Testimonials

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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 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.

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.