In New York’s TriBeCa neighborhood, a preservationist's dream was finally unveiled after 17 years under scaffolding. The Clock Tower Building at 108 Leonard Street, completed in 1894 by architecture firm McKim, Mead & White—the design team also behind the Brooklyn Museum, the Washington Square Park Arch, and the now-razed Penn Station, among many other iconic 19th century marvels—has a revealed a façade that has returned, in a way, much to its original roots. After years of disrepair, the Italian Renaissance Revival exterior of this landmarked property has been meticulously restored by Howard L. Zimmerman Architects, down to the face of the clock on its three-story topper.
When purchased by the Elad Group and Peebles Corporation in 2013, the 13-story Clock Tower Building—which spans an entire city block—became the City of New York’s largest NYC Landmark building ever sold. Originally built as the headquarters of the former New York Life Insurance Company Building and most recently home to New York City Summons Court, 108 Leonard as we know it today was the brainchild of the pre-eminent architect Stanford White, who also created its distinctive clocktower. Facing the street, the Classical clock is brilliantly engineered as a master timekeeper, commanding smaller clocks throughout the interior of the building.
“It’s one of the last remaining mechanically wound clocks in the Western Hemisphere,” says Alexei Tajzler, a director at Howard L. Zimmerman Architects, “and it’s still operational.” Beyond the clocktower, however, the façade needed significant TLC. Lack of maintenance and patches with tar, a popular cheap fix in the 1970s and 1980s, notes firm principal Howard Zimmerman, required 10,000 line items of repair, achieved only by dividing the surface area into 340 visual quadrants to keep track of the scope of work to be performed. “We wanted to complete a renovation that would be true to the original design,” he explains. But the project was not without its challenges. “Some things were so weathered we had to analyze whether they were concave or convex,” in shape.
Sheathed in White Tuckahoe marble with a granite base, the building is decorated with Renaissance motifs varying from lion heads to fleur-de-lis and Corinthian columns to decorative bronze railings. “This building is like a 100-year-old patient that didn’t eat well, didn’t exercise, and we have to bring it back to life," Zimmerman says. In its second life, 108 Leonard will become a mixed-use residential tower, but from the outside, it will remain as it’s always been. “The motto of our office is ‘not leaving fingerprints.’”
Over 45 days, BLACK ENTERPRISE shares 45 milestone events among the nation’s largest black-owned businesses that have had widespread impact on black economic development and American industry across four decades. This is in tribute to the 45th anniversary of Black Enterprise’s iconic BE 100s yearly list of the largest black-owned companies.
Today we reveal No. 34 in the web series “45 Great Moments in Black Business.”
2004: R. Donahue Peebles makes history in 2002 when his BE 100s real estate firm completes development of Miami Beach’s Royal Palm Resort, the nation’s first black-owned luxury resort. Two years later, he sells the property for a record $127.5 million.
(Real estate mogul R. Donahue Peebles. Image: File)
When BLACK ENTERPRISE covered him in June 2004, he was dubbed “The Prince of South Beach”—and for good reason. He had control of the 417-unit Royal Palm Crowne Plaza Resort in Miami Beach—the first black-owned luxury resort in the nation—and his company, Peebles Atlantic Development Corp. had amassed a $500 million real estate portfolio and demonstrated a pile-driving 141% revenue growth in a year due, in part, to its focus on “on the red-hot South Florida luxury real estate scene.” As a result, the company was named BE’s Company of the Year. (Today, The Peebles Corp. ranks No. 35 on the BE Top 100 with $102 million in revenues.)
Known for his appearances offering commentary on business cable network CNBC, real estate mogul R. Donahue Peebles has been known as a major industry game changer for years. The Peebles Corp. was recognized as the 2004 Industrial/Service Company of the Year due to its distinction as being one of the biggest black-owned real estate firms and making the historic acquisition of the Royal Palm Resort in Miami Beach, Florida—the first black-owned and -developed resort in the nation. Our editors appropriately dubbed him “The Prince of South Beach.”
