Adapted from the December 2023 PREP Newsletter
This time of year often comes with a lot of self-reflection.
It's been a particularly reflective time for me given that LinkedIn reminded me that I'm celebrating 35 years with Park Row South Realty and its subsidiary Park Row Equity Partners (PREP): 35 years?! That's four years short of four decades, and sure sounds like a long time, especially to be in one place professionally.
But when I think about the evolution of PREP, I can't help but reflect upon how the firm is hardly what it was 35 years ago, or 15 years ago, or even 5 years ago. Many of you already know the story of PREP's evolution, so I'll give you the abridged version ;).
While I was receiving my undergraduate degree at Hofstra University, I experienced one of those major life events that changed things forever. My father (Philip Steinberg - the 'OG' - after whom my son Phil is named), the founder of what is known today as PREP, tragically passed away from brain cancer. He was an accountant who made a decent living, had purchased real estate property in Manhattan's Financial District, on Park Row. After receiving my MBA from Hofstra University, I spent the first few years of my career as a commodities trader on Wall Street. During that time, my mother was overwhelmed with trying to manage the family's real estate investments, and needed help. Coincidentally, at that same time in 1987, I made the life-changing decision to leave the Wall Street firm and start my own trading desk. My mother offered me a small office in her downtown office building.
After a short time as a tenant in the building I could clearly see why my mother was not earning a reasonable income from the property. When I shared this concern with her, she requested that I help manage her real estate. With very little real estate knowledge, I went back to school at NYU to take courses in real estate management. During the next two decades, while bringing my mom’s building back to profitability, we also purchased and managed commercial office properties all over the tri-state area. In 2015, when the wave of building residential apartments arrived downtown, the property on Park Row that started it all was sold to a developer, and a new building was built in its place called ‘The Pearl on the Park' in honor of my mom. The capital earned from the sale was strategically re-invested into multi-family properties throughout the country. One year later, in response to requests by friends and family to co-invest, the firm began to accept capital from investors (our “equity partners”), thus establishing Park Row Equity Partners (PREP).
I'm proud to share that PREP currently manages a robust national real estate investment platform and portfolio, inclusive of capital from friends, family and outside investors. It's exciting to have my three sons, Philip, Donny and Ira, running the business together with me now. I'm sure that this would have meant a lot to my father. Understandably, my mother Pearl (who turns 97 this month!) has visited many of the properties and continues to be a fierce supporter of PREP’s mission to provide the opportunity for ALL to leverage the great benefits of real estate investing. Our passion and conviction for the impact that real estate investing can have is highly personal and is what drives us every day to do what we do. Real estate changed the trajectory of the Steinberg family and PREP business, and our mission is to enable more people to experience this life-changing impact.
So, as I reflect on the past 35 years, I feel pretty good. Thank you, LinkedIn, for the reminder, and thanks to all of you for being part of this journey with me.
Happy and Healthy New Year to you and your family!
