Testimonials 1

I am writing first to congratulate you, but probably more importantly, to thank you.  There is no question that our receiving this designation in Washington could not possibly have happened in any way, shape or form without your leading the whole charge and putting this entire proposal together.  As I think I said to you before, it was an extraordinary, extraordinary job.  It is clear that your work was the critical ingredient in the GSA’s decision.

We have a long way to go and a lot to do together to make this development a reality.  I did not want to literally let another second go by without telling you how grateful all of us are and how grateful I am personally for everything you did to help get this.  It was a remarkable achievement.

So, thanks and now we’ve got a lot of work to do.

Best of luck to you on your new venture.  I’m sure it will be very successful and that your clients will all be very grateful for your sage advice and counsel.

I too believe The Yards is already, and will prove even more so in the future, to be one of the very best projects Forest City has ever done.  It’s what makes all the difficult times seem worth the effort.

Harold DeBlanc has worked with me on several assignments and complex proposals over the past ten years.  He is a trusted advisor and rainmaker whom I have called on in the past and will not hesitate to call on again in the future.

Harold is competitive, focused and driven… a highly effective project executive whose energy is contagious with those he leads to join him with the extra effort it takes to go beyond… who understands the relationship between responsibility and authority, negotiating both in tandem.  And most importantly, he meets deadlines with excellent and accurate work.

It is a pleasure to work with Harold and I strongly recommend to those who are looking for a professional in the real estate industry to have him join their team.  He is one of the most talented, trusted and consistently successful we know.

I’ve been involved in many of these efforts, but never in one better than this. You managed to bring all of the craziness into sharp focus… I have not, in thirty-six years, encountered anyone with the combination of integrity, intellect, numeracy, disposition, personality and energy that you command… As a leader, you have the capacity to gather people around your ideas in ways that don’t strip them of ownership in the process.

Harold DeBlanc’s financial acumen and remarkable stamina drove a precedent setting $1 billion capital raise for JFKIAT’s Terminal 4, the largest international airport privatization in the US and the first with international participation — a breakthrough in global privatization.  Harold was a partner in our international consortium that included Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Lehman Brothers and LCOR.  The success of this — creating one of the most modern and inviting air terminals in the world in a complex financial and political environment (not to mention the challenge of coping with 9/11 in the middle of it) — could not have happened without Harold’s contribution.  I consider myself most fortunate to have had this remarkable “go-to” decathlete during my eight years serving as Chairman of the Board of JFKIAT, and in other ventures too.

I’ve also watched his work for Forest City Enterprises, wrestling billion dollar projects to victory in Washington DC and Baltimore.  From my personal observation, I believe they are tracking to become two of the most successful mixed-use developments in the country.

I’ve joined Harold on other major projects in different sectors where he has demonstrated and developed broad capabilities. When deals inevitably come to a halt and threaten collapse, Harold steps up to the task with his marketing acumen, impeccable judgment, integrity, and power of persuasion.  He rescues deals that should never fail…and, equally important, he knows when to pull the plug.  He’s among the most savvy, versatile, and affable professionals with whom I have had the pleasure to work over the course of my 40-year career.  Harold is very versatile player — a quick study, focused, skilled, and as determined as any. He does what he says!

I couldn’t conceive of tackling a large-scale entrepreneurial effort of any sort without him.  Harold will be my first call.

A little known fact — before Larry Silverstein, LCOR actually won the RFP competition for privatizing the $475 million redevelopment of the World Trade Center’s retail concourses, PATH Terminal, Plaza and Public Areas… Harold was the development team leader of this unprecedented project and business deal with the PANYNJ… quite a feat.  That’s when Harold and I met alone in my office.  His ask was $75 million.  His take was $75 million.

Harold introduced me to LCOR and played a pivotal role in Lehman’s investing more than $150 million of equity for a stake in LCOR’s operating entity and rights ​to​ new development.  Later, Harold demonstrated his knack for turning tough projects around too.  During his work at LCOR, Lehman and HDB Advisors, Harold held the reins on more than $25 billion of commercial and special-use real estate — from regional malls and a NASCAR raceway to Archstone where he represented Lehman’s interests on the company’s Board of Directors and Investment Committee.  I have found Harold to be a sharp, savvy, versatile player… a closer who nails almost every challenge he chooses.