To fully appreciate his deal-making prowess and phenomenal payout, one must review its dynamics. Here’s the blow-by-blow account as reported by BE‘s then-Features Editor Alan Hughes some 13 years ago:
While on vacation in Miami Beach with his wife, Katrina, and their then-infant son for the 1995 New Year’s holiday, Peebles came across an article that would reshape his business. “I was reading the paper, and there was a story in The Miami Herald about how South Beach had grown and the real estate market is on fire, and they gave an example of the Shorecrest Hotel that was owned by an investor who paid $900,000 two or three years ago and was now selling it for $5 million,” said Peebles. “And they said it was next door to the Royal Palm Hotel that was owned by the city, which was looking for an African American developer.”
It was the first time Peebles had heard of a project reserved for a specific race. “So I said to myself, ‘How many African American developers are in this county? Not many. How many have the capacity to do a project of this size? Even fewer. And how many are reading The Miami Heraldright now? Probably not many.’ “
There was a reason for the set-aside. Several years earlier, prominent local attorneys H.T. Smith and Marilyn Holifield led a tourism boycott by African Americans, claiming city officials had snubbed South African leader Nelson Mandela when he visited because the former political prisoner made positive remarks about Cuban President Fidel Castro. Miami is home to the largest Cuban population in the U.S. This made the city, which was segregated until the mid-60s, a hotbed for political and social unrest.
As part of the 1993 settlement to end the boycott, which had cost the county an estimated $20 million to $50 million in lost convention business and tourist dollars, Miami Beach agreed to underwrite the development of a black-owned luxury hotel by putting up a long-term $10 million loan to acquire the property. But the deal stalled after four local African American would-be developers, known as the HCF Group, won the original bid but failed to secure additional financing for the estimated $60 million project. “Ultimately, in spite of H.T. Smith and other community leaders [urging] the city commission to reach a deal with HFC, the city commission terminated negotiations,” recalls Peebles.
When the Royal Palm deal came along, Peebles was familiar with both the real estate business and the politics of public/private partnerships. Even more important, he gained control of the Shorecrest Hotel, which would become a pivotal part of sealing the deal. When the city of Miami Beach issued its request for proposal for the Royal Palm, it was conditional on the development of the adjacent Shorecrest property. However, the city had earmarked $10 million to acquire both properties and used $5.5 million of those funds to acquire the Royal Palm, leaving insufficient funds in the budget to meet the $5.5 million asking price for the Shorecrest. Peebles’ earlier acquisition of that property turned out to be highly strategic, because any competing bids for acquiring and developing the Royal Palm had to include the Shorecrest.
The city received seven bids, mainly from major hotel chains that had partnered with African Americans to meet the 51% black ownership requirement. Each bidder was connected to a different hotel chain, including The Ritz-Carlton and Hyatt. Peebles partnered with Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, hammering out a contract in which the hotel chain paid $6 million for the right to brand and manage the property.
The Hyatt team was named the top bidder by the city’s citizens’ selection committee, set up to make recommendations to the city commission. Peebles came in second, while Baltimore developer Otis Warren came in third. The three finalists were then invited to make presentations to the commissioners, but with the recommendation, Hyatt clearly had the edge.
Peebles knew politics was behind it all. “The city’s financial adviser had recommended us financially; we had three loan commitments and nobody else had any,” he said. Peebles, however, had an ace in the hole: the Shorecrest property.
While he hired lobbyists to help him state his case, he personally developed relationships with city councilmen and pressed for their vote commitment. Peebles also had to contend with public opinion from many who thought he was getting a sweet deal because he was African American. Peebles is quick to point out that during that same time period, neighboring hotel Loews also received money from the city. Royal Palm received $10 million to build 400 rooms – some $23,000 per room – while the city invested $60 million in the 800-room Loews – or $75,000 per room. Loews also had 99 years to repay the loan versus 25 years for Royal Palm.
Peebles’ strategy paid off. Not only was there a national spotlight on Miami Beach and the plight of an African American developer, but he wooed the commissioners to vote in his favor. He emerged as the winning bidder in June 1996.
