The company’s investment strategy is to identify and acquire well located but underperforming commercial properties and utilize the company’s balance sheet and market expertise to create and maximize value. Having exited the LA market in 2011, the firm now concentrates almost exclusively in New York City.
Strengths – as Owner/Operators
- 100% direct long-term ownership of a core portfolio of Manhattan office and retail properties, supported by Meringoff Properties, Inc., an in-house, vertically-integrated property management company;
- a veteran staff of experienced managers, many with over 25 years with the company, implement an investment plan for each asset with a hands-on owner's approach to management, leasing and construction ensuring the maximum creation and maintenance of value in each asset;
- over three decades of experience and market expertise recognizing and quantifying acquisition opportunities, solving complicated and difficult operating problems and maximizing risk-adjusted returns;
- a proven track record of financial success turning around troubled and underperforming assets by repositioning, renovating, re-tenanting and adaptive reuse through capital infusion and an aggressive redevelopment and leasing program.
Strengths – as Buyers
- 35-year proven track record of always closing
- Quick and decisive commitments, often in rapid all-cash transactions
- Ready access to capital
- Active principals dealing directly with sellers
- Rapid due diligence and contract documentation
- Ability to customize a transaction to meet a seller's objectives, including sophisticated tax and complex financial structuring
- Creative, financially-sophisticated problem-solvers with decades of experience dealing with complex circumstances
- Strong balance sheet that allows for extreme flexibility in accommodating unusual requirements
- Long history of protecting brokers
Acquisition Criteria
- Manhattan commercial office and retail properties
- Deal size $25 Million to $400 Million
- Fee interests, leaseholds, commercial condominium interests, partnership interests and distressed debt
- Opportunistic transactions, no minimum cash-on-cash requirements
- Long-term, value creation opportunities
Joint Ventures
The partners occasionally joint venture with institutional partners, always making substantial, personal co-investments. In each instance, the company serves as the venture's managing partner responsible for executing the strategic plan as well as daily operation and maintenance of the property. In each of these ventures returns significantly outperformed the market.
Of particular note, the principals have never formed a fund or acted as an investment conduit, nor does the company engage in third-party management or leasing. Rather, a long-term strategic approach to value creation has consistently outperformed the market and has resulted in the maximization of risk-adjusted returns.