David Werner (born c. 1953) is an American real estate investor and founder of David Werner Real Estate.
David Werner | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1953 or 1954 (age 69–70) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Real estate investor |
| Known for | Founder of David Werner Real Estate |
Biography
editWerner was born to an Orthodox Jewish family, the son of Holocaust survivors, and raised in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan.[1]
Werner started his career as an accountant and then began to invest in real estate with partners from his community in Brooklyn.[1] After bidding on a building that was being sold by the estate of real estate investor Sylvan Lawrence, he found out that he had the right to seek a price reduction but instead committed to the transaction as he had given his word.[1] In 1997, he was rewarded for his integrity by Lawrence's heirs who gave him first rights to a portfolio of four buildings which Werner purchased for $387.5 million and sold his interest for a $7.5 million profit.[1] As one of the buildings (111 Eighth Avenue) was later sold to Google for $1.8 billion, Werner changed his investment strategy and started holding a higher interest (typically 10%) for a longer period.[1] Werner is considered a real estate syndicator following the model pioneered by Harry Helmsley meaning that he makes a bid for a property putting down a large nonrefundable cash down payment and then goes to his investor network to raise the additional money to close the transaction and secure a fee.[2] From 2000 to 2014, Werner purchased $10.6 billion in real estate including the 2003 purchase of 11 Madison Avenue for $673 million.[1] In 2012, Werner partnered with Brooklyn real estate investor Joel Schreiber and purchased One Court Square for $481 million in Long Island City, Queens from Stephen L. Green's SL Green and JPMorgan Asset Management.[3] In 2014, with $2.4 billion in purchases, he was the single largest purchaser of real estate in New York City[1] which included the $1.5 billion purchase of 5 Times Square from Allan V. Rose's AVR Realty and the $900 million purchase of the Socony–Mobil Building from Hiro Real Estate.[2] His long time investment partner is Mark Karasick who will own and manage the property while Werner earns a transaction fee and maintains his minority interest.[1] In 2019, he acquired a 30% interest in 237 Park Avenue from Scott Rechler's RXR Realty and Walton Street Capital.[4] In 2023, Werner acquired The Bridge at Collegeville, a 1.9 million SF office and life-science campus in Collegeville, PA.[5] He subsequently renewed the anchor tenant Dow for a 15-year term in what was described as the largest lease in the Philadelphia market in over a decade.[6]
Personal life
editWerner lives in the Borough Park neighborhood of Brooklyn with his wife.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i Levitt, David M. (November 10, 2014). "T-Shirt-Toting Brooklynite Is NYC's Top Property Buyer". Bloomberg News.
Werner, 60, is a religious man who almost never gives interviews. His determination to keep a low profile is derived from the Jewish notion of "ein hora," literally "evil eye" in Yiddish, according to two people close to him
- ^ a b Geiger, Daniel (June 23, 2014). "One-man buying machine bids unrefusable prices". Crain's New York Business.
- ^ Putzier, Konrad (December 1, 2017). "The story of WeWork's mysterious first investor". The Real Deal.
- ^ Bockmann, Rich (January 23, 2019). "RXR and Walton Street Capital near deal to sell 237 Park Ave stake to David Werner". The Real Deal.
- ^ Cunningham, Cathy (August 16, 2023). "Starwood, BMO Lend $95M on David Werner's Pfizer Life Sciences Campus Acquisition". Commercial Observer.
- ^ Heschmeyer, Mark (January 16, 2024). "Dow Signs What May Be Philadelphia Market's Largest Office Lease in More Than a Decade". CoStar.