FELDMAN EQUITIES BACKGROUND
Seventy years and two billion dollars of completed commercial real estate projects are two statistics which tell only a part of the Feldman Equities, Inc. story.
In 1900, a young Russian immigrant by the name of "H.J." Feldman arrived in the United States. H.J. arrived in Chicago during the bitterly cold winter of 1902 and got employment at the American Car and Foundry yards. His first week’s wages went towards buying a pair of eyeglasses which he bought from a local street vendor and what was left over paid for his food and shelter. In the following years he saved his money and by 1920, "H.J." was in business for himself. During the "Roaring Twenties," he became one of the largest plumbing contractors in New York City and as the firm expanded, contracts were taken on that included general construction of residential and commercial buildings.
In 1950, the company was awarded a multi-million dollar contract to rehabilitate the Sampson Air Force Base located in Geneva, New York. Shortly after the commencement of the construction, the government expanded the scope of the project due to the impending Korean War and the Feldman family was contracted to commence renovation of 550 buildings on a "crash program." Aside from working factories overtime, the Air Force assisted by flying materials to the project, and the construction went on "around the clock."
The company then went on to build Nike and Atlas Missile bases, atomic energy facilities of all types, sewage and water treatment plants, hospitals, residential, office and industrial buildings. One of the better known projects built by the Feldmans were the three main terminal buildings at O’Hare Airport, which were completed in eleven months throughout a Chicago winter, and for which the city of Chicago paid the firm a substantial bonus.
By 1960, the company was run by HJ and his four sons, including Ed Feldman (Chairman Emeritus and head of acquisitions). In 1960, the company was listed as one of the top 10 general contracting companies in the country. Then, in 1962, the Feldman family began a transition to real estate development and, although they continued to perform construction work, they did so only for projects owned and developed by the Feldman family.
Over a 23 year period, the Feldman family built, owned and managed over 3 million square feet of office and retail space primarily located in the New York metropolitan area.
In 1985, the original family business, then led by each of the four Feldman brothers split into four separate entities. Feldman Equities, Inc. was formed in 1985 by Larry Feldman & his father Ed Feldman. During this period, Feldman Equities developed several major properties in the metropolitan New York area, including a 40 story office tower in Manhattan known as Tower 45. Over the last 20 years, Larry Feldman, together with his father Ed and his partners Jim Bourg and Scott Jensen have developed or acquired over 10 Million sq. ft. of office & retail properties with an aggregate value in excess of two billion dollars.
Following the early 1990's recession, Feldman Equities, Inc. expanded its real estate portfolio by entering into joint ventures with several corporate and private investors including partnerships with GE Capital, George Soros, Morgan Stanley and the Carlyle Group. These joint ventures focused on acquiring underperforming or distressed retail and office properties.
In October of 1997, the company was renamed Tower Realty Trust, Inc. and was reorganized as a Real Estate Investment Trust. The Company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE symbol: "TOW"). Tower was a major owner and manager of office and retail property. Including property owned outside of New York, Tower owned 4.6 million square feet of office space, including 50 acres of land under development in Phoenix, Arizona as an office park. In addition, Tower Realty Trust was also the manager of approximately 800,000 square feet of shopping centers that were owned by Larry Feldman and his joint venture affiliates.
Larry Feldman, age 50, was the Chairman and CEO of Tower Realty Trust. In May of 1999, Tower was sold for approximately $700 Million in cash, stock and debt to an entity controlled by Reckson Associates Realty Corp. ("NYSE: RA"). Reckson is also a publicly traded REIT listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Although Tower has been fully absorbed by Reckson, Larry and his father, Ed, together with their partners Jim Bourg and Scott Jensen, have resumed operations under their old banner as Feldman Equities.
Feldman Equities, Inc. owns an enclosed mall in Tucson, Arizona which is undergoing a highly successful expansion, renovation and lease-up program. In 2003Feldman Equities acquired an enclosed regional mall in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The most notable fact regarding this acquisition is the fact that Feldman signed over 590,000 of leases upon the closing of the transaction, consisting of 2 new anchor tenants.
