One of the most influential African American businessmen, Don Peebles, is an inspiration to many people around the world. He is a real estate developer, a successful entrepreneur, author and the official owner of the Peebles Corporation. With a net worth of around $700M, Mr. Peebles has undoubtedly made a benchmark you can follow for a successful path in business.
Early In Life, His Rise And The First Deal
He was a Rutgers University drop out planning to become a physician to help people in need. During his small duration in college, Peebles was already earning a considerable amount of money-all thanks to his inspiration in real estate business, his mother, Ruth Yvonne Willoughby. During his time at school, he also developed a strong work ethic which according to him — he gained through assisting his father who was a car mechanic at the time.
After his decision to leave college, he started his firm in Washington DC. His first input in the business world came in 1982 where he made some useful connections. Marion Barry, the notable mayor of Washington DC at the time, saw the potential in Don and gave him the opportunity to increase his influence.
The mayor helped him secure a position in the city tax appeal board. Don who was 23 at that point of time, learned a lot of tactics and gained some valuable information which made him the chairman of the board after just a year. That was just a start to one of the most influential and successful careers paths that must be taken as an example by both modern and future entrepreneurs.
The first deal he made was in a commercial district where he worked as a broker. He resolved a quarrel on a project where the seller was demanding a sum of $150,000 more than what the buyer was willing to pay. According to the owner of Peebles Corporation, he learned a lot from his first deal especially concerning the areas where you have to listen to both the parties for securing a successful deal.
The Breakthrough Deal
According to Mr., Peebles, the deal that taught him to move forward and the other essentials required for a successful deal is the Royal Palm Deal. He bid for the agreement in 1996 where he successfully secured it. It was a considerable risk as the property was full of contaminated soil required a hefty sum of $80 million to be spent on. That was because of the extremely deteriorating condition of the site. The deal required a lot of patience — another lesson and virtue that young entrepreneurs need to build on!
A Lesson from Peebles Corporation
Peebles is like a traditional development company which has a knack for taking big risks. The Royal Palm Hotel and the Bath Club deals are examples of some of the risks taken by Don on his way to success. There are special evaluations done before investment to see if it will be successful or not. In case of a loss, the company doesn’t look back which is a valuable lesson for any initial investor.
The respectful business personality has turned out to be a motivational figure who aims to provide more opportunities to the underappreciated minorities in his business ventures. Anyone individual who dreams to achieve a lot in the world can look up to Don Peebles as someone who despite all odds, is now an inch closer to becoming a billionaire. You can learn more about his successful life in his book, ‘The Peebles Principles’ which gives everyone the opportunity to learn more about securing a winning mentality in life.
A rendering of the proposed $1.2-billion Angels Landing skyscraper complex on Bunker Hill that would feature hotels, residences and shops. (Handel Architiects)
By Roger Vincent, Staff Writer
Even in an era of mega real estate developments in downtown Los Angeles, the Angels Landing proposal stands out.
On a steep, barren hillside next to the landmark Angels Flight railway, developers plan to erect a $1.2-billion residential, hotel and retail complex anchored by a skyscraper of at least 80 stories that would be one of the tallest buildings west of the Mississippi River.
The process could take several years, but the developers, a trio of minority-owned firms, plan to file an application with the city next month to start the official approval process. The City Council has already granted them an exclusive negotiating agreement to develop the city-controlled 2.2-acre site at Fourth and Hill streets.
Their proposal in December won a city competition among would-be developers who coveted the opportunity to build a large-scale project in the heart of downtown.
"It's basically a neighborhood within a building," said developer Don Peebles, chairman of New York-based Peebles Corp. "It's the wave of the future for urban living."
A rendering of the Angels Landing project and the adjacent Angels Flight railway as seen from Hill Street. (Handel Architiects)
The mixed-use concept for Angels Landing, which includes apartments, condominiums, restaurants and an elementary school, is a dramatic departure from the downtown L.A. skyscraper building boom of the 1980s and early 1990s that exclusively pumped out fancy office towers.
The Angels Landing site originally was expected to hold the third office skyscraper in California Plaza, where the second of two towers was completed in 1992. By that time, however, downtown was substantially oversupplied with offices and new development came to a halt.
The office market is still soft, but demand for housing downtown has jumped in the last 15 years as thousands of new apartments and condominiums have helped transform much of downtown from a business park into a neighborhood where people live, shop for groceries and walk to outdoor cafes.
But while Bunker Hill has top-flight cultural institutions such as Walt Disney Concert Hall and is a destination for about 40,000 office workers each weekday, it has few residents compared with other parts of downtown.
