Low-key investor with a knack for big acquisitions
While David Werner becomes top real estate buyer in New York with deals for two office towers, he prefers to stay away from limelight
A red accordion folder that David Werner brings when he is negotiating a property deal contains two T-shirts. One, with a frowny face, says "Free Aggravation". The other, with a smiley face, says "Aggravation Free".
Werner told landlords the latter was what to expect if they made a deal with him, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.
A large cash deposit and a quick closing - often that is enough for a seller to call off a full marketing campaign and accept his offer.
His tactics have helped the Brooklyn-based investor acquire two Manhattan office towers this year for almost US$2.4 billion and become the biggest buyer of New York real estate this year.
"Werner is a wizard," said Douglas Harmon, a broker at Eastdil Secured who has worked with Werner on transactions including his US$1.5 billion deal to buy 5 Times Square in Midtown. "He plies his trade with a maniacal relentlessness that is as efficient as it is effective. He's a real quick study, and he's made billions of dollars for his investors."
The purchase by a Werner-led group of the Times Square tower, the headquarters for accounting firm Ernst & Young, was the biggest of a single building in New York since Google paid US$1.8 billion for 111 Eighth Avenue at the end of 2010, according to Real Capital Analytics. In August, a Werner partnership agreed to buy the Socony-Mobil Building across from Grand Central Terminal for US$900 million.