Tishman Speyer is a New York City-based firm which was founded in 1978 by the American real estate developer Robert V. Tishman and his son-in-law, Jerry I. Speyer. Together they established and grew one of the largest real estate companies in the United States, which operates, owns and develops office buildings not only in their own country but all around the world.
Throughout its 41 years of existence, the firm has collaborated with hundreds of companies on a total of 406 projects, and operated nearly $89 billion worth of property totaling over 167 million square feet of retail, residential and office space.
Short History and Notable Projects
After beginning with its headquarters in New York in 1978, Tishman Speyer quickly entered the Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Houston markets before the decade was over. Their work on the development of 525 West Monroe greatly contributed to the explosive growth of Chicago’s West Loop submarket.
525 West Monroe, Chicago. Image courtesy of Yardi Matrix
Merely 10 years after its founding, Tishman Speyer extended its activities overseas, becoming one of the first U.S.-based developers in Europe. Their first big project, Frankfurt’s Messeturm, was completed in 1991 and was the tallest building on the continent at the time.
In 1995 Tishman Speyer became one of the first U.S. developers in Latin America. Their Torre Norte building situated in São Paulo, Brazil’s buzