Paul Reichmann ?

I have done this site especially for Paul Reichmann
in order to visit thishousewillexist.org

I apologize for my poor translation into English

Paul Reichmann (born 1930) is a Canadian businessman best known for his leadership of the Olympia & York a real estate development company. Reichmann was born in Vienna in 1930 to Samuel Reichmann, a wealthy egg merchant and his wife René. His parents were Orthodox Jews from a small town in Hungary, but his father had risen to prominence in Vienna as a successful merchant.

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Olympia York and was a leading international real estate development companies in the second half of the 20th century. It was based in Toronto, Canada. The company has initiated the construction of large complex of office buildings such as Canary Wharf in London, the World Financial Center in New York and First Canadian Place in Toronto. It went bankrupt in 1992.

The early years

It was in Montreal that Edward, the eldest of the brothers Reichmann settled first in early 1955, from Tangiers where his father made his fortune in banking. He founded the company upon arrival Olympia Trading Company for the import of ceramic tiles. His brother Louis the following year moved to Toronto where he founded a similar business but independent, Olympia Floor & Wall Tile. Paul and Ralph come to turn in this town in the spring of 1957 and take over the company Louis.

The latter joined Edward in Montreal who founded Three Star Construction in January 1958 and began developing industrial real estate in the north of the city. In Toronto, Paul and Ralph also embark in real estate, quite by accident in early 1958, erecting a warehouse to expand their business. Before the high construction costs, they opt to outsource their own work. They resell the property at a profit the following year, which encourages them to open a subsidiary dedicated to the construction of industrial buildings in North York, a suburb north of Toronto while growing strongly. When their brother Albert arrived in Tangier in 1959, he founded York Factory Developments. At the request of their father who finances them in part, the three brothers team up in 1961 in a joint venture that will become Olympia and York in 1964.

The Reichmann brothers are very religious and Haredi Jews are seen as eccentric for their respect for the Sabbath and Jewish holidays for which they close their work on construction sites. Even when the success of O & Y have made them one of the richest families in the world, they will continue to lead a relatively austere, cultivating secrecy as to their real wealth.

The company is quickly building a reputation for quickly and more cheaply than its competitors. His first major project is the extensive development of multifunctional Flemingdon Park in Don Mills, a suburb of Toronto. In June 1965, they bought the bankruptcy of William Zeckendorf development already started and make it a success.

Meanwhile, in Montreal, the firm of Edward, Three Star Construction is experiencing difficulties. The Reichmann of Toronto save the company from bankruptcy in the fall of 1966 and Olympia and York soon became owner.

In Toronto, Paul Reichmann, the engine of Olympia and York, becoming more enterprising. To finance the expansion of his company, he developed new forms of financing and soon succeeded in building for the largest companies in the country.

In 1967, Olympia and York began to build offices in downtown Toronto and Ottawa. After a few medium-sized buildings, the company took a significant risk by acquiring in 1969 the plots of the last site not built at the corner of King and Bay in Toronto, the geographical heart of the main financial district of Canada. In 1972, the Reichmann control almost the whole island and join in the Bank of Montreal that his building on the remaining part to build the new headquarters of the bank. They make plans for an office tower of 72 floors, the tallest building in the Commonwealth. The project, First Canadian Place, however, goes almost dark when reformist mayor David Crombie, elected in December 1972, declared a moratorium on any new major development. The tower of 72 storeys already approved, is built in record time thanks to technological innovations and completed in 1975. Phase II, however, must be redesigned and delayed by poor economic conditions, will be completed in 1982.

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The golden era of the 1980s

During the 1980s, Olympia & York is experiencing phenomenal growth to become the first real estate development firm in the world.

Strongly depressed real estate market in New York attracts Reichmann who in 1977 acquired a set of eight skyscrapers Uris Building Corporation, 55 Water Street, for as little as $ 359 million. In just one decade, this investment will reach $ 3.5 billion, making it one of the most lucrative real estate transactions in modern history. The company is focusing on New York and then opened an office on Park Avenue. She soon launched real estate projects all across the United States, while in Canada she leave Toronto to build more in Calgary and Edmonton.

By 1980, Olympia & York Battery Park City is involved in a vast port area near the World Trade Center in New York. It is selected from twelve developers to build the largest office complex in the history of Manhattan when the Battery Park City Authority assigned the development of this set. When Olympia & York in 1982 succeeded in attracting American Express, the name of the office complex is changed to the World Financial Center. Other prestigious tenants such as Dow Jones and Company and Merrill Lynch were soon joined the project to another solid success for Olympia and York. The complex, completed 70%, was inaugurated in October 1985 and the last two buildings will be completed in 1987.

