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Stan Gale Sr.
tan Gale Sr.’s first love was soccer. After a broken ankle, however, his dream of playing professionally was derailed. Instead, in 1974 he joined the family business: Daniel Gale Realty, a Long Island–based residential brokerage founded by his grandfather in 1922 that’s now part of Sotheby’s International Realty. But after less than five years, he switched gears and flipped to the commercial side of the business, starting at Grubb & Ellis. Then in 1985 he started a company focused on the suburban commercial market. In 2001 he launched his current development firm, Gale International, and in 2006 he sold his suburban business to Mack-Cali in a $545 million transaction. Gale International has 20 employees in New York, more than 100 in South Korea and China and two in California. Among the feathers in its cap is Songdo City — a massive environmentally conscious “mini-city” being erected outside Incheon, South Korea, at an estimated cost of more than $45 billion. Closer to home, there’s a condo project at 21 West 20th Street, where units priced up to $35 million hit the market in December. Last month, Gale showed TRD around his Madison Avenue office. B y J ulie S trickland
Arsenal team logo
Travel
During college, Gale studied abroad in London
Although he makes frequent trips to South Korea
for a semester in 1970. Two years later, he began
for work, Gale’s real love is for coastal destinations
avidly following London’s Arsenal soccer team
like the Maldives. “I want to go see Eastern
after they won the national championship.
Europe, the Mediterranean coast,” he said. “I love anything ocean-oriented.”
Long Island map Time capsule When Songdo opens, a time capsule from the original construction site in 2004 will be unsealed. The metal casing encloses timepieces from Gale’s Seoul office, signed notes from the day construction began and
Tower model
This historic map of the Gale
The Northeast Asia Trade
family home on the North Shore
Tower, a work in progress in
of Long Island sits behind his
Songdo, will be South Korea’s
desk. He estimates that the
tallest building, at 68 stories,
map, a gift from his parents, is
upon completion this year. “It’s
between 75 and 100 years old.
the welcoming beacon from the
“My grandfather marketed the
brand new, beautiful airport,”
area up by the water here, where
Gale said.
my 92-year-old mother lives
other items of the day.
today,” he said.
Brother’s catamaran
Cosmos soccer ball Gale’s passion for soccer began in grade school. In 1971 he
All the Gale children grew
attended the U.S. Olympic regional tryouts at Emory University.
up on the water, clamming,
He also tried out for the New York Cosmos in 1973, but didn’t
fishing and sailing. His
make either team.
brother’s boat, a catamaran, is named Wild Whiskers.
Whale sculpture Fashioned by a Korean artist, the whale sculpture is a model
Korean medals
of a larger version in Songdo’s
Central Park, which
replicates the slightly more famous
New York park. The
sculpture combines the whale —
Gale International built Songdo City in partnership with Posco,
of the Gale family business
a multinational steel company, and the Korean government. The
historical emblem of Posco —
partners spent five years planning the city, which will officially
steelworks that symbolize how
open in 2018, when South Korea hosts the Winter Olympics.
companies “came together
Gale received this presidential award and honorary citizenship
through the seas.”
a symbol and
a
along with the two
at Incheon after Songdo was designated a United Nations Green Fund City in 2012. 22 June 2014 www.TheRealDeal.com
PHOTOGRAPH OF Stan Gale Sr. FOR THE REAL DEAL BY Christian Fernandez