A visionary who reinvented the art of the possible, Paul ?Reichmann died last weekend aged 83.
The property industry past and present has paid tribute to the Canadian developer who built Canary Wharf, hailing him for his transformative impact on London, New York and Toronto.
Canary Wharf Group chairman Sir George Iacobescu led the UK tributes. He described Reichmann as a “visionary” who “had an ability to see potential value in places where other developers could not”.
Reichmann, who with his brother built development giant Olympia & York into the world’s largest property company, entered the UK market in 1979, paying £58m to buy the English Property Corporation.
Six years later it sold the business to MEPC, chaired at the time by Sir Christopher Benson, who would go on to run the London Docklands Development Corporation and play an instrumental role in bringing Reichmann on board for the development of Canary Wharf.
Benson described him as “one of the nicest men I have ever met, who was completely a man of his word”.
He recalls Reichmann’s consummate deal making credentials as he haggled to complete the sale of EPC.
“When we finally got the papers we decided we didn’t even need to do due diligence. [The deal] was absolutely squeaky clean – that was typical of the man,” he said.
Reichmann began work developing the 4m sq ft first phase that today forms the core of Canary Wharf in 1987, resolute in his conviction that banks would be persuaded to venture east for the right buildings.
Five years later he lost control of the project as Olympia & York filed for protection from creditors in Toronto, New York and London.
He remained adamant throughout his life it was O&Y’s decision to diversify outside real estate in the early 1980s that proved to be its downfall.
O&Y’s US arm, which developed the World Financial Centre in Manhattan, emerged from bankruptcy in 1996 under the ownership of Brookfield, which also later bought O&Y’s substantial Canadian portfolio.
Brookfield Property Group chief executive Ric Clark was among those who paid tribute to Reichmann this week.
“Paul Reichmann is among the most important builders of all time,” he said.
“He was that rare visionary who could imagine great urban places and make them a reality.”
It took Reichmann three years and three attempts to eventually secure a deal to buy back the Canary Wharf business as part of a consortium that included Prince Alwaleed. He celebrated the purchase in characteristic style by buying a pair of shoes.
Reichmann’s success in buying back the company before floating it in 1999 earned him the respect of colleagues and rivals alike.
Here, some of his former colleagues and contemporaries reflect on his achievements.
John Carrafiell, former global co-head of Morgan Stanley Real Estate, and co-founder of GreenOak Real Estate
“Our relationship had a rocky start…I moved to London in ‘89 to manage down construction costs for Morgan Stanley’s European HQ at the Wharf — Paul saw it as an opportunity to open a dialogue that would lead to a level of trust which an advisor rarely has the opportunity to build with a developer and a board.
Post recapitalising the company, meeting in his room in the Four Seasons Hyde Park became my Sunday ritual for the following decade – our conversations led to breaking new ground (the largest securitisation, the largest IPO in Europe, to highlight just two) which not only recapitalised CWG but financed over 10 million square feet of world class built environment.
The take-private in 2003-04 was the culmination of a long term belief that Canary Wharf had the opportunity to become the single best office development in the world – a belief that Paul instilled in all of us who had the good fortune to sit with him and be part of re-inventing the concept of a modern development company.
People will appropriately remember Paul as a visionary.
For me he was a teacher, mentor, confidant – with an uncompromising drive to achieve what no one else dared to even dream was possible. He demanded that convention was challenged; he never accepted the status quo. And his intellect matched his vision and ambition.
London would not be what it is today without Paul Reichmann.”
Almacantar chief executive and former Canary Wharf Group head of leasing and marketing Mike Hussey
“”Paul Reichmann was a quiet and an intensely private man, with huge intellect and a capacity to see the art of the possible long before his colleagues. He was misunderstood by many that did not know him and he was defended loyally by those that did. He approached the execution of his plans with total conviction and could extract commitment from some of the most impenetrable people. I remember him as a quiet, reserved, respectful and supremely intelligent man with a surprising sense of humour. The difficult thing to comprehend (and yet have to defend) was the fact that he seemed to be “in it” for virtually anyone except himself. His motivation had grown beyond the individual. A position that ultimately carried a deep, and very personal, responsibility. May he rest in peace.”
Sir John Ritblat, former British Land chief executive
“What was interesting about Paul Reichmann was that he should come from Toronto and New York and places as far afield as Mexico City with an inter-continental outlook that allowed him to envisage a concept of the magnitude of the Canary Wharf vision. Also not in the vein of the UK tradition of minimal structures and piecemeal development but an entire transformation of a far out area in east London to a standard and quality which was virtually unknown at the time. His integrity and morality were integral to his developments and in every respect he was an outstanding and exceptionally principled property developer at a time when not everybody in the industry commanded such respect.”
Irvine Sellar, chairman, Sellar property group
“Paul Reichman had a reputation throughout the property world, both here and in North America, for being an honourable man whose visionary project at Canary Wharf did much to transform London’s financial cityscape and create a new business district for the capital.”
Gerald Ronson, chief executive, Heron International
“The man was a great visionary, a rare commodity in the world we live in today.”
