In the fall of 1999, Assembly Square Limited Partners (ASLP) faced two serious problems. They had bought the mall property with $300,000 in cash and a one-year, $18.5 million loan that was due in October. But they could not legally obtain as-of-right permits to build big box stores.
And...who was ASLP? You guessed it...
Taurus New England, ASLP’s majority partner, never seriously considered building anything other than a big-box-dominated project. This was not just because of Home Depot’s contractual constraints. Taurus had had enjoyed great success by buying failed projects, repackaging them, and selling them for a quick and substantial profit. The last thing they wanted was to execute an office-based master plan. Also, principal Lorenz Reibling was and remains deeply pessemistic about the Boston-area economy’s future demand for office space.
So Taurus faced the challenge of obtaining permits to build a project to which most Somervillians then objected. They determined to meet that challenge by replacing erstwhile partner National Development with a politically connected developer.
Environmental activist and unsuccessful congressional candidate John O’Connor was married to Carolyn Mugar, who with her brother David, was heir to many Star Market properties. The Mugars were major contributors to the Massachusetts Democratic Party, and Carolyn sat on the Conservation Law Foundation Board of Directors.
Mr. O’Connor had persuaded his wife to create a development company that, starting with the supermarket properties, would showcase “green” development. They called it “Gravestar.” One of its first projects was the Porter Square strip mall, which drew mixed reviews from neighbors.
O’Connor had become close with a political operative named Natasha Perez, whom he installed in a cottage on his and Ms. Mugar’s residential property. During the Spring, 1999 special election to replace Mayor Michael Capuano, Ms. Perez had also become quite close with candidate Joe Curtatone, when she served as his campaign field officer. She subsequently went to work for Gravestar, and at the same time, as Deputy Executive Director of the Massachusetts Democratic Party.
Taurus calculated that Gravestar had the political juice that they needed. They brought Gravestar into ASLP, gave them a small equity position, and charged them with managing public relations and delivering the permits. Gravestar, in turn, charged Natasha Perez with leading this effort.
This was the biggest opportunity that Gravestar had thus far encountered. Unfortunately, John O’Connor, beloved in the environmental community, had the bad judgment to die at the age of 44, before he could fully appreciate the environmental disaster that ASLP’s plans would create.
Joe Curtatone was deeply impressed with Lorenz Reibling when Natasha Perez introduced them. This is understandable; Mr. Reibling is brilliant, charming, highly successful, and has an avuncular manner. Curtatone sought a personal relationship, taking Reibling’s family to see the tall ships when he was out of the country, and attempting to persuade Reibling to purchase the Prospect Hill house across the street from Joe’s sister’s home. They dined together regularly at Henrietta’s Kitchen in Harvard Square, discussing a variety of topics, including Joe’s political ambitions.
I guess the rules for playing political games are different for the JWs who smell like money.
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A 2014 interview from Argentina, with Lorenz Reibling.
Selected quotes from above link:
Global Investment property: the look of an expert
Lorenz Reibling, President of Taurus Investment Holdings, the international company that develops Argentina Austral Park, was interviewed by the online media of Germany's most important business. The following is an excerpt from the interview with his views on the opportunities and risks in real estate markets in different regions of the world
Düsseldorf . Reibling is the president and co-founder of Taurus Investment. The company, based in Boston, specializes in real estate investments for very wealthy and institutional clients. Handelsblatt-Online spoke with him about his exclusive clients; opportunities in the German real estate market; and prestigious project in Texas.Professor Reibling, many customers are very rich. Who would trust their money?
Our customers must meet three main criteria. They must be able to invest the money in a long period of time; if necessary, they should be able to increase the amount they have invested; and must be willing to commit to our business model. Anyone with $ 500,000 available to have the opportunity to participate in a "test project" to see how things are going. What we really want to see is, however, a greater potential for liquid capital as the service offered to these customers takes a lot of time demands.How solvents should be your customers?
We always advise clients to invest about 5 to 15 percent of their liquid capital with us. At five million - our entry-level standard- this would correspond to the liquid assets of over $ 30 million. Also, of course, we have significantly more wealthy clients, including some billionaires.Are they correct the lists of billionaires published in magazines?
No. The information on the goods included in the lists is often exaggerated over which in excess default-. Our clients include, at least, two German billionaires who have invested millions of dollars. None of them appears on these lists.Do you sometimes refuse to take customers?