When we needed $45 million fast Harold was there.  The equity he brought to the table kicked-off our two largest mixed-use, multi-phase developments by financing each’s first buildings.

One is “Elleven”, Southpark, LA — among the first residential buildings in what is now downtown LA’s burgeoning 24-hour district adjacent to The Staples Arena, a model for urban infill via the creation of seamless residential, retail and entertainment.

The other is The Meriwether on the Willamette River in Portland, OR, the first of 15 buildings in the largest ever economic development project in the state’s history.

Harold had what we needed in one package – the banking relationships, development experience, and the smarts and initiative to coordinate the investors’ due diligence and joint venture.

We’re looking for more opportunities to work together.

I merged LCOR’s New York and New Jersey Offices, creating the New York/New Jersey Regional Office, and Harold was our first hire.  Harold is a true asset — intelligent, creative, entrepreneurial, hardworking, and dependable.  He’s a team player and an accomplished leader, and over the course of his career, Harold has developed expertise and experience that separate him from the crowd.

Harold demands much of himself, takes pride in his work, and was a top performer at LCOR.  He’s a quick study and a versatile player who wins and closes new business from traditional commercial real estate to specialized and international opportunities. These include important projects such as 101 Hudson and JFK Terminal 4.

He leads talented project teams pursuing some of the country’s most sought-after developments, and at the heart of this, Harold is driven to win.

I retained Harold as a development consultant.  He proved to be particularly talented at crafting creative development, redevelopment and financial options and was proficient at assembling development teams that span the spectrum of mixed-use projects.  He has an unwavering pursuit of excellence and leads by enthusiasm and work ethic.

Partnerships are tough, particularly between international companies that have not had the benefit of working together on other projects.  Harold DeBlanc created a win-win by adeptly melding the cultures of Schiphol, LCOR and Lehman Brothers, as well as the Port Authority of NYNJ as public sponsor.  

I credit Harold – working a broad spectrum of aspects related to the project development and implementation, including financial analysis, capital, and the intricate business and financial arrangements – as one of the very few major contributors that were indispensable, essential to the success of Schiphol’s largest and most successful international undertaking.

For the privatization of a significant portion of the SE Federal Center and Washington Navy Yard on the Anacostia riverfront in DC, I served as Development Advisor to the US General Services Administration (GSA).  I co-authored the RFP including several innovative lease provisions for participation by GSA in windfall profits in sale or re-financing, requirements for design excellence, constraints due to multi-agency reviews and developer funding of a major waterfront park — all difficult pre-conditions to a complex financial offer review and protracted negotiation by GSA who had never before undertaken a large scale urban mixed-use privatization.

I assisted in the solicitation of developers, analysis of submissions, worked with the selection committee to make an award for preferred developer, and negotiated a long-term multi-phase land lease that was a prototype in every respect.

Sitting opposite me and the GSA was Forest City with Harold DeBlanc as their Advisor who crafted their RFP response, and most importantly orchestrated the complex financial feasibility analysis on which the Forest City offer was based.  My role was to help GSA understand the private sector viewpoint and fully array the key development issues which could affect the offer.  Harold’s was to explain the deal, schedule and deal breaker points from Forest City’s perspective — while I was to reinforce GSA’s position where warranted and to relax their concerns when not.  This delicate balancing act required both of us to achieve a trusted negotiation stance with frequently frank exchanges on critical success factors.

A positive outcome was achieved — in large measure due to Harold’s deal yeoman-ship and our mutual respect for the financial complexities of Urban Mixed-Use.  I now count Harold as clearly among the best privatization advisors in the USA.  He assembled a winning team that won hands-down the unprecedented SE Federal Center/Navy Yard land lease for 6 million square feet of office, residential and retail on 42 acres fronting the Anacostia.  The evaluation of RFP responses showed a superior design and financing plan crafted by DeBlanc as Forest City’s advisor.  He created the most comprehensive, researched, responsive and credible of all submissions.  It supported a uniquely intricate financial proposal that positions Forest City Enterprises to realize substantial value while protecting the company against unavoidable risks that would deflate most private projects — provisions that made sense from the private sector — and gradually were made acceptable to the Public sector.

