VUE

S teve M. Israel was practicing law when he began syndicating properties. That is when an individual or company purchases a property by gathering the necessary capital from investors, who then own a percentage of the property, but leave management responsibilities with the syndicator. Or put more simply by Israel, "Syndication is when you have no money, but use other people's money." When he syndicated One Time Square in 1985, he stopped practicing law and plunged into a career in real estate. We met at Lincoln Harbor Yacht Club in Weehawken, which he has owned since 1998. Adjacent to midtown Manhattan, the marina has an inherent novelty absent in other marinas not situated across from an urban mecca. There is a kind of awe involved when you float down this historic body of water, looking up at the product of hundreds of years of human ingenuity and industry. Israel certainly sees the difference. "It's much more fun to boat here," he said. "People freak out, especially if they're out of town, to see Manhattan." For Israel, who has been purchasing and investing in real estate for 30 years, marinas are a big part of his business. In addition to Lincoln Harbor, he owns Sag Harbor Cove Yacht Club in Long Island which he purchased with a partner, and Port Tarpon Marina outside of Tampa, Florida. He also owns Marina Mile Yachting Center, a shipyard outside of Fort Lauderdale, where boats are repaired. Port Tarpon was syndicated during his time as owner of One Time Square, beginning his ownership of marinas. Considering his choice of real estate, I initially expected an avid boater, but in reality it was a good business decision. "I could write it off in a short period of time, from a tax point of view," explained Israel. "And I didn't think it would be easy to reproduce, because environmental and other regulatory issues make it hard to build a marina. So long term, you get appreciation...And it would be fun, I'd rather hang out at a marina than hang out at a warehouse. So that's why I did the first one." After purchasing Port Tarpan, Israel would buy people out as the market fluctuated. "When the market goes down, people want to leave so as I got a little bit of money I would buy them out," he told me. After buying one marina, people came to him to buy more. That's the advantage of purchasing a niche property like a marina. "Deal flow," said Israel. "Once you become known as someone who can buy marinas they come to you first. I like other real estate also, and maybe 50 percent of my portfolio is other things but there are a million guys that will buy an apartment building, along with me. There's not a million guys that will buy a marina." Israel purchased Lincoln Harbor from Stephen Sloan, who originally marketed the marina toward avid fishermen. Sloan, himself a champion angler and marine conservationist, knew that the Weehawken marina is actually closer to a great deep sea fishing hole than Montauk. A dockominium style marina, each slip is a separate deed that can be purchased. This became popular in the mid to late 1980's when the demand for dock slips exceeded the supply, causing rental rates to increase significantly. This gave boaters an opportunity to invest in their property long term, ultimately saving money by avoiding fluctuating rents and having the option to sell the W W W. V U E N J . C O M 61

• Cover