David Walentas
David Walentas | |
---|---|
Born | 1938 (age 85–86) |
Alma mater | University of Virginia |
Occupation | Real estate developer |
Spouse | Jane Zimmerman |
Children | 2 sons |
David Walentas (born 1938) is an American billionaire real estate developer.
Early life and education
Walentas was born in
Thule, Greenland as a laborer for a summer to pay off his student loans and then spent time traveling through Europe.[3] After he returned to the U.S., he accepted a job with the Peace Corps but instead attended the University of Virginia Darden School of Business where he graduated in 1964.[3] He then took a job with Singer Corporation where he worked in Japan and Australia.[3] While in Asia, he met a schoolteacher from Rochester who was teaching in the Philippines; they married in Japan but the marriage only lasted a year.[3]
Career
Walentas returned to the US and worked for
NoHo focusing on converting industrial buildings into apartments or coops.[3] In 1978, his partner died.[3][4] Intent on expanding into Dumbo, Brooklyn, which he thought was the next hot neighborhood, he was able to get $6 million in funding from Ronald Lauder and Leonard Lauder (who he had worked with in the past in the purchase of the Silk Building) and borrowed an additional $6 million which enabled him to purchase two million square feet of property, almost the entire neighborhood.[3] As the neighborhood was zoned industrial, his plan was to convert the buildings into back office space for Wall Street.[3] He was on the verge of signing a deal with Lewis Glucksman of Lehman Brothers but it collapsed after their sale to American Express.[3] At the time, Governor Mario Cuomo was trying to preserve manufacturing jobs and offered Walentas a deal, the Department of Labor would move its operations to Dumbo if he would give existing manufacturers a 10-year lease.[3] After the 10 years passed, the bank that owned the $20 million mortgage on the Dumbo properties went bankrupt and the mortgage was sold it HSBC who then sold it to Walentas at a discounted price of $6 million.[3] In 1995, he was able to get the city to change the zoning to residential.[3] He is currently developing the Domino Sugar Refinery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.[5]
With his Two Trees Management company, Walentas has transformed the DUMBO area of Brooklyn.[1][6] In August 2020, he had a net worth of US$2.2 billion, ranking him No. 378 on the Forbes 400 list of America's richest people.[7]
Personal life
Walentas was married with two children and lives in New York City.[7] He is "a passionate polo player". His wife Jane (née Zimmerman)[8][9] is an artist.[1] His son Jed Walentas is CEO of Two Trees.[7][10] His wife died in 2021.[11] Reflecting on his marriage, Walentas stated that it was the "best deal I ever made".[11]
References
- ^ a b c d e Greenwood, Marcia (October 14, 2014). "David Walentas: From nowhere to billionaire". Democrat and Chronicle. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
- Democrat & Chronicle.
...a building that housed a tailor shop owned by his paternal grandparents, Lithuanian immigrants; the church where he took his first Holy Communion ("I think that was the last time I was actually in church," he says).
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Golia, Julie (August 22, 2017). "David and Jane Walentas - Oral history interview conducted by Julie Golia". brooklynhistory.org.
- ^ Kleiman, Dena (January 1, 1978). "J. Frederic Byers, Realty Executive ,38 , Is Killed in Plunge". The New York Times.
- New York Magazine.
- ^ Kohli, Sonali (June 21, 2015). "Developers have figured out the secret sauce for gentrifying neighborhoods". Quartz.
- ^ a b c "David Walentas". Forbes. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
- ^ Zavala, Oswaldo (June 16, 1998). "Richard M. Zimmerman, 57, Longtime South Florida Banker". Sun Sentinel.
- ^ "Moore College of Art & Design gets $1M gift". Philadelphia Business Journal. April 11, 2008.
- ^ "Jed Walentas". YJP Mentors. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
- ^ a b as "Jane Walentas, who planted a carousel in Dumbo, dies at 76". artdaily.com.
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External links
- CUNY TV: "BuildingNY: David Walentas" February 9, 2011