Elated at the time, his joy would be short-lived. Then-Mayor Seymour Gelber, who voted against the Peebles deal, assigned Arthur Courshon, a bank president and staunch opponent of Peebles, to negotiate the final contract. Talks dragged on for months while investors became impatient with delays and mounting expenses. Peebles had hoped to complete the project by year-end 1998—a hope that would quickly fade. Then he had to leap a hurdle with the city’s historic preservation program so Peebles could tear down the faulty structure but had to “build an exact replica of the original.”
When all was said and done, the project came in nearly two years late and costs totaled $82 million—more than $20 million over budget. The property celebrated its grand opening in May 2002. By 2004, the property had a year-round occupancy rate of approximately 70%.
Its completion was heralded throughout the African American business community. “It was huge because it was the first time in the history of this area where you had a substantial development owned by an African American going up on the beach,” said Andy Ingraham, president of the National Association of Black Hotel Owners, Operators & Developers Inc. “Let’s not forget it was not too far in the distant past when people like Muhammad Ali could fight and train on Miami Beach but could not stay on Miami Beach.”
Peebles would eventually become one of the wealthiest African Americans in the country, with an estimated net worth of more than $700 million and roughly $5 billion, 6 million square foot real estate portfolio. One of his first transactions after that historic development: Selling the Royal Palm for $127.5 million two years later.
Real estate developer Don Peebles discovered he had an interest in the hospitality business when he was very young. He was enthralled seeing his maternal grandfather work as a doorman for the Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, D.C. It also made him aware of all of the opportunities available in the hotel industry from a very early age.
However, he struggled seeing that women and minorities didn’t have equal footing in the industry. In 1983, Peebles decided the best way to create equal opportunities was to start his own business. He founded the Peebles Corporation, an investment and development firm that specializes in hospitality, real estate, and retail properties. The Peebles Corporation is currently working on projects in New York City, Boston, and Charlotte, and numerous developments in San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Miami already line Peebles’ portfolio.
While the company has tended to focus on gateway markets, they’re also looking to work in developing ones. For example, Peebles is looking to build a district called “Brooklyn Village” in downtown Charlotte, N.C.—a location he finds very compelling. Peebles considers Charlotte an emerging city, and over the next 10 years he hopes to create a community of more than a dozen establishments. This includes two hotels and several residential and office buildings. If all goes according to plan, 18 acres should be approved for development in the next 12 to 18 months. “It’s a neighborhood within the central business district, so it gives us a unique opportunity to master plan and develop a neighborhood in a prime location in one of the most exciting growth cities in the country,” Peebles says. This particular piece of land is near Panthers’ Stadium and the Bank of America Headquarters.
The corporation is also planning to renovate the New York Life Insurance Company Headquarters in the Tribeca region of Manhattan, turning the landmark into a condominium with pre-war ornamentation. Peebles describes, “It’s a unique historic landmark building that has all the grandeur of something you would typically find on 5th or Park Avenue. It just happens to be in Tribeca. It represents a tremendous opportunity for our company.”
But development is only one of Peebles’ interests. Peebles became engaged in politics as a young teen in 1973 when Washington, D.C., was first granted the right to elect its own government officials. When he was in high school, Peebles served as a congressional page intern for the House of Representatives.
“Most real estate developers of scale tend to engage in some politics, just in terms of supporting good candidates and a good development profile,” Peebles says. But Peebles’ political involvement is fueled by passion just as much as it is by his real estate career. He became chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation in July 2015,and remains involved to this day. Peebles’ interest in politics, driven by his desire to create equal opportunities for women and minorities, was inspired by watching his mother’s difficulty acquiring the same opportunities and pay as men. “One of the things it allowed me to do is engage in a broader discussion nationally about equal access to economic opportunities for minorities and women and that’s something I feel very strongly about,” Peebles says.