Angels Landing and a $1-billion dollar development called the Grand are poised to dramatically change the Bunker Hill vibe.
The Grand, designed by architect Frank Gehry, will be an open-air complex of apartments, condominiums, movie theaters, restaurants and shops that promises to enliven a city block across from Gehry's Disney Concert Hall that has been mostly dead for half a century.
Work on the project at Grand Avenue and First Street by developer Related Cos. is set to begin in the fall.
A panoramic rendering of the Angels Landing complex. (Handel Architiects)
A few blocks south is the Angels Landing site, unoccupied save for occasional visits by flocks of goats brought in to chew weeds and brush off of the precipitous hillside. It was historically part of the business district but has been vacant for decades after the city cleared Bunker Hill for urban renewal.
Filling in those two big gaps with blockbuster developments will transform Bunker Hill, office landlord Christopher Rising said.
"There's going to be some 'there' there," said Rising, president of Rising Realty Partners.
His firm owns one of the California Plaza office skyscrapers and competed for the Angels Landing site but lost to Peebles, MacFarlane Partners of San Francisco and New York-based Claridge Properties.
"I'm a huge proponent of what they are doing," Rising said of the trio's proposal. "We also felt that the site needed residential" development.
The right design could open up the top of Bunker Hill, he said, which is difficult to reach on foot from the Metro Station at the corner of the development site at Fourth and Hill streets — unless you pay $1 to ride the Angels Flight cable-driven railway.
"It's very hostile to pedestrians right now," Rising said.
That challenging topography can be turned into an asset for Angels Landing, architect Glenn Rescalvo of Handel Architects said. His plan calls for terraces, passageways, ramps, stairs, escalators and elevators to make it easy for people to move around or hang out.
"We want to make the site as permeable as possible," he said. "You could enter from different points and reach all the other locations."
Buildings would fill only half the site, leaving room outdoors for landscaped public terraces including one overlooking Angels Flight railway midway up its path.
Above underground parking and lower-level shops and restaurants would be two towers.
The shorter tower of about 27 stories would house a charter elementary school and a 289-room Mondrian hotel with a rooftop pool and bar.
The main tower would reach a minimum of 80 stories and include a more luxurious 192-room SLS hotel with its own swimming pool. Above that would be 425 upscale apartments along with some subsidized affordable units. The top floors would hold 250 condominiums — and another swimming pool.
Technically the tallest building in L.A. would still be the 73-story Wilshire Grand Center, which reaches a height of 1,100 feet with the help of a spire on top.
As planned, Angels Landing would be 1,020 feet tall, but its top floor penthouses, Recalvo said, would be higher than the highest occupied floor of the Wilshire Grand, Recalvo said.
The plans are still tentative, however, and the temptation to seize bragging rights tantalizes the developers.
"The tallest? We are striving for it. We definitely want to be able to say that," said co-developer Victor MacFarlane, chairman of MacFarlane Partners.
As currently proposed, however, Angels Landing has maxed out the available density allowed for the site and the developers seem content with boasting that they will have the highest roof line in the West, a distinction now applied to U.S. Bank Tower, technically the second-tallest building in the city.
MacFarlane is already building a $400-million residential development a block away on Fifth Street, an apartment and retail complex that includes 660 apartments and a 24-story tower that will overlook Pershing Square.
He predicts that residents who move there or to Angels Landing will be young professionals and empty nesters who want to live in an urban setting but don't seek the more lively entertainment-oriented district growing around Staples Center and L.A. Live, where two other $1-billion mixed-use projects are being completed.
Financing to build Angels Landing should be available through conventional sources, said MacFarlane, who develops property on behalf of pension funds and other large institutions.
But the real estate market as been on the upswing for several years so it may be a while before big-money backers jump in, he said.
"It's not going to be financed in this cycle," MacFarlane said, "unless this cycle breaks all kinds of length records. We are three to four years from breaking ground."
Major projects such as the Grand and Metropolis, which is nearing completion north of L.A. Live, often take many years to execute, however.
Rendering of a landscaped plaza at the project. (Handel Architiects)
"Angels Landing is like any other mega project," downtown real estate consultant Hal Bastian said. "It will take more time to [get to] construction than anybody would expect — and it will get done."
To start Angels Landing it will cost as much as $40 million just to buy the land and go through the design, approval and permit process, MacFarlane said. Construction would take an additional 41 months, perhaps putting completion around late 2024.
"Realistically," he said speaking of the timing, "these big projects take what they take."
It is one thing to start a family business. It is an entirely different thing to keep it alive.