Yes, it happens. Liquidity alone is not enough. For us it is important that the client understands exactly what we do. In the worst cases the customer may lose all our investments in real estate. Anyone who does not understand this, or is not able to think like an entrepreneur is in the wrong place if you come to us.
The interview is lengthy, and wraps up with a discussion about global markets, and Lorenz tells why Taurus invests in certain countries:
It [Taurus] also invests in countries which do not bet conservative investors. Argentina is experiencing a national crisis. Turkey has big political problems of India is not developing as many investors expected. Why did you choose these particular countries?
There are countries that certainly would be just as interesting, such as Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Rwanda, Mozambique, and South Africa, to name a few. Ultimately, our business model is based on having a strong individual in a country. Our Director in Argentina is an Argentine first level; our man in Turkey is Turkish; our man in India is Indian.Without trust these people would not be able to win local investors or make deals . Ideally we want someone who has a good network at their disposal. When we have such an individual we can not enter the market."Investments based on a Philosophy"
Can you give us an example of how it works?
In Turkey, for example, we have developed an office building and a shopping center to the tune of three million digits. Our man in Istanbul organized everything and got aboard Turkish investors. 70 percent of the money comes from Turkey, the rest worldwide.
What is your assessment of southern Europe?
We also look at the region, particularly Spain. We are convinced that the two criteria I mentioned earlier, demographics and labor market trends are not in favor of Spain. Although the demographic evolution of Spain is somewhat better than in Germany, the employment situation is much worse. We decided not to invest in Spain.Is the crisis in southern Europe will end soon?
We believe that the countries of southern Europe still have difficult times ahead before they can regain a sound economic base. Without the funding from Germany not only Spain, but also Italy would be in a very tight corner. Where we want to invest, but now we can not because we are involved in the consolidation of our activities in India, is Africa.Many investors mainly associated Africa with poverty, lawlessness and corruption. What countries do you mean?
Rwanda is a wonderful country. Mozambique is also interesting. However, in the case of a company that was founded 40 years ago and in an interim phase of 20 years has become an American enterprise, with added value and strong ... we must allow time for such things. Sometimes we get angry about missed opportunities, but despite this, we first want to focus on our projects in India and Turkey, and ensure they are successful. The most exciting project for me personally, is in Austin, Texas.That's where you are making a large housing development incorporating alternative energy sources.
We bought plots of land during the crisis and we are very satisfied. We are developing additional 7,500 homes and 100,000 square meters of land for schools, parks and other facilities.
The big attraction is a geothermal system that provides energy. The technology will be provided by Bosch and BASF. Austin is a thriving, young and liberal city. And we've been fortunate that a new road has been built nearby. We expect our investors to at least double its capital.Why, despite the "Energy Revolution" This type of geothermal energy projects in Germany do not work?
If you could show me a piece of land to allow the construction of several thousand homes in a good location and infrastructure, we would in Germany too. This type of project has to reach a critical size of thousand homes to be profitable. The local government has major problems with this type of project.The German owners have been supporters of alternative energy sources for a long time.
If you, as an individual, purchase a geothermal system, it does because of its philosophy. And so you forget the figures and do something good for the environment. The reason the project in Austin is so interesting is because it is gigantic. In total we have invested nearly one hundred million dollars to date; It is a responsibility that can only be assumed if economies of scale are appropriate.
And...a few fun facts about Taurus Investments:
TAURUS INVESTMENT - FACTS AND FIGURES
Managed assets: Taurus Investment Holding currently manages real estate valued at three billion dollars.
Customers : Customers Investment deTaurus consist mainly high net worth individuals. Many of them come from German-speaking countries, USA, Canada and Israel. In addition, institutional customers have also invested $ 350 million with Taurus.
Offices: The company is headquartered in Boston, USA Taurus also has offices in London, Florida, Texas, Munich, Buenos Aires, Istanbul, Athens and Trivandrum (India). In total, Taurus operates in 16 markets worldwide. ( Editor's Note: In Argentina operates through Taurus Americas and its main project is the development and operation of the Southern Park) .
Projects: The volume of projects Taurus is generally in the range of 10 to 100 million US dollars. Between 5 and 20 investors can participate in each project. The flagship project of the company is currently in Whisper Valley, located near Austin, Texas.