Broker returns to owner's side

Real Estate Weekly, June 16, 1993 by Derek Alger

"I was going to go to law school but I began working for The Daily News while at Cornell and I became a cub reporter," Warshauer said. "It was great fun and I was drafted into the financial news department because I had a good background."

While at the newspaper, Warshauer said, he was provided with good insight into New York life that proved to be invaluable in his real estate career.

"The real estate business is the business the city is in," Warshauer observed. "Knowledge of the city is certainly an advantage and, in many ways, real estate is the business of information."

At The News, Warsbauer was even-really responsible for the company's substantial real estate holdings, which in the late 1970's included the landmarked Daily News Building.

"Real estate holdings were in an uproar and they asked me to look after that end of it, which I did for the better put of three years," Warshauer said. "A major tenant was making noises about leaving The News and, though we were very anxious to save them, we also felt that making a change wouldn't be the end of the world.

"The strategy of re-renting the building was beyond our wildest dreams," said Warshauer. "We were 100 percent above budget and the fabulous cash flow allowed The News to sell the building in 1982."

In 1980, Warshauer joined Kenneth D. Laub & Company, Inc., which allowed him to gain valuable experience in commercial real estate.

"It was a wonderful opportunity to make the step to commercial realtor," Warsbauer said about his decision to join Laub. "I thought the learning experience would be unparalleled, and in retrospect, I was right."

Over the years, Warshauer has been involved in a number of major property sales, including 2 Park Avenue and the 800,000-square-foot condominium at 1166 Avenue of the Americas. He has also performed extensive consulting assignments for AMAX, International Paper Company, McKinsey & Company, Pan American Airways, Plymouth/Lamston Stores, and The Dally News.

Warshauer was previously executive vice president of S.L. Green Real Estate, Inc., where he was in charge of overseeing the leasing of that company's 3 million-square-foot portfolio of Manhattan office space.

He was also formerly senior vice president and assistant to the president of Williams Real Estate Co., Inc., a major Manhattan commercial real estate leasing and management concern with substantial ownership interests. His responsibilities with Williams Real Estate included the recruitment of high-level administrative and brokerage personnel, locating investments for the firm's principals and helping to create and supervise International Commercial Realty Services, Inc., a national network of major real estate brokers. He later rejoined Laub.

"There are so many hurdles brokers encounter today," Warsbauer added. "They have to work hard today. I give them credit. It's very rough."

Warshauer lives in Manhattan with his wife, Rosalind, and their two children, Lionel, 15, and Samantha, 12.