| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Real estate, Private equity |
| Founded | 1988 |
| Founder(s) | David Lichtenstein |
| Headquarters | New York, New York, United States |
| Products | Multifamily Office, Industrial, Hotel, Retail |
| Employees | 1,000+ |
| Website | www.lightstonegroup.com |
The Lightstone Group is a privately held real estate investment company which owns and operates a diversified portfolio of multifamily, office, industrial, hotel and retail properties. Lightstone has invested directly in individual real estate assets and in real estate operating companies. The company was founded by David Lichtenstein in 1988.
The company's portfolio of real estate properties spans 27 U.S. states and includes more than 19,000 multifamily units and approximately 24,000,000 square feet (2,200,000 m2) of office, industrial, hotel and retail space.
The Lightstone Group has more than 1,000 employees and is headquartered in New York City with regional offices in New Jersey, Maryland and Illinois.
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The company operates through a group of subsidiaries and investment vehicles including:
The Company owns approximately 300 retail, office industrial and residential properties in 27 states. Its outlet mall porfolio is run out of Baltimore by Prime Retail. The office and industrial space is managed by Prime Group Realty Trust in Chicago. The residential and strip mall retail properties are managed in the Lakewood NJ office by The Lightstone Group.
Out of the 300 properties Lightstone has returned approximately 10 to its lenders. In October 2008, Lightstone returned (Macon, Georgia and the Burlington Square Mall in Burlington, North Carolina) to its lenders. Shortly after defaulting on these two malls, four additional malls were taken by their lenders including Martinsburg Mall in Martinsburg, West Virginia; Mount Berry Square Mall in Rome, Georgia; Shenango Valley Mall in Hermitage, Pennsylvania and Bradley Square Mall in Cleveland, Tennessee.[1]
Lightstone acquired Prime Retail in December 2003 for $638 million.[2][3] Prime Retail owns and manages 8,000,000 square feet (740,000 m2) of retail outlet space in 22 properties located in the United States and Puerto Rico including the 770,000-square-foot (72,000 m2) Prime Outlets – Orlando and the 740,000-square-foot (69,000 m2) Prime Outlets – San Marcos.
In December 2009 Lightstone Group LLC, announced that it is selling Prime Outlets to Simon Property Group Inc. for $700 million in cash and the assumption of $1.6 billion in debt. The price tag reflects a significant increase from what Lightstone paid for Prime in 2003: $115 million in cash and the assumption of $523 million in debt. Buying Prime Outlets Inc. in 2003 was one of the best investments that New York investor David Lichtenstein ever made. Additionally, the exceptionally successful transaction was achieved during a meltdown in the commercial real estate market.
The deal was officially made on August 30, 2010, selling twenty-one properties, but keeping the indoor St. Augustine, Florida outlet center and the development sites at Grand Prairie, Texas and Livermore Valley, California.
The Lightstone Group acquired Prime Group Realty Trust, a publicly traded REIT, in July 2005. Prime Group Realty Trust owns and operates approximately 3,000,000 square feet (280,000 m2) of office space located in and around Chicago, Illinois. The company’s major assets include the 1,100,000-square-foot (100,000 m2) 330 North Wabash Avenue and the 770,000 square foot 180 North LaSalle Street.
The company is also a sponsor of Lightstone Securities, Lightstone Value Plus Real Estate Investment Trust, Inc., a non-traded public REIT. The REIT has invested in a broad range of residential and commercial properties.
Beacon Management, a Lightstone subsidiary, is a leading provider of the multi-family residential housing. Beacon has a presence in the northeast, southeast and midwest regions of the U.S.
Park Avenue Funding, a Lightstone subsidiary, is a real estate lender that provides financing for complex real estate transactions.
Until recently, Lightstone also owned Extended Stay Hotels, the largest, mid-price extended-stay hotel company in the United States, which filed for bankruptcy protection on June 15, 2009.[4] Lightstone had acquired the company from The Blackstone Group (no relation) in July 2007[5] In addition to the loss of its initial investment, the bankruptcy filing possibly triggered a clause in Extended Stay's financing documents that would require a liability payment by Lightstone.[6] However, Lightstone was able to negotiate an indemnification for the liability from lenders in exchange for giving up control of the company.[7]