âBob, come over to my office. I am going to make your year!â
After getting this message, what would you do? What did I do? I dropped what I was doing and ran over to Harry Mackloweâs office.
It was 2003. The market was recovering from the recession in the early 2000s. Remember that Harry Macklowe was the whale that I cold-called for two and one-half years (from 1984-1987) before he took my call late at night when his assistant had already left the office and Harry picked up his own phone. Between 1987 and 2003, I closed several deals with Harry and was attaining a solid reputation for getting great prices for apartment buildings in NYC.
I waited for 15 minutes in Harryâs reception area, sweat streaming down my forehead due to the haste with which I hurried to his office. Finally, I was summoned in. âBob, I have been watching what you have been doing, and I am very impressed. I need to sell my portfolio of 7 apartment buildings, and you are going to sell them for meâ he said. I had never sold a deal for over $100 million in my career. These 7 buildings were worth way more than $100 million. âI know this would be the biggest deal you have ever done, and thatâs why I know you will do everything possible to get me the best price possible for these buildings,â he added. My heart was racing, and I wanted to scream!!
Richard Parkoff was an âold timerâ who had been around forever and owned a massive portfolio of apartment buildings in NYC. Most of what he owned were not the most prime buildings in the city but the tenants paid the rent, the cash flowed, and anyone in the world would want to own these buildings. To Richardâs credit, he treated brokers better than most. Every December, a great holiday gift would arrive. Sometimes wine, sometimes crystal, and in 2003, it was a silver coin from Tiffany with âheadsâ on one side and âtailsâ on the other. The enclosed card read, âThe next time we discuss a deal, I hope it comes up âheadsâ for me!â.
Harry hired me exclusively, we brought the portfolio to market and Richard was interested. Richard made a strong offer, he and his son, Adam, read all 786 leases, and signed a contract a few days later. Things moved fast in those days. The deal closed at $179 million. I was on top of the world. At the closing, Richard said, âI told you I wanted the coin to come up heads for me!â.
The next day, I had the coin engraved at Tiffany with the inscription: âMacklowe to Parkoff 4/26/04 $179,000,000. I have carried that coin in my pocket every day since then.
In 2014 or '15, I was in Vegas for ICSC and ran into Adam at the bar at Bartolottaâs restaurant at the Wynn. Adam smiled at me when he saw me and said, âI bet you donât have the coin on you.â I smiled back, and pulled my good luck charm out of my pocket. We both laughed. I will never forget Harry, Richard or Adam for providing me with this memory. And I will always have this good luck charm in my pocket for the rest of my days.
#throwbackthursday #BKREA
After getting this message, what would you do? What did I do? I dropped what I was doing and ran over to Harry Mackloweâs office.
It was 2003. The market was recovering from the recession in the early 2000s. Remember that Harry Macklowe was the whale that I cold-called for two and one-half years (from 1984-1987) before he took my call late at night when his assistant had already left the office and Harry picked up his own phone. Between 1987 and 2003, I closed several deals with Harry and was attaining a solid reputation for getting great prices for apartment buildings in NYC.
I waited for 15 minutes in Harryâs reception area, sweat streaming down my forehead due to the haste with which I hurried to his office. Finally, I was summoned in. âBob, I have been watching what you have been doing, and I am very impressed. I need to sell my portfolio of 7 apartment buildings, and you are going to sell them for meâ he said. I had never sold a deal for over $100 million in my career. These 7 buildings were worth way more than $100 million. âI know this would be the biggest deal you have ever done, and thatâs why I know you will do everything possible to get me the best price possible for these buildings,â he added. My heart was racing, and I wanted to scream!!
Richard Parkoff was an âold timerâ who had been around forever and owned a massive portfolio of apartment buildings in NYC. Most of what he owned were not the most prime buildings in the city but the tenants paid the rent, the cash flowed, and anyone in the world would want to own these buildings. To Richardâs credit, he treated brokers better than most. Every December, a great holiday gift would arrive. Sometimes wine, sometimes crystal, and in 2003, it was a silver coin from Tiffany with âheadsâ on one side and âtailsâ on the other. The enclosed card read, âThe next time we discuss a deal, I hope it comes up âheadsâ for me!â.
Harry hired me exclusively, we brought the portfolio to market and Richard was interested. Richard made a strong offer, he and his son, Adam, read all 786 leases, and signed a contract a few days later. Things moved fast in those days. The deal closed at $179 million. I was on top of the world. At the closing, Richard said, âI told you I wanted the coin to come up heads for me!â.
The next day, I had the coin engraved at Tiffany with the inscription: âMacklowe to Parkoff 4/26/04 $179,000,000. I have carried that coin in my pocket every day since then.
In 2014 or '15, I was in Vegas for ICSC and ran into Adam at the bar at Bartolottaâs restaurant at the Wynn. Adam smiled at me when he saw me and said, âI bet you donât have the coin on you.â I smiled back, and pulled my good luck charm out of my pocket. We both laughed. I will never forget Harry, Richard or Adam for providing me with this memory. And I will always have this good luck charm in my pocket for the rest of my days.
#throwbackthursday #BKREA
