Real Estate Weekly
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August 2005
Page 41

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50th Anniversary Edition

The Kalikow Family -- Great Real Estate Families

     By Edward Kalikow

     When Joseph Kalikow began his real estate career in the 1930’s, the dynamics of the business were much less complicated than they are today. There were no REIT’s or collateralized mortgages; there were no bundling of mortgages or defeasance experts. What existed was a time in which honesty, integrity and relationships were valued as much as the success that was amassed by the accumulation of wealth.

    During the past 80 years much less has changed in the real estate industry and fortunately the characteristics embraced by Joseph Kalikow live on today. Joseph’s sons – Harold, Nathan and Sidney continued in the tradition of their father building an empire of over 10,000 units of solid, multi-family rental units that are still producing income, and are homes to many New Yorkers today. In their footsteps followed their son’s – Peter, Richard and myself – Edward Kalikow. We followed different paths when the brothers went their separate ways in the 1970’s. Each of us has been successful in his own arena of the real estate industry. Today, I welcome the involvement of the fourth generation in the family business started by Joseph.

    Honesty, integrity, charity and devotion to family are traits that have served and continue to serve the Kalikow family well. Today my management firm Kaled Management Corp., (www.kaled.com) manages in excess of 5,000 rental, co-op, condo and HOA units in the New York metro area. We continue to own 2,000 units built and acquired by Sidney over the decades.

    Seeking opportunities in growth markets, the newest portion of my firm – The Kalikow Group (www.thekalikowgroup.com) – has over the past ten years provided equity capital to form Joint Ventures with local developers throughout the country. We have raised in excess of $60M that has enabled us to participate in over $250M of real estate ventures. Some of our markets include: New York, Pennsylvania, both coasts of Florida, Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, Houston, Texas, Pell City, Alabama and Las Vegas, Nevada.

    Relationships drive the success that has followed. Practically all of our developer partners continue to do business with us. Earnings per share or the vagaries of the capital markets do not motivate us. These ‘constraints’ which some view as opportunities inhibit my ability to deal with real estate the way Joseph did. One must ‘kick the tires’, get dirty and have strong relationships. Today it would be very difficult to build a building based on a handshake the way Joseph did.

    The dynamics of the market place are constantly changing. Where my son Gregory and my nephew Jordan choose to take the organization in the future is not yet known. However, embodied with the fundamental concepts instilled in them by me, as taught by my father Sidney which was taught to him by his father Joseph, I expect the Kalikow name will continue to be a shining star in our industry.

    I wish to thank Real Estate Weekly for nominating our family on their 50th anniversary as one of the great real estate families. We wish them much continued success during their next 50 years.



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