Calculated risk

Larry Feldman's first solo project for his family's New York-based development firm was a 40-story office building on 45th Street in Manhattan that opened just as a crippling economic recession hit the Northeast.

The year was 1990, and Tower 45's $120 million in debt was racking up interest charges of $43,000 — each day. Making matters worse, the building was only 8% occupied at opening.
That's when Feldman had an epiphany.

“I realized my customer wasn't the tenant who'd be occupying the space: It was the real estate broker who brought them to the building,” says Feldman, 61, president and CEO of Feldman Equities LLC, one of the Tampa Bay area's largest office landlords.