Only 30% of family businesses survive past the first generation, and only 12% make it to the third. A dismal 3% of family businesses last to the fourth generation and beyond. In an industry as legacy-focused as commercial real estate, the ability to last beyond a lifetime can seem like a miracle. Bisnow reached out to some of the leading families in the industry for a new series on living a life of legacy in CRE. From making one’s own mark to selecting a worthy heir, the importance of working beyond the family business to the struggles of working for mom or dad, we spoke to some of the industry's biggest names to learn how they plan to pass the torch. The first installment asks a trio of leading East Coast real estate families how to overcome living and working in the shadow of the previous generation. From juggling college coursework and closing deals to injecting political power into the family business, the younger generations of these families have all found a way to muscle ahead and make a name for themselves.
While most college students were splitting time between midterms and keg parties, Donahue Peebles III was closing deals. The 23-year-old spent much of his time at Columbia University working on the affordable housing component of a project his family business, Washington-based Peebles Corp., was bidding to develop at Long Island Community Hospital in Downtown Brooklyn. The younger Peebles was the influencer behind the affordable component, as he had been encouraging his father, Don Peebles, to do more in that sector. “Donahue came to the business with a fresh set of eyes while sharing my values,” Don said. “He encouraged me to more broadly use our business activities as a tool for change and become part of a solution for the NYC affordable housing crisis by building some ourselves.” Affordable housing in New York was not the first occasion Donahue had pushed his father in relation to the industry. “Generally, it’s usually the father pushing the kid to be in the business,” Donahue said. “For me, I was pushing my dad to teach me more.” R. Donahue Peebles the elder got his first taste of real estate from his mother, who was a real estate broker and appraiser at Fannie Mae. While he was learning the ropes of real estate as early as age 8, Peebles said his mother still made a point of showing him life beyond P&L statements. He did the same with Donahue, encouraging his son to leave a unique footprint — be it with the Peebles Corp. or elsewhere. “My mother did what I did with Donahue. She exposed me to real estate, but also to things like law and politics, so I knew there was a broader world out there,” Don Peebles said. “My job as a parent was to make sure the world he saw was a very big place, and there were many things he could pursue.” But the real estate world was one Donahue knew he wanted to be a part of from a very early age, and his father did his best to accommodate his son’s growing interest. The Peebles Corp. spent the late 1990s and early 2000s redeveloping Miami’s The Royal Palm from its 1930s-era configuration into a modern, 400-room luxury hotel. Don found a way to get his son involved. The Royal Palm project manager had a 5-year-old Donahue shovel dirt from one pile to another.
Today, Donahue leads the company’s D.C. developments, including the SLS Hotel and Residences, a planned 176-room, 35-residential unit complex in Washington’s Mount Vernon Triangle neighborhood. He attributes persistency from an early age as a key to his success. “For a fourth-grade career project, all my friends wanted to be a movie star, an NFL player or an NBA player. I said real estate developer,” Donahue said. “We did it again in the eighth grade. By then, all my NFL and NBA friends were doctors, lawyers or diplomats. I was still a real estate developer.” With such drive to enter the industry, Donahue maintains any new direction he takes the Peebles Corp. in will always reflect the initial vision created by his father. “What I try to do is further my father’s legacy by taking our shared cultural and ethical values and applying them to new business models,” Donahue said. “It’s the second generation’s responsibility to continue to push the boundaries of convention — to remain cutting edge, while still paying homage to the values and practices that serve as the foundation to the family’s success.”
