estate Development (Podcast) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Because in these counter cyclical times, banks are not necessarily willing participants. So often you either have to have very, very good banking relationships, or you have to be able to buy with your own resources on all cash basis and then hope to finance at a later time. So I think the vast part of the development crowd sort of follows the money. And then there's a group that's exceptional who are more counter-cyclical.”
2018-12-28 · Masters in Business · Francis Greenburger Discusses Real-Estate Development (Podcast) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think the world divides itself and there is a tendency when the sun shines, when money's available for many developers to move forward. There are other developers, and I can think of a couple in New York, for example the Durst family. Who were intergenerational and used to thinking over long periods of time. And I remember that in post the collapse of 2008, they started looking around and buying when nobody else was. So, of course, you also have to have very deep pockets”
2018-12-28 · Masters in Business · Francis Greenburger Discusses Real-Estate Development (Podcast) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“If you go to Toronto today, which is one of the One of the biggest development markets in North America and has been probably for 15 or 20 years. you'll find that the profit margins on development are around 12%. That's probably half of what it would be even in New York.”
2018-12-28 · Masters in Business · Francis Greenburger Discusses Real-Estate Development (Podcast) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Very much so, although I have to say that it's not only leading up to the 2008 collapse, it's prevalent in markets that are in great favor. Really on a continuous basis.”
2018-12-28 · Masters in Business · Francis Greenburger Discusses Real-Estate Development (Podcast) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, for example, New York City Which for the last 10 or 15 years has been considered or one of the best investment markets in the world. So capital from everywhere, every corner of the world wants to be here. So there's fierce competition and cap rates get compressed. However, At the same time, if you go to other regions of the United States or internationally, you'll find a different picture market by market, submarket by submark”
2018-12-28 · Masters in Business · Francis Greenburger Discusses Real-Estate Development (Podcast) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I would say generally, and it also depends on the nature of what you're developing. So if you are in a generic kind of marketplace with generic ideas, Not surprisingly, competition is fierce and the margins are highly compressed.”
2018-12-28 · Masters in Business · Francis Greenburger Discusses Real-Estate Development (Podcast) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yes, I had a little misunderstanding with the bank who had financed the foundation construction for me. Even though I had told them what I was doing and they seemed to concur, all of a sudden in January they sent me a letter saying I was in default because my loan required me to continue building no matter what. And of course I called them and said are you crazy? Anyway, I don't really know what was going on within a couple of weeks they backed off. And we renegotiated the agreement to allow for the interim period that would be needed until the market was. Both from a financing point of view as well as a buying point of view.”
2018-12-28 · Masters in Business · Francis Greenburger Discusses Real-Estate Development (Podcast) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Credit frees up and credit is only one part of the equation if it's for sale housing the way this was. There had to be a willing market to buy it because otherwise you might have the financing but you wouldn't”
2018-12-28 · Masters in Business · Francis Greenburger Discusses Real-Estate Development (Podcast) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I recognized almost immediately that building into that kind of financial environment would be disastrous. So I made the decision Very quickly to pull the plug halt development and wait for a better day.”
2018-12-28 · Masters in Business · Francis Greenburger Discusses Real-Estate Development (Podcast) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“We spent one of the surprises when you go into development is land is expensive while preparing plans is very expensive. and we develop full plans for the building, which at that point was to be a hotel and condominium apartment complex. But our plans got interrupted by the course of events. The financial world.”
2018-12-28 · Masters in Business · Francis Greenburger Discusses Real-Estate Development (Podcast) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Non residential, although Battery Park already existed. And there was something called the Giuliani Plan, which offered tax benefits if you converted commercial properties to residential. So we were actually started to convert part of the building and was, I think, one of the first By 2005, we had maybe converted half the building, but there was a lot of major work that we needed to consider. And we realized that the siting of the building was such that if we demolished it and build a new building, there would be extraordinary views. So we began to study that as an option.”
2018-12-28 · Masters in Business · Francis Greenburger Discusses Real-Estate Development (Podcast) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Okay, actually, when I bought it, I wasn't thinking of redeveloping it. I was thinking of it more as an income property and it was fully leased. I think it made about a 10% return. So it looked like something I could just hold on to and over time watch rents go up and hopefully expenses keep stable and have growing income and growing value. Around In the 90s, we lost some tenants York was just beginning to think about downtown as a mixed use environment.”
2018-12-28 · Masters in Business · Francis Greenburger Discusses Real-Estate Development (Podcast) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I think... If you look around New York, and I was walking here past, for instance, Harry Macklow's gallery on Park Avenue, you know, Harry, who I know, has had a mixed career. He's had some incredible successes. But he's had some incredible failures all in New York City real estate. So it's about timing, it's about risks, and it's about what you choose to do or not do.”
2018-12-28 · Masters in Business · Francis Greenburger Discusses Real-Estate Development (Podcast) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It was pretty intuitive. I remember to this day I was walking down the streets, looking at buildings, looking at architecture. Thinking about built environments and thinking about real estate in New York, and realized that I had some sort of a visceral connection with it. That defied my background or any particularly logical connection with my past.”
2018-12-28 · Masters in Business · Francis Greenburger Discusses Real-Estate Development (Podcast) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source