With liquidity growth, the company diversified investments. In 1980, it acquired Français Property Corp., a leading UK property developers, which gives 40% stake in Trizec, a large Canadian real estate company. The transaction creates a lasting association with the Bronfman family with which Olympia and York soon acquires, in a roundabout way, 40% of the shares of Royal Trust Company. Later, in 1984, the company buys 22% of another major Canadian real estate company, Cadillac Fairview.

The company is also diversifying out of real estate. It acquires, with 50.1% of the shares, control of Brinco Ltd.. in 1980, and 94% of the shares of Abitibi-Price Inc.. the following year, as 20% of the shares of MacMillan Bloedel, the largest lumber producer in Canada. In 1985, it acquired Gulf Canada Resources Limited, a transaction that generates a lot of controversy because it allows the company to benefit from generous tax cuts. Finally, after a highly publicized legal battle in 1987 with the British company Allied Lyons PLC for control of the Hiram Walker distillery in Canada, manufacturer of the popular Canadian Club rye whiskey, Olympia and York acquires 49% stake in Hiram Walker.

In the late 1980s, the company undertaking the development of Canary Wharf, a large site east of London. The land of 83 acres (336,000 m2) soon became the largest real estate development in the world, including among others the One Canada Square, the highest skyscraper in Britain. The project quickly found problems. Britain goes into recession and companies are reluctant to leave the traditional financial center in the heart of the City, and despite a personal promise of Margaret Thatcher, the London Underground will not be extended to the site (it will not be in 2000 with the extension of the Jubilee Line). Office space in Canary Wharf are largely empty and Olympia and York was short of cash. At the same time, the real estate market in New York is also in recession and the developer, who was then the largest owner of Manhattan, is experiencing cash flow problems that affect heavily the pyramidal system of financing that have adopted the Reichmann brothers.

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Bankruptcy

In March 1992, Paul Reichmann was forced to resign as president. In May, the company is under the protection of the laws on bankruptcy with debts of more than 20 billion dollars to various banks and investors. It was finally disbanded in February 1993.

The reasons for the failure are many. The company is initially too continued to focus on entrepreneurship, leaving few resources for the daily management. Fear of leaving a minimum of control to outside the family also prevented Reichmann to dispose of assets when it was still time. Finally, the excessive optimism of Paul Reichmann led him to believe that the inflationary 1970s would continue into the 1980s.

In 1993, the Reichmann only keep a small portion of their empire, a property management company: Olympia & York Properties Corporation, which maintains six buildings in Canada and the management contracts of nine others. With the help of external financial, Paul Reichmann International Property Corporation founded soon that manages to acquire, in October 1995, the Canary Wharf project while on the road to profitability. However, Reichmann have a small share of this company and have no significant assets in New York.

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Reichmann had sold its interest in Canary Wharf

The Canadian businessman Paul Reichmann, founder of London business district Canary Wharf, has sold its stake in the development of the docklands of the English capital, thus ending 22 years of work in this business center international reputation.

According to several British media, has pushed Songbird Estates to 69.3% its stake in Canary Wharf Group Commerzbank acquiring a block of shares representing an interest of 8.45%, to 112.5 million pounds (196 , 2 million CDN).

The Daily Telegraph reports that sources close to Canary Wharf confirmed that the shares originally owned by Mr. Reichmann, but they had been claimed by the Commerzbank. The Canadian businessman had offered as security against loans obtained subsequently acquired Dresdner Bank - earlier this year - by Commerzbank.

This revelation, writes the Telegraph, raises questions about the health of Mr. Reichmann and investment marks the end of an era for Canary Wharf.

Mr. Reichmann, now aged 78, was the mastermind behind the development of the business district, which stretches over 95 acres, having reached an agreement in 1987 with the first minister at the time, Margaret Thatcher.

However, despite his confidence, the project, mainly because of the difficulty in attracting tenants, had led his company, Olympia & York of Toronto into bankruptcy in 1992. Mr. Reichmann has subsequently managed to buy back Canary Wharf banks in 1995. In 2004, he lost control of the company a second time when the Songbird consortium has acquired a majority stake in Canary Wharf for 1.9 billion pounds.

Mr. Reichmann had retained an approximate 8% in the company.


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