Page 69 - Midas Touch

wasn’t an easy ride. At one point, I came close to losing my bid on this
building, and that was after a long and arduous process of trying to acquire
it.

This building was formerly the Gulf and Western/Paramount Building. It
was an office building at the time, owned by General Electric. When I took

it over in 1995, it was one of the few tall towers on the West Side. It had
been built in the early 1960s before zoning laws would prohibit a building
of that size in that location.

I already knew this building had some problems, even before I bought it.
One big one was that it tended to sway in the wind and would flex at the
top, not just with high winds, but with winds of only 15 mph. On windy
days, elevators would stop, and people who worked in the building would

complain of feeling seasick. It’s true that all buildings have some
flexibility, but this was extreme. It was also full of asbestos, which is a
known cancer-causing agent and would need to be removed. As if that
were not enough, the outer curtain was made of glass and cheap aluminum.

When I heard that this building was for sale, I immediately called one of
the owners, Dale Frey. You may be wondering why I would be interested in
a building with so many major flaws. I was interested because the

structure of the building was classic, and the building had very high
ceilings. I also knew that if the building were demolished, it could only be
rebuilt as a 19-story building with the current zoning laws instead of the
towering 52 stories it currently was.

A lot of major developers were showing an interest in this building as
well, so I asked for a meeting. I also started doing research to see what we

could salvage. I put great people on the task who discovered that we could
strengthen the steel structure. That meant we could keep the best features
intact, like the high ceilings, which are perfect for a residential building.
The location, perched right over Central Park at Columbus Circle, would
make it a great location for a luxury residential building.

We had obviously done a lot of research, and General Electric seemed to
have a very good reaction to everything I presented. However, I was in for

a surprise when Dale Frey called to tell me they were putting the
building’s sale out to bid. They were asking the biggest real estate names
in the country to participate and, despite my thorough presentation, I could