4th generation investor expands firm's horizons

Real Estate Weekly,  July 11, 2007  

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As the fourth generation of a prominent New York real estate family, Josh Dolgin, 35, has helped transform his family's 100+ year old Brooklyn, NY-based company from a major regional player to a national one.

While Josh works closely with his father, Kalmon Dolgin and his uncle Neil Dolgin, he brings his own unique skill set and specialties to the table.

Dolgin holds the title of vice president of Kalmon Dolgin Affiliates, focusing primarily on the family's investment portfolio and asset management.

He began working in the family company in 1994 after graduating from Syracuse University. When Dolgin first started in the business, he was based in the family's Manhattan office and cut his teeth in the industry working primarily as a broker. This gave Dolgin valuable insight into a broad array of perspectives. Working to fill others' needs taught him the techniques and feel for how prospective tenants, lenders and buyers look at real estate. While in this early phase of his career, Dolgin also attended the real estate program at New York University and received his master's degree.

In the 13 years since, Dolgin has learned to wear many hats at the company, from investment underwriter and property manager to financing specialist and construction manager. Most of his time over the past few years has been spent seeking out investment opportunities and managing the financing and underwriting process through to the closing. Josh also likes to roll up his sleeves and work on managing these new acquisitions--especially through the early months of a new investment project.

One of the firm's most recent acquisitions included a 50% interest in a Long Island City, Queens, industrial landmark, the Falchi Building at 31-00 47th Avenue in the heart of Long Island City. Until the 1980s, the building was the main warehouse and distribution center for the famed Gimbel's department store.

Dolgin spearheaded the repositioning of the five-story, 640,000 s/f property into a mixed use building. The building's location, just minutes from Manhattan, and its versatility make it suitable for office users, furniture showrooms, jewelry manufacturing and showrooms, as well as manufacturing operations including printing because of the building's sturdy concrete and steel construction.

The Dolgins are in the middle of a multi-million-dollar capital improvement program for the property that includes a major lobby restoration and a new facade. Also, the property offers special rooftop signage--a hallmark of Long Island City's new wave of converted industrial buildings--to a major new tenant.

Dolgin gets involved in negotiating every aspect of every lease done in the Falchi Building, whether it is for 600 s/f or 60,000. Through these efforts and the diligent work of his team, The Falchi Building has become a top destination for firms seeking refuge from Manhattan's high office rents while still receiving top level services and accommodations.

"We are attracting office users from Manhattan, high-end jewelry manufacturers and distributors from Manhattan's famed Diamond District, and firms that require impressive showroom space," said Dolgin, who cited ever-escalating rents for comparable space in Manhattan as a driving force in tenant interest in the property. New York City's economic development agencies offer significant financial incentives for business that relocate to Long Island City, making effective rents just a fraction of comparable Manhattan space just one subway stop away.

Some of Josh Dolgin's other recent highlighted achievements are the acquisition and financing of the Kadima Medical Portfolio, an 800,000 s/f, $140 million project comprising 18 buildings in eight states, from Florida to Colorado. The Dolgin family's Kadima acquisition brought a national prominence to the firm, a status which has helped the 103-year-old business reach new heights and attract investment offerings from an increasingly wider network of sources.

Dolgin is also very proud of his work on the family's recent acquisitions in Portland, Maine. The family recently purchased that city's most prominent office tower, The Time and Temperature Building, and a portfolio of retail properties in the historic Old Port district. Josh feels that Portland (where his wife Rebecca hails from) is one the most dynamic cities in the country and that it will make a terrific and suitable destination for the family's investment dollars.

When Dolgin isn't busy working, he's spending time outdoors with his family. As an avid skier, Dolgin takes trips out west every winter with his friends and family--a tradition he's been keeping for the past 28 years. He also spends many weekends hiking the trails near his Westchester home with his wife and dog. In the summers, the Dolgins love spending as much time as possible on the same lake where they were married five years ago (and the one Dolgin spent many summers at during his years at summer camp)--Newfound Lake in New Hampshire, where they enjoy boating, hiking and camping.