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CBRE Vice Chair Stacom on Greenland deal: "They were quick, they were decisive."

The story behind the Greenland Group deal for 70% of Atlantic Yards is told in a Crain's New York Business interview with Darcy Stacom, vice chairwoman of CBRE Group Inc.

New York has long attracted offshore investment, but "right now at greatest peak ever," she said. "We're thinking the transactions may be between 60 and 70% of the capital dollars are offshore."



"They are very quick to get on the plane and come back two weeks later," she said of Chinese investors. "They don't even think twice about it"

Stacom handled the Greenland deal for Atlantic Yards. How did they "win that project"?

"Well, Greenland is building 300 buildings a year, and I think something like 50 of them are over 50 stories, a bunch of them are over 100, so this is an incredibly sophisticated developer," Stacom replied. "And we looked at who were major players globally and who were major builders globally, that could look at the size and scale of this project, and say This is of interest to me."

"They came in for their first visit. I actually happened to take them out for the tour in Brooklyn and by the time they got done, they said, We'd like to have dinner with Bruce Ratner. Tonight?" she recalled, chuckling. "Actually, MaryAnne Gilmartin, the president, came in, and it just built from there. They were quick, they were decisive. I think they were disappointed it was only 6 and a half million feet." Stacom chuckled again.

Asked if Chinese investors might be wary of investing based on Japanese investors' ill-fated foray into New York in the 1990s, Stacom said it was a matter of a short-term focus. "If you invest for the long term," she said, "this market always comes up with new highs."

And now they can take advantage of EB-5 financing, too!

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