News
THE MALKIN PHILOSOPHY
February 4, 2009
| Listen, folks, we can use inspiration these days, so we were delighted to be on hand yesterday to hear W&M president Tony Malkin give his recipe for surviving challenging times. He told acrowd at a B’nai B’rith real estate unit luncheon at the Cornell Club on East 44th the key is having a good reputation and record, and committing to the market so it commits to you. |
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| Tony knows something about surviving downturns—he entered the market in January ‘89. He says that going into New York is like joining a pessimism convention, but assures us we’re not going to zero. Those who set their targets to ’06-’07 levels will have problems, but people who “don’t run to excess will survive.” He adds, with a smile: “But it doesn’t mean that you won’t get wet.” |
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| Tony with B’nai B’rith members, including chapter president Gerald Morganstern of Hofheimer Gartlir & Gross (third from left). Develop your own compass, set out to do what you do best, and play on your strengths, he advised. His own companies are investing, signing leases, improving properties, setting cash aside, and closing on financing, even today. The motto "Survive and Prosper" was printed on t-shirts he gave his employees in '91. We guess they took it seriously: Every officer he brought on in '89 is still with him. (Or maybe they kept getting great t-shirts?) |
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| CREOPoint.com’s Jean-Claude Goldenstein, attorney Arnold Spiegel, Chelsea Capital’s Daniel Shahrabani, and NAI Global’s Jeff Finn. Jean Claude’s currently advising NAI in the wake of asset restructuring increases and growing CREOPoint’s social network, which now boasts members from 35 countries. Daniel reports deals are still getting done in mortgage financing, although more prudently. |
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| Buchbinder & Warren Realty’s Roberto Camacho and Brenda Hirsch Weinberg with iCap Realty Advisors’ Harout Ghazarian. Brenda’s not only a full-time broker, but a rabbi—her congregation B’nai Torah is in Orange County. She jokes her services run hand-in-hand: You marry a couple, then lease them a new apartment. |
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| NAI Global’s Henry Goodfriend, New York Times’ Russ Freyman, and Valley National Bank’s Sheldon Laufgraben. Sheldon tells us that the owner/user finance market has considerably slowed, but it does have a silver lining: spending more time with his two grandkids. |