As lead consultant to the GSA, I sat across the table from Harold for nearly two years negotiating the deal that had never been done before.  He did what many thought could not be done maintaining a fair and reasonable position for the project, while allowing for the unique vagaries of dealing with a multi-opinioned owner (GSA) and a multi-headed regulatory regime ( US Navy; US Park Service; District of Columbia; National Capitol Planning Commission, etc. etc.)

Harold DeBlanc understands development and financial complexity — and in my experience as President of Halcyon Ltd. Development Advisors, as faculty at MIT’s Center for Real Estate, and Graduate Program Head at Columbia University, and now as Director of UTA ‘s Center for Metropolitan Density — Harold is one of the best professionals I have ever had the pleasure of negotiating against.

Harold has spent years leading some of the largest and most successful developments in Washington, DC.  In the case of The Yards waterfront, Harold and I worked collaboratively, while on opposite sides of the negotiating table, to chart the path to development entitlements, design guidelines and the public-private finance of site infrastructure.  The project, nearly 6 million square feet of mixed-use real estate has proven to be the most pivotal master development in Washington in recent years and has set the benchmark for large-scale redevelopment across the city.

Forest City chose Harold as their designated representative to work on some of the most challenging and unprecedented projects along the Anacostia waterfront.  His measured and patient approach to financial analysis helped devise cohesive master plans, which engaged a spectrum of private, local and federal stakeholders.  Harold’s leadership has produced tangible results like the award-winning Yards Park, Diamond Teague Park, historic preservation of several national register buildings and a new neighborhood of residents living on the Anacostia waterfront just blocks from the U.S. Capitol building.

Harold understands the interplay between operations and investment – 6 million international customers, $1.4 billion capital. We worked hand in hand everyday making certain forecast operating results and investment requirements were in balance. When they fell out of sync, we made adjustments to operating methods and/or investment strategies.  We closed a balanced deal. What’s more, Harold’s energy, work ethic, and collaboration were a model for everyone.  Finally, he was a great partner to me.

I am delighted to bear witness to the pivotal role you played in our Crossroads effort in Dallas, one of the most complex undertakings this office has ever embarked upon.

It seems that mixed-use projects are the way of the future—we don’t need ULI to tell us that.  As you know, with each additional use complexity increases exponentially.  It begins with assembling a site that is comprised of parcels owned by a variety of entities and individuals, all with different ideas and aspirations–more like herding dogs and cats.

We relied on you to help formulate our “herding” strategy on acquisition and then on to the challenge of formulating a business plan that leveraged the consolidated site’s assets while working around its more challenging aspects. You’re support in defining the multiple arrangements with land partners or lending clarity to how best to phase and combine the various uses on a finished site of almost 12 million square feet was indispensable.  You were there with the experience, ideas and the quantitative back-up we needed to assure partners and lenders that we were on a prudent though ambitious course.

Time was of the essence.  We’d be hard pressed to point to another consultant who was willing to do whatever it was going to take to meet unreasonable deadlines, seek out answers that didn’t compromise our interests all the while satisfying the diverse objectives of our many stakeholders in the deal.  When others at Forest City recommended you, I reckoned our team was getting an infusion of talent and experience.  What I couldn’t have known was that you’d bring an open, inquisitive mind and a collegial working style along with all that expertise that would blend seamlessly with our people on the ground here.

Let’s find another opportunity for us to work on!

Please stay in touch, and I very much look forward to working together on another adventure.

Thank you very much!

Harold is a formidable competitor whose decade of work on LCOR’s behalf contributed to major successes on a wide range of projects.  His accomplishments include the tallest building in New Jersey, with 600,000 of 1,200,000 square feet preleased to Merrill Lynch and most of the rest to Barclay’s.  Harold’s contributions were also a key to our success in the privatization arena with project values exceeding $2.5 billion.

We worked with Harold on a complex, large-scale government development.  Harold lasered in on all issues quickly and efficiently.  We would be delighted to work with him again.