There is no room for nepotism in the Epstein family. “In the next generation, there are no charity cases,” The Abbey Group CEO and founding partner Robert Epstein said. “Everyone is very bright, diligent and confident. All joined at a point when we needed to bring someone in, and they were the best hire.” The Abbey Group is one of the largest development firms in Boston, and its founders attribute the growth to each family member on the payroll bringing his or her own strengths. Robert and his brother, David, grew the business from the Abbey Cinema in the city’s Kenmore Square into a company known for some of the most striking developments on the skyline. The new generation of projects also presented an opportunity for the next Epstein generation to advance the family business. David’s son, Jason, joined The Abbey Group while it was moving forward with 45 Province, a 32-story luxury condo building in downtown Boston. He previously worked for Boston-based construction firm Suffolk, but eventually his construction expertise was needed closer to home. “Jason came when we did 45 Province and had a serious need for somebody with that construction knowledge. He was comfortably situated at Suffolk,” David said before joking, “We likely drew him out prematurely.” David’s son-in-law, Shane Baron, also joined the company around the time of 45 Province, bringing with him significant experience in residential property management. Robert’s son-in-law, William Keravuori, joined the Abbey team to lead construction, permitting and new opportunity analysis after honing his development skills at two real estate firms in New York City. Robert's daughter, Audrey Epstein Reny, who previously worked at Bain & Co. and taught at Northeastern University, joined when her decades of marketing and communications experience were needed. The family needed her skills for Exchange South End, a 1.6M SF tech and life science campus the company is proposing that has been touted as a possibility for Amazon HQ2 should the city win the competition for Amazon’s second headquarters. “We each brought our outside experience that helped build upon what Bob and David created,” Audrey said. “The first construction project my dad and I did was my doll house when I was 9. It’s exciting to think what we might do with 1.6M SF in the South End.” The younger generation’s outside experience is how it can leave its own mark on the company while adding to its legacy. Audrey points to an ongoing push to use new technologies in marketing to a younger demographic as to how they are advancing their own initiatives while building upon Robert and David’s vision. While it might seem difficult to transition from a corporate setting of strictly professional relationships to one where your colleagues in the boardroom are the same people showing up to the family dinner table, Audrey said it has been the ideal working environment. “What was interesting is I had worked in management consulting and at other big corporations, so coming into a smaller family business was interesting to bring an outside perspective,” Audrey said. “Working for family members is much better than working for strangers. They are who you can trust the most in the world and be honest with.” As more Epsteins join the family business, it would be easy to think legacy had been Robert and David’s ulterior motive all along. But there is no strategic business plan for the next generation to take over, David said. The brothers want their children to pursue their own dreams. “I don’t think I did or did not think of whether my daughters or potential sons-in-law would be in business with us,” Robert said. “There wasn’t any scheme to work with us. There were schemes to get them to live locally.”
The Paolino family of Providence encourages its members to find a career beyond their fourth-generation development company to propel their own brand forward. It also means each generation eventually leaves its own mark on the family business. “I’m better in real estate development because of what I learned in the public sector,” former Providence Mayor and Paolino Properties Managing Partner Joseph Paolino Jr. said. Before joining Paolino Properties in 1996, Joseph was mayor of Providence from 1984 to 1991 and the U.S. Ambassador to Malta from 1994 to 1996. “I’m more patient with government," he said. "I’m very respectful of government officials and can be critical of them when I think they’re being stupid, because I know what they can do and what they can’t do.” Paolino Properties was founded in 1900 and specializes in real estate investment, development and the management of properties throughout Rhode Island. Joseph and his sister, Donna Paolino, run the company, but while real estate may dominate the family bloodline, Joseph’s affinity for politics has distinguished his tenure at the company from prior generations'. After he was mayor, Joseph Paolino served as the director of the Rhode Island Department of Economic Development. His time in public service made him a better developer and investor, he said. He could bring his deep knowledge of the Rhode Island political system back to Paolino Properties and more efficiently navigate projects through government. He encourages his four children to take similar time away to explore their own interests before committing to a life on the Paolino payroll. “You can’t hold these young kids back. Let them do what they want to do,” Joseph said. “Eventually, I think the younger generation will be here, but they have to do it on their pace. I didn’t do it until I was 42, so why should I expect them to in their 20s? If they choose to enter this business, I hope they work elsewhere before coming here so they can add something to enhance and grow the company in their own way.” While Joseph attributes the company’s position today to his father, he also sees where his time in the public sector has been a boon for business. “When I joined the company, he was getting older and needed someone to expand it and reinforce the family brand that downtown and Providence is our base,” Joseph said. “I’ve been able to expand the portfolio and bring it to a different era. I had a bit of a head start because of the public positions I held.”
Joseph’s three daughters and son have each pursued careers in real estate or public policy away from the family business. While he has cast a large shadow in both spheres, Joseph’s children are finding ways to navigate their own course. Jennifer Paolino, 33, works at Brown University’s Swearer Center for Public Service, where she runs several academic programs providing civic engagement opportunities and practical work experiences to students. She was previously deputy director of the President's Commission on White House Fellowships during the Obama administration. “When I was growing up, and for the majority of my childhood, my dad didn't work in real estate. He worked in politics and government,” Jennifer said. “The only pressure that I experienced was both of my parents instilling the importance of public and community service. As a result, I never really considered a career in real estate.” Like her father, Jennifer recognizes public service can still be a useful tool in making her own legacy in a later real estate career. “It wasn't until my grandfather suggested that I take a leadership role in the company someday that it crossed my mind,” Jennifer said. “It would be incorrect to imply that I don't see myself working for Paolino Properties at some point in the future. I am still figuring out if there is a clear path for me to get there. I've always believed that it is important for me to bring something new to the company.” Another of Joe’s three daughters, 31-year-old Christina, has embraced a career in commercial real estate before her sister. She worked at Suffolk in Boston before moving to Charlotte, North Carolina, and working for a residential remodeling company. Now back in Rhode Island, Christina has her real estate sales license and contractor’s license. She has plans to get her broker’s license this spring with the goal of eventually selling properties for Paolino Properties. “My dad has had a lifetime to become ‘Joe,’” Christina said. “I want that opportunity as well. As I continue to grow in my career, I think I just keep hoping that the more people I meet and the more I do on my own, the more I will be able to create a name for myself, and be ‘Christina.’ That is super important to me.”
