Development New York, Vol. 1, No 11, November 2003

Georgia Malone & Company, Inc.

Doing real estate deals in New York has never been easy. Accomplishing this as a woman in a male-dominated field is even more challenging.

And yet, Georgia Malone, president of the successful six-year-old boutique real estate agency, Georgia Malone & Company, Inc., has enjoyed a formidable track record in pivotal deal-making by following a unique entrepreneurial strategy in the way she does business: "We have never made one property sale or deal that was already on the market," said Malone.

In addition to having the ability to locate properties not on the market, Georgia Malone & Company, Inc., has a staff of senior people who possess a wealth of experience, knowledge and an extensive Rolodex of contacts, giving the company an additional competitive edge. Much of the firm's success, however, is attributable to Malone's own 16-year experience as a lawyer in private practice, where she specialized in landlord/tenant issues, as a landlord/developer/lobbyist and an adjunct professor in commercial tenant and landlord law at NYU.

Malone's ability to understand the complex-ities of New York law has enabled her com-pany to find, obtain and clear commercial and residential sites for development and subsequent sale. The firm has also cultivated a vast roster of contacts and rela-tionships with developers, REITs and owners who call upon her to find properties not on the market.

"Because we serve as the buyer's representative, the sellers do not pay us a fee," said Malone. "We get paid by the buyers."

As a result of the creativity and ingenuity of Georgia Malone & Company, Inc., the firm works as a buyer's rep-resentative for Apartment Investment and Management Company (AIMCO), the nation's largest apartment REIT, for whom they purchased a number of valuable apart-ment buildings in New York.

"With changes in rent regulations and current economic condi-tions, the climate is right to aggressively buy residential buildings that have strong upside potential," said Malone. "We show sellers how they can defer capital gains taxes, secure a steady income, resolve partnership and family issues, diversify their portfolio and do more creative estate planning by selling to a stable REIT. AIMCO will pay competitive prices in cash for these buildings or as Operating Partnership units to defer sellers' capital gains taxes."

Since March, through Georgia Malone, AIMCO has bought, contracted for or issued letters of intent on 13 buildings, including the purchase of 311-313 East 73rd Street, a 34-unit residential property owned by the Manocherian Brothers, and 181-199 Columbus Avenue, a mixed-use, block-front of five buildings with 58 residential units and 12 commercial spaces between 68th and 69th Streets. Malone also engineered AIMCO's acquisition of an 841-unit apartment complex in Duchess County, New York.

"In the case of Columbus Avenue, the retail component drove the sale," said Malone. "It's an 'A' location and the kind of property AIMCO looks for."

Malone is currently in contract for AIMCO with six apartment buildings in A and B+ locations on the Upper East Side, which is scheduled to close in January. Additionally, an active search is underway for prime multi-family properties in Long Island, Westchester and the Hudson Valley area.

As further evidence of her firm's prominence in the apartment building, hotel, and retail/office leasing arenas, Malone has recently developed or brokered such outstanding New York City properties as the 42nd Street Hilton Hotel, the Embassy Suites Hotel in Battery Park City, 9 West 20th Street, 72 West 69th Street, 75 West 68th Street, and 77 West 68th Street.

Located at Times Square, the Hilton Hotel is a 25-story luxury hotel with 304,000 square feet of space and 444 rooms. The hotel is part of a hotel/retail and entertainment complex that includes Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, a 25-screen AMC Cineplex, HMV Records, and dining and retail tenants.

Embassy Suites at Battery Park City is located just across the street from the World Financial Center, hosting beautiful views of the Statue of Liberty and the New York City Harbor. At 14 stories, this 383,000-square-foot, mixed-use development includes a 16-screen cinema and 60,000 square feet of retail and commercial space. Together both the 42nd Street Hilton Hotel and Embassy Suites Hotel at Battery Park City were valued at approximately $380 million.

Georgia Malone & Company, Inc., also served as the co-developer of 9 West 20th Street, a 12-story building that was successfully converted into a 12-unit (plus penthouse) residential condominium of 2,400 square feet per unit, and an existing 2,455-square-foot retail space on the ground floor.

In addition to AIMCO, Georgia Malone's roster of notable leasing tenants has included WNS North America, Host Communications, Nectar Restaurants, Digital Vision Limited, Lanco Group, Stuart Howard Associates, Delos Foundation, Broehan Art, 9 West Art and Framing Gallery, Manhattan G.I. Associates and Landmark Photo.

Georgia Malone & Company, Inc., prides itself on its team approach, and Malone is quick to credit her associates' contributions in bringing these transactions to fruition. Earlier this year, Dan Margulies came on board as Senior Vice President to help identify and acquire an increasing number of apartment portfolios for sale in New York. Margulies was formerly the Executive Director of the Community Housing Improvement Program (CHIP), a trade association of multi-family building owners in New York.

"Dan has great connections and is well liked and well known in the industry," said Malone. Since joining Georgia Malone & Company, Inc., Margulies has been helping AIMCO build its portfolios in New York, while providing lucrative, tax-saving opportunities to apartment building owners who want to sell their properties.

Sales Associate Kalpana Singh-Frain, who specializes in medical office, retail and office leasing, joined Malone's leasing team in 2001. Singh-Frain currently has an exclusive on nine buildings for retail leasing in Manhattan.

Among the more outstanding office lease deals arranged by Singh-Frain recently was for space at 420 Lexington Avenue (a/k/a the Graybar Building), on behalf of WNS North America, Inc., a subsidiary of Warburg Pincus L.L.C., a private equity and venture capital firm with offices worldwide. She also negotiated for the space and build-out at 37 East 57th Street for a major medical practice. In addition, Singh-Frain was involved in managing the design and construction, as well as interviewing and hiring the contractors for this project.

To continue the company's growth, Malone is actively seeking qualified brokers like Margulies and Singh-Frain who can expand her firm's capability of locating exclusive deals not yet on the market for her clients.

"In some ways we've been lucky in our accomplishments," said Malone, "but I believe in the old saying that luck is the residue of hard work."

(L-R) Dan Margulies, Senior Vice President:
Georgia Malone, President;
Kalpana Singh-Frain, Sales Associate