Whitehall Street Funds merges to form WP Commercial

Real Estate Weekly, Jan 17, 2001

The Whitehall Street Real state Funds ("Whitehall"), affiliates of Goldman Sachs & Co., have partnered with Richard Previdi and the senior management of Wellsford/Whitehall Group LLC ("WWG"), to form a new venture, WP Commercial, LLC. The new venture will be led by Mr. Previdi as Chief Executive Officer and has received a $75 million initial equity commitment from Whitehall to purchase and re-develop properties in the Northeast.

Founded in 1997, WWG owns a portfolio consisting of 43 properties located in the Boston, Northern New Jersey, and Washington, D.C. markets totaling approximately five million square feet. As a result of the execution of definitive agreements modifying the terms of WWG, whose majority owners include Whitehall and Wellsford Real Properties, WP Commercial will manage the existing portfolio owned by WWG and begin acquiring new, to-be-redeveloped office properties under the WP Commercial umbrella. All senior management and employees of WWG will continue in their same capacity at WP Commercial.

WP Commercial's operating strategy is to acquire underutilized properties in in-fill and to reposition, rehabilitate and/or redevelop them into Class A office properties. This strategy enables WP Commercial to offer premium office space to tenants at rates that are 10% to 15% below competitive Class A properties.

The senior management of WP Commercial includes: Michael Gribbon, Chief Operating Officer, Metro Washington D.C.; Thomas Powers, Chief Operating Officer, Metro Boston; and Mark Schaevitz, Chief Operating Officer, Metro New York/New Jersey.