Pariser to speak at YMBA luncheon

Real Estate Weekly, Jan 12, 2000

Paul Pariser of Taconic Investment Partners will address the Young Mortgage Banker's Association on Wednesday, January 26th at the Cornell Club, located at 6 East 44th Street. The luncheon starts at 12 p.m.

The topic will be "Financing and Investing in Technology Buildings: A Developer's Perspective on Underwriting Risk and Creating Upside in a Growing Niche Market."

Co-founder and principal of Taconic Investment Partners LLC, Pariser, along with his partner, Charles Bendit, lead all investment activities as well as maintaining direct control of all aspects of the firm's asset management activities. Taconic owns and operates over 6 million square feet of commercial office space in New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C., and has been especially linked with successful technology upgrades to its holdings.

Taconic made headlines in 1998 with the purchase of the 3.5 million square-foot Sylvan Lawrence portfolio, comprised of a variety of Downtown Manhattan commercial buildings, in partnership with Blackacre Capital. Taconic's reputation as a cutting-edge investor was made with the development of the former Port Authority building located at 111 Eighth Avenue. The 2.3 million square-foot building was turned into a magnet for high-tech and Internet companies, and now has asking rents in the $40 per square-foot range.

"The YMBA is excited to have Paul Pariser speak at this month's luncheon," said Gerry Davis, chairman of the YMBA. "Taconic has capitalized on the technology revolution that is changing the real estate landscape in both New York and internationally."

Prior to forming Taconic, Pariser was a partner and president and CEO of Balfour Holdings Inc. Balfour is a national developer with a predominance of land in inventory for residential development. Properties acquired and under development are in Denver, Colorado, Tampa, Florida, Dallas, Texas, Las Vegas, Nevada, Seattle, Washington and the suburbs of Washington D.C. The inventory of the portfolio included over 14,000 single-family lots at year-end 1996, plus various commercial holdings. Pariser successfully sold the company along with the entire portfolio to an opportunity fund in early 1997, at which time he organized with Bendit the creation of Taconic.

Prior to Balfour, Pariser was a lead investment partner of Jones Lang Wootton USA, where he started his professional career in 1978 and remained there until 1994. During the early 1990's, Pariser was named co-managing partner of the U.S. operation, responsible for over 400 staff in five offices throughout the U.S. Pariser was responsible for over $3 billion of real estate transactions while at Jones Lang Wootton.

Pariser holds an MBA from Columbia University and a BA from Washington University in St. Louis. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute, and a governor of the Real Estate Board of New York. He is on the Advisory Board of the New York University Real Estate Institute.

Pariser lives in Greenwich, CT with his wife and two sons.

The January 26th luncheon is $50 for YMBA members paying in advance and $60 for non-members and all paying at the door. For more information call Carol Bensky at (201) 440-8144. Send all checks to: Carol Bensky at AMT Marketing, 426 Hudson Street, P.O. Box 522, Hackensack, NJ, 07602.

In addition to this event, consider holding these dates: February 16th - YMBA Educational Breakfast on Construction Lending; and March 15th - a luncheon featuring the Whitehall Group/Goldman Sachs.