In their words...
The month’s funniest and most insightful comments on real estate
“I’d like to talk to you about how great the properties are … but now is not the time. I’ve got a lot of shit going on right now, and I’m not going to talk about it with a reporter.” Robert Durst, an estranged member of the Durst real estate clan, when asked about his growing Brooklyn portfolio. (DNAinfo)
“If there’s even a 1 percent risk that someone won’t like it, then why would you do it?” Property Markets Group’s Kevin Maloney, on developers’ tendency to skip the 13th floor in their building projects. (Wall Street Journal)
“Yes, it’s a crazy amount of money for a room, but demand is crazy, too. When your entire business model is based on 15 weekends a year, you need to charge high rates to make your investment back.” Jayma Cardoso, co-owner of the Surf Lodge hotel in Montauk, on charging $2,000 per night for a two-bedroom suite.
“I never thought I would build this whole project. I would have to be an insane mad man to think I am building all of these buildings.” Architect Daniel Libeskind, master planner of the five-skyscraper World Trade Center site, on changes to his original design for the Freedom Tower. (The New Yorker)
“The binding of the book became loose when my father died. The pages fell out after my mother died.” The Feil Organization’s Jeffrey Feil, on tensions with his siblings over the family business. (Wall Street Journal)
26 October 2013 www.TheRealDeal.com
“Retail is all about branding. When you look at the street — Zara, Levi’s, Aeropostale, Forever 21, Geox — there is a reason none of them are in the Empire State Building.” Robert Futterman, CEO of the brokerage RKF, on how signage restrictions at the landmarked tower keep high-profile tenants away.
“This sculpture will be the greatest tourist attraction in New York. It will be more than the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center, [and for] 365 days a year. It will be to this city what the Eiffel Tower is to Paris.” Related Companies founder Stephen Ross, on plans for a sculpture in a public plaza at Hudson Yards. (Fortune)
“Clearly, retail has not been our strong suit.” William Ackman, head of Pershing Square Capital Management, in a letter to investors regarding his failed campaign to overhaul J.C. Penney. Ackman in August sold his entire stake in the retailer. (New York Post)
“Ross is not cool.” A note from David Schwimmer’s neighbors in the East Village, lambasting the “Friends” star for razing a historic townhouse to build a new mansion. (New York Post)
“You didn’t walk on that side of the street.” Republican mayoral nominee Joe Lhota, on living across the street from a “crack den” on the Upper West Side 30 years ago. (The New York Times) www.TheRealDeal.com August 2006 00