A rendering of the proposed redevelopment at Brooklyn Village. Courtesy BK Partners.
A pair of plans to remake large swaths of uptown Charlotte is moving forward and the public should see signs of progress in the coming months, Mecklenburg County commissioners were told Tuesday.
The plans would transform big stretches the city, totaling dozens of acres of some of the most expensive real estate in the city. Here’s the latest on where they stand, from a briefing delivered at a county meeting:
Brooklyn Village
Mecklenburg has been planning for years to turn the sterile government quarter that dominates much of Second Ward into a mixed-use community with apartments, condos, shops, restaurants, offices and hotels. In June 2016, county commissioners picked a partnership led by Peebles Corp., Stantec and Conformity Corp. to redevelop 17 county-owned acres: The Bob Walton Plaza south of Stonewall Street (across from the Mecklenburg Aquatic Center); the shuttered Board of Education building; and Marshall Park between Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Third Street.
Since then, the process of hammering out a master agreement for the project has ground on – so slowly that, at times, rumors have circulated that the project might be on hold. But county staff said Tuesday that the plan is still moving forward. A face-to-face meeting with the developers is planned in April to go over the latest iteration of the agreement.
“We feel really good about where we are with that. That time was very, very valuable in getting agreement on key terms,” said Dennis Lacaria, the county’s lead staff member on the project. The county is planning to sell the land to the development partnership for just under $34 million, with the developers funding another $23 million worth of infrastructure.
When it’s completed, Brooklyn Village would be one of the biggest new projects in decades.
The $683 million plan calls for more than 1,000 apartments and 170 condominiums (with about 115 reserved for people making less than 80 percent of the area median income, or $56,550 for a family of four). Brooklyn Village would also include two hotels totaling 280 rooms, 680,000 square feet of office space, 250,000 square feet of shops and restaurants and a 1.6-acre park.
Marshall Park.
Diedra Laird dlaird@charlotteobserver.com
“I do think we need to move as fast and quickly on this as we can,” said commission member Dumont Clarke. “It’s going to get more and more expensive for developers to do projects of any kind.”
The park is significantly smaller than the 5.5-acre Marshall Park that’s currently there, though Brooklyn Village supporters point out there will actually be 2.5 acres of green space, counting non-contiguous open space in the plan. The name is a callback to the former Brooklyn neighborhood, an African-American enclave bulldozed and replaced with bland government buildings in the name of urban renewal during the 1960s and ’70s.
North Tryon
A complicated partnership between Bank of America, the county, the city, the Charlotte Housing Authority and the library is taking shape on North Tryon Street, between Sixth and Eighth streets. The plans call for replacing or renovating most of the buildings on those two square blocks, and building new offices, apartments, shops and restaurants.
The plan includes $65 million to tear down and replace the Main Library, which has been at its current location since 1903 (though with a new building and significant renovations). That would be the first part of the plan to see actual construction.
Other proposed elements in the plan could include 625 apartments, (380 market-rate apartments, 125 “workforce” units aimed at people making 30 to 80 percent of the area’s median income, and 125 units reserved for senior citizens), a 135-room boutique hotel in the vacant Hall House tower, more than 580,000 square feet of office space, including “corporate” office space on Tryon Street and “creative” space on College Street, 55,000 square feet for ground-floor retail, a central plaza with pedestrian access and an underground parking deck.
Buildings as tall as 15 stories could be built on the 6.8-acre site, according to a conceptual plan. McGlohon Theater and popular Duckworth’s Grill & Taphouse would remain on the site.
Working with Atlanta-based DaVinci Development Collaborative, the property owners issued a request for qualifications Wednesday to kick off the search for a master developer, whom they plan to select the week of Sept. 17.
