Eastern Consolidated’s David Schechtman has done $4.4 billion in deals since 2005.
DAY IN THE LIFE OF:
David Schechtman The Eastern Consolidated exec talks about chasing deer, cranking up salsa on the radio and his ‘hot’ phones
D
avid Schechtman is a principal and executive managing director at the commercial brokerage Eastern Consolidated. He started his career as a bankruptcy lawyer at DLA Piper, but in 2005 joined Eastern Consolidated, where he’s done 267 deals totaling $4.4 billion, the largest of which was the 2007 sale of 344352 West Street for $215 million. He’s currently marketing the 100,000-square-foot Flushing Landmark building in Queens for $92 million and a 66,000-square-foot loft conversion at 110 Greenwich Street in Lower Manhattan for $60 million.
5:05 a.m. I wake up in Bedford Corners — in Westchester County — and I run for a solid 45 to 50 minutes. On the way back, I yell and throw my earphones at the six deer desecrating my front lawn. I am running in the New York City Marathon in November. This is my fourth marathon, but I haven’t done one in 10 years. It’s a 40th birthday gift to myself. I turn 40 in October. We felt the midlife sports car was just too obvious and cliché. Also, I do it to support an incredible charity called the Blue Card, which aids Holocaust survivors in need. 6:40 a.m. I drive to White Plains and take a 39-minute train to Grand Central Station. On the way in, I read the New York Post and tons of emails. 7:30 a.m. I order egg whites and a scooped-out toasted whole-wheat sesame bagel and green juice at Zucker’s on Lexington Avenue. 7:45 a.m. I am at my desk making 20 to 25 phone calls. It doesn’t matter how much luck somebody in real estate has, new contacts are the key to sustaining business. They’re highlighted in my legal pad every 80 May 2014 www.TheRealDeal.com
Recently I dined at Govinda’s, a vegetarian paradise at 305 Schermerhorn Street in Brooklyn. That site is also the world headquarters of my new client, the Sri Sri Radha Govinda, colloquially known as the Hare Krishnas.
day. I go through one legal pad a week — it’s a throwback to my lawyer days.
8:10 a.m . I meet with [Eastern Consolidated founders] Peter Hauspurg and Daun Paris. I tell them what I’m working on, and what the seven brokers who work for me are working on. 8:30 a.m. The phones are hot at this
7:00 p.m. There is no way I am comSchechtman buys breakfast each day at Zucker’s on Lexington Avenue
point. It doesn’t matter if it’s incoming or outgoing — I spend the next several hours on the phone. There’s a half-hour window in which junior brokers come in to discuss deals, leads and seek advice.
8:15 p.m. I sprint over to Grand Central Station for the train. I read the Wall Street Journal and emails.
12:00 p.m. As a rule, I generally have two lunches out a week with clients, prospective clients or friends in the industry. Even if it’s sitting in their offices having a quick sandwich, it’s important. I have my second green juice of the day.
Schechtman is in training for the NYC Marathon
1:30 p.m. I’m back at my desk and attacking the phones. From 1:30 to 3:30, I’m on the phone and nothing is going to interrupt me. 4:00 p.m. I recently went on a site visit in Brooklyn Heights, where we’re in contract to sell a $60 million rental building. We meet at the building with the seller and the buyer, and walk through some unforeseen, but not insurmountable, hurdles.
9:00 p.m. In my car, I turn the radio up like it’s 1987. I listen to 97.9. Little known fact: I love salsa and merengue. I’ve been listening to La Mega since I lived in Brooklyn in the ’80s. 9:30 p.m. I say hello to my wife and make
Green juice is a regular part of the diet
5:30 p.m. Almost every day, I talk on the phone with my children Leo, 8; Evelyn, 6; Ruby, 9 months; and Caryn, my wife. I hear about who is karate-chopping who in the solar plexus, and who is helping Mommy and Mima, my mother-in-law, who is with us six days a week. We have no nanny. 5:45 p.m. I either eat dinner in the city or have leftovers when I get home later on.
ing back to the office in Manhattan in any manner other than the subway. I put in face time with the guys and gals with whom I work. They’re still here, usually.
my rounds in the house like a superintendent. Three floors and 97 light bulbs. I should have my own union to turn off the lights. I pop in on my son, who should not be up. Typically though, I don’t see my kids at all for three to four days a week, because of my schedule. They’re sleeping when I leave and they’re usually sleeping when I get home. From Friday through Sunday, I’m glued to my wife and kids. Other than going for a run, I am the fourth kid.
10:00 p.m. I do yoga in the basement. I don’t last more than 20 minutes. But without it, I would be half a person.
Randy Wayne White is a favorite author
11:00 p.m. I pass out in bed reading something by fiction authors Randy Wayne White or Nelson DeMille. By Mark Maurer
PHOTOGRAPH OF David Schechtman FOR THE REAL DEAL BY christian fernandez