Working with the Foundation has allowed Peebles to help open doors for individuals who may not have been available in the past—a step toward leveling the industry playing field. The Foundation provides scholarships for more than 300 students a year, which leads to congressional and private sector internships, providing educational experiences and opportunities to underserved children in minorities. Today, up-and-coming students are benefitting from the internship on Capitol Hill Peebles completed 40 years ago. He says, “What the organization stands for is fairness and what we all get is a fair and equal chance at access to our version of the American dream. That access to the American dream is deeply rooted in equal access to education, equal access to economic opportunities and—of course—equal protection under the law.”
As for what’s next? Peebles is considering running for mayor of New York City. His desire to run stems from a place of frustration—he’s looking to give the city’s women (52.5 percent of NYC’s population) and minorities (67 percent) equal access to opportunities. Peebles believes that without leadership invested in creating a state of equity, it’s never going to happen.
“The greatness of New York is that it’s the most diverse city in America, and everybody can live together in harmony and this is a city where everyone can pursue their dreams: Big, small, and in between,” he says. “If people can’t get a fair chance in New York City, where can they?”
By Daniel J. Sernovitz – Staff Reporter, Washington Business Journal
A partnership including New York-based developer The Peebles Corp. has sold the Courtyard by Marriott hotel building by Ninth and F streets NW for $83 million, nearly a quarter-century after the developer acquired the historic Riggs Bank building from the Resolution Trust Corp. for just $5 million.
Peebles, with partners The Donohoe Cos. and Penrose Group, sold the 188-room hotel at 900 F St. NW Tuesday to Global Holdings, an international real estate investment company led by Chairman Eyal Ofer. The sale, which works out to nearly $441,500 per room, comes as Peebles gears up to develop what's planned as a five-star SLS Hotel and Residences by Fifth and Eye streets NW a few blocks away.
Peebles President and CEO Don Peebles said the group determined the property's value had peaked and that additional renovations would have been required to boost that figure. The hotel's taxable assessment is about $62 million, according to D.C. land records.
"I think the value of the property had kind of topped off. We got a tremendous return on the investment," Peebles said. "It was just time for us all to go our separate ways. We've been partners for nearly a quarter of a century."
The property was marketed by Eastdil Secured.
The area is a far sight better these days than it was 25 years ago. Across Ninth Street is a Shake Shack and, until it moves to its new home near L'Enfant Plaza, the International Spy Museum. Across F Street is the Gallup Organization's global headquarters. And diagonal is the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
But 25 years ago, the vacant, 10-story office building was just one piece of real estate suffering through the thick of the savings and loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s. And in a pre-internet world, Don Peebles had to take time out from his honeymoon in Montana to find a notary.
The year was 1992, and the Resolution Trust Corp., formed to liquidate distressed assets, required prospective buyers for the historic Riggs Bank building to have their bids notarized. Peebles found one in the closest town to where he and his new bride were staying. While it took some time, he acquired the 97,000-square-foot office building in 1994 and launched an $18.5 million renovation that converted it into what the WBJ described in a 1999 article as " the crown jewel of F Street."
"I operated from the premise that Washington, D.C. is the most important city in the world and that the core of downtown of the most important city in the world would bounce back," Peebles said. "Basically, I used my gut instinct and had faith in the future of downtown."
Plans to convert the former Family Court building in Center City into a boutique hotel have been declared eligible for a federal tax credit aimed at supporting historic-preservation projects, offering a boost to the long-stalled proposal.
The National Park Service approved developer Peebles Corp.’s renovation plans for the 76-year-old building at 1801 Vine St. on Dec. 29, said a spokesman for the agency, Jeremy Barnum.
The Park Service had rejected an earlier plan for the building from the Coral Gables, Fla.-based developer, ruling that the then-proposed renovations would "severely downgrade" the court building’s historic character.
Barnum said he was unable to discuss changes made to the plan since its rejection in May. Peebles spokeswoman Nicole Goldberg did not respond to an email.
When Peebles was awarded the project in 2014 after a competitive bidding process, Philadelphia officials described the court building’s renovation as a vital step toward further enlivening the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
The developer's plan for the vacant Beaux Arts court building called for 199 guest rooms, a 3,500-square-foot ballroom, meeting and board rooms, a spa and fitness center, and a restaurant and bar.