“Finding the right master developer is critically important to the success of this transformative project, and we’re eager to get underway with the selection process,” said Lee Keesler, CEO of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library.
The county’s share of the pre-development costs will total $386,947, staff said, with $1.3 million more being covered by the other partners.
A public meeting is scheduled for April 19 at the Hal Marshall Center from 5 to 8 p.m. to outline the broader plan for redeveloping the North Tryon area. A new website, www.seventhandtryon.com, has more information.
A successful developer who doubles as a sought-after media personality, writes books and has political aspirations. No, not now-President Donald Trump.
Peebles Corp. CEO Don Peebles and moderator/McDermott Ventures founder Pam McDermott at Bisnow's Trump Era Forecast event in BostonThe above is referring to Peebles Corp. Chairman and CEO Don Peebles, who founded the firm in 1983. Peebles has steered the privately held real estate investment and development firm into a national player with more than 6M SF and $5B worth of projects completed and underway in cities like New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Miami Beach and Washington, D.C. Peebles' accomplishments do not stop there. The author of “The Peebles Principles" has also appeared as a guest on CNN and Fox and is a political mainstay. At present he is chairman of the board of directors of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and a former member of President Barack Obama’s National Finance Committee. He also has mulled running for office in the past, especially as mayor of New York City. Bisnow: How do you describe your job to people who are not in the industry? Peebles: I am the equivalent of a movie director and producer combined. I don’t have any specialized skill or technical expertise, but I bring vision and leadership. I attract talented people to work on our projects and give them the autonomy to apply their skills. A more technical and generic description is I buy land or existing structures and create value by transforming them into the highest and best uses. That may include office buildings, residential buildings and hotels. Bisnow: If you weren’t in commercial real estate, what would you do? Peebles: I would be mayor of New York City or president of the United States.
Bisnow: What is the worst job you ever had? Peebles: There is really no such thing as a bad job! There is honor and dignity in any job and there is always pleasure that comes from those feelings. The job that was the hardest was when I was 13 and I worked on a janitorial crew cleaning the offices of a large orthodontist practice. My job was to pick up all of the wires removed from the patients braces that ended up on the floor. The floor was industrial carpet and the wires would get stuck in the loops of the carpet. It was very frustrating and time-consuming, especially for a 13-year-old boy. Bisnow: What was your first big deal? Peebles: My first big deal was in 1986 when I was 26 years old. I proposed building a 100K SF office building development in an economically blighted area in southeast Washington, D.C. I secured a lease from the government of Washington, D.C. I completed the building in 1989, still own this building today and the city is still the major tenant. In fact, my son is overseeing the renovation of the building as we speak. Bisnow: What deal do you consider to be your biggest failure? Peebles: Luckily, to this day, I have been able to mitigate most losses associated with developments that haven’t gone as projected, especially as a result of the financial crises of 2008. The biggest failure I have experienced as a developer was losing an election ballot initiative to rezone a 90-acre site I owned on the Pacific Ocean in a town called Pacifica in California, just outside of San Francisco. After campaigning for several months we lost the vote by about 500 votes. I ended up selling the site a few years later for a small loss. Bisnow: How do you define “making it”? Peebles: Being able to have the trifecta — A happy and loving family life, an enjoyable and profitable career, and the means to pay it forward. Bisnow: What is your biggest pet peeve? Peebles: Incompetence. Bisnow: Who is your greatest mentor? Peebles: My mother. She taught me compassion, empathy and determination. She encouraged me to dream big and to develop the self-confidence to make those dreams come true. She taught me by action that it wasn’t how much you had, but what you were willing to give.
Bisnow: What is the best and worst professional advice you've ever gotten? Peebles: “Focus on the down side and the upside will take care of itself.” Bisnow: What is your greatest extravagance? Peebles: Flying private. It’s a big time-saver. Especially, taking a helicopter to East Hampton to visit my summer estate in Bridgehampton or to Teterboro Airport to the plane. Bisnow: What is your favorite restaurant in the world? Peebles: Louis XV in Monaco. Bisnow: If you could sit down with President Donald Trump, what would you say? Peebles: I know President Trump and met with him shortly after he was elected. I am intensely focused on creating an environment of equal economic opportunity, especially in the real estate business, which has always excluded diversity. The president and I had a positive discussion about working together to drive this agenda forward. When I see him again, I plan to remind him of this discussion and encourage him to implement the plan of action we discussed. Bisnow: What's the biggest risk you have ever taken? Peebles: Dropping out of college and giving up on a career in medicine. Bisnow: Whose work do you most admire? Peebles: My friend Robert Smith. He is an immensely successful entrepreneur, a committed father and husband and spends his time and money giving back by supporting causes that improve the quality of life for many forgotten people in America and around the globe. He sets the standard of a world citizen. Bisnow: What keeps you up at night? Peebles: My wife and children’s safety, good health and happiness. Bisnow: Outside of your work, what are you most passionate about? Peebles: Outside and inside of my work it’s my family. I spend every possible moment with my wife and children. They are my driving force and the reason I strive to be a better person and to succeed in all that I do.
Angels Landing Partners and Don Peebles (Credit: Angels Landing Partners)
By Dennis Lynch
Los Angeles, meet Don Peebles.
The East Coast developer has officially arrived in L.A., and he’s doing so in a big way — building what will be one of the tallest residential towers in the western U.S.
Earlier this week, the City Council unanimously approved a $1.2 billion plan put forth by Angels Landing Partners LLC — a partnership between Peebles Corporation, Claridge Properties and MacFarlane Partners — to redevelop the largely vacant Angels Knoll site in Downtown into the mixed-use Angels Landing complex.
The site will include two hotels – operated by SLS and Mondrian – 250 condos, 425 rental units, retail, public space and a charter elementary school. The centerpiece tower will rise 88 stories, making it one of the loftiest skyscrapers on the West Coast. (Possibly in its eagerness over the project, the development touted the high-rise as the tallest building in the Western U.S. in a Thursday press release, before issuing a corrected statement a day later placing it among the tallest.)
The team, together with Handel Architects, beat out three other bidders for the job, one led by Lowe Enterprises and Gensler, another by Onni and Natoma Architects, and a third team of Trammel Crow Company and MAD Architects.
When The Real Deal asked how Peebles was doing on Thursday, we expected him to sound more excited given his West Coast coup.
“I could be doing better,” he acknowledged.“I broke my leg.”
Peebles was limping around Los Angeles while there to speak in front of the City Council on the Angels Landing deal. He had injured himself stepping out of his New York City townhouse a couple weeks ago.
“Developers, we’re real resilient,” he said.
We asked Peebles about the project, his experience working with two longtime friends and his future plans in L.A.
Angels Landing Partners, Angels Terrace
How does project break down between the partners? What in particular are you bringing to the table? The structure of the deal is MacFarlane and Peebles are primary partners, and Claridge is a local partner. MacFarlane and I are each 40 percent partners. We’re collectively co-developers and sharing responsibilities on every element from predevelopment to design development, construction and management. It’s really a joint venture between the three of us.
[Peebles Corporation] has extensive public-project development experience. We have had 30 years’ experience developing projects in partnership or with significant government involvement. It’s one of the unique things we do, so we’re helping to put together Request for Proposal responses and moving things forward with the city. We also bring our experience with hospitality space and mixed-use development. We’re working through the entitlement process, regulatory process, working with the community, with government agencies, and bringing everyone together to move the development forward.
How did you come to work with Claridge and MacFarlane? I’ve known [Claridge founder] Ricardo Pagan for a decade, and I’ve known [MacFarlane CEO] Victor MacFarlane for 20 years. MacFarlane and I have done projects in Miami and D.C. together, and we’re good friends.
The beauty is any of the three of us could have bid on this separately, but we thought it made sense to join together and form a super team. Victor moved out to Los Angeles not five years ago and encouraged us to look out there, so we went and looked a few times with him, then we started zeroing in on where we had interest and identified this site. We did further due diligence and decided to pursue this when the RFP came out.
All three of the firms are minority-owned. How important was that to you when teaming up? That’s something we were very mindful of. Something that all three of us share in common is a commitment to equal economic opportunities. The selling point for the three of us to join forces was that it would be a wholly-owned development by minority developers that are each capable of developing projects themselves, but decided to join together to build a transformative development. By being [among] the tallest building in the western U.S. is transformative; by being the last site the city owned in Downtown LA is another key element and transformative; a billion-dollar-plus project itself is transformative; and adding to that is that it’s a wholly-owned minority development team with two of the most successful African-American entrepreneurs in the country made it more transformative. It’s also an opportunity to provide minority- and women-owned businesses contracting opportunities. Our goal is 25 percent on all our projects across the board.
Why do you think your proposal stood out? One, being [among] the tallest building in the western U.S., and from a design perspective, Handel designed an amazing building. The strong financial capacities of our developers, the solid financing proposals and our development program was the most unique. We have a good understanding of what government look for. One thing they like is hotels, because they attract tourism to an area and are tremendous job generators, from unskilled labor up to the executive staff. There’s a growing residential population in the area, and we think the charter school was a determining factor. Also, we were the only team to emphasize a commitment to minority- and women-owned businesses, and that was something important to a city as diverse as Los Angeles.