The bid originally called for the building to be developed as part of the Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group, which operates Center City’s Monaco and Palomar hotels. In July, a Kimpton spokeswoman said her company had never formalized an agreement with Peebles for the Family Court property.
Peebles previously attached an $85 million price tag to the project, though rising construction costs since its original proposal could increase that figure.
Officials with the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office, which administers the tax-credit program with the Park Service, said last year that the credit would knock $14.6 million off Peebles’ development costs, based on previously submitted project estimates.
With the tax-credit approval in hand, Peebles should have new momentum to push forward with its plan for the building, said Peter Tyson, a managing director at commercial real estate firm CBRE’s hotels division in Philadelphia.
The developer now knows how much money it needs to borrow or raise from investors to finance the project, Tyson said, and should find it easier to convince a hotel brand — whether it’s Kimpton or another — to lend its name to the property.
“It should enable all the pieces to come together and get the thing moving,” he said.
New York mayoral wannabe Don Peebles met with president elect Donald Trump on Tuesday to discuss ways to advance minority- and women-owned businesses.
“The whole focus was talking about the future and how we can work together and advance our country with greater opportunities for African American and women entrepreneurs and minority owned businesses,” real estate honcho Peebles said.
“He was interested in how I achieved success and how I overcame obstacles and how this can be replicated. No one knows better how to overcome obstacles than the people who overcame them.”
Peebles said he was most impressed by Trump’s “openness, his willingness to listen, to consider innovative ideas and his commitment to creating an environment of equal opportunity.”
The duo also spent time talking about their “shared experiences,” as developers in New York and nationally, “and about being politically involved and caring about our country.”
“I talk his language and he talks mine, so we really understand each other,” Peebles said.
Peebles, a Democrat, who has been critical of Mayor de Blasio, said he’s considering making a run for City Hall.
Following the meeting, he said it’s time for disillusioned Hillary Clinton supporters to give Trump a chance.
“If people can get beyond the bitterness, sadness, frustration and anger of the election, if Hillary Clinton supporters can get over it and move on, then there is a real opportunity for New York and entrepreneurs,” Peebles said.
“This is the first time there will be a New Yorker in the White House since FDR. What a great thing that is for New York City,” he added.
He rapped de Blasio for complaining about traffic during hizzoner’s own meeting with Trump.
“A competent mayor should be able to handle the presence of the President of the United States.” he said.
“Lyndon B. Johnson said it best. In politics, there are no permanent friends or enemies, just permanent interests. We need to create equal economic opportunities for minorities and women. Donald Trump has expressed a strong commitment to doing that and I intend to do whatever I can to move that agenda forward,” Peebles said.
On Tuesday, ANC 63 voted in favor of a planned residential project in Mt. Vernon Triangle. UrbanTurf was the first to report of the ANC’s support, further writing that the project will redevelop a historically protected, single-story building with an additional nine stories and penthouse constructed atop it.
According to UrbanTurf, "The ANC voted, with one abstention, to support the design concept on the condition that an additional setback is created to delineate the historic ground floor from the floors above."
Located at 925 5th Street NW, the planned project will house 40 condos with studios, one-bedrooms, two-bedrooms, and one-bedrooms with a den. There will either be an amenity or retail on the ground floor.
Back in February 2014, the owner of the Shaw beer garden, Dacha, planned on opening a second location at 925 5th Street NW. According to the MVTriangle Blog, the original plans for the site were to convert the empty plot into a one-story pavilion with an open air beer garden-style sitting area. The ANC Finder website indicates that ANC 6E showed support for the project with 5 yeas and one nay. The new location would have been called Dacha 2. A source at Dacha told Curbed that while they had an LOI, they did not agree on all terms in the end. What terms these were were not specified.
On September 22 or 29, the Historic Preservation Review Board will consider the application. The developer of the project is Peebles Corporation, while the architect is WDG Architecture.
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