Is the financing for the project in place? MacFarlane is a majority private equity fund and their dollars are committed, ours are committed, and we have strong interest from the senior debt side. We can’t lock it down without contracting in place, design and development, and the maximum price guaranteed. We have strong interest from some of the most active lenders in the marketplace, and we’ve all received calls from lenders [showing interest].
Was there anything that ended being a real point of contention with the city? What L.A. did was astute. After narrowing down the 10 or so proposals to four and an RFP, they gave the developers a draft of their proposed developer agreement in contract and all of the respondents had to review, comment and disclose changes they were seeking. Then they had comprehensive presentations from developers with follow-up questions. They notified us on Friday we would be selected, and on Tuesday we testified. It went to the full City Council on Wednesday, so that process was so rapid.
The [typical] period between the award and action could be anywhere between three months to a year, and the time between a selection and official action can be weeks or months. That creates an environment of lobbying and negotiations, but this streamlined it. The City Council ratified it, and the city already understands our comments and are turning around documents already. We’ll probably get paperwork back on Friday or the middle of next week, with red-line changes and comments on our changes.
How did you determine the number of homes — 5 percent — set aside for people making between 80-120 percent of the area median income, and why are there no affordable units below that? We have some room on that, it’s going to depend on financing. We can take that up to a higher level based on the number of units or affordability. There was a minimum threshold, and we wanted to do that.
The city also looked at your community-outreach plans. Yes, and we’re going to do more of that. On this project, we got initial feedback and incorporated it into the development plan. We included the 25,000-square-foot Angel Terrace that can be used for different public activities. We want it to be accessible to a wide range of people — not just where wealthy residents and hotel guests come, but for a broad range, including the people who work in offices there.
There seems to be a lot of talk about how this will transform Downtown, and there’s been a lot of development in the area recently. Do you think it’s ready for something this big? Absolutely. For one, the Los Angeles Convention Center is in desperate need of hotel rooms, and Angels Landing is close enough to be accessible. You’ve also got the Broad Museum and a lot of offices in Downtown, so from the hotel side it’s definitely sorely needed. I think having a plaza that’s conducive for people to utilize instead of office plazas, which get a lot of use but mostly get dark at night, is a significant add. It’s not a gigantic site; it’s two-and-a-half acres, but the buildings go up and you have Angel Flights nearby. It’s all a part of creating a center of attraction for people who are there.
What do you think Downtown needs to keep evolving in the right direction? I think Downtown needs to continue to have residential development on all levels, from a high level to workforce housing and in between. It needs more retail — service retail — to be an amenity for a growing residential population. I think it could use more midsized office space — there’s the WeWork in Downtown — and a few more buildings that are live-work could be helpful down there.
What’s next for you in L.A.? Any plans to do more here? Absolutely. We’ve been looking to enter L.A. since the mid-2000s and then the market crashed, so we focused on things we had. We’ve been looking again for the past three or four years. This is our entry into the marketplace. We’re opening an office in L.A. Ricardo, Victor and I look at [Angels Landing] to be a test for future opportunities.
Gucci and Artsy partnered to raise awareness of gender equality in the art world.
By Kristen Tauer
After an intimate dinner at the Faena Hotel, the crowd headed north to the Bath Club, where Gucci and Artsy were celebrating their latest partnership with a packed VIP party, cosponsored by Bombay Sapphire.
Inside the club, Timo Weiland was fired up about the upcoming Senate election in Alabama, and the possibility of Democratic nominee Doug Jones winning over Republican nominee Roy Moore, who is mired in accusations of sexual harassment. “Let’s really keep our fingers crossed that Dec. 12 proves to be a real new chapter,” Weiland enthused. “It would be a huge upset for the administration, which for the rest of us, the majority of people in America, it’d be a huge win.”
Artsy and Gucci are themselves taking a political stance this year at Art Basel, with their partnership aimed at raising awareness of gender equality in the art world. The collaboration spans “Artists for Gender Equality,” a series of three short films, and an installation at the Bath Club featuring works by Samara Golden, Jillian Mayer, Maria Nepomuceno and performances by FlucT and Devonté Hynes.
“I’m a huge fan of Carter [Cleveland] and what he’s built with Artsy, and also Gucci,” Weiland said, pointing to the Italian brand’s move toward gender non-conforming collections.
Suddenly, at the strike of midnight, the lights turned on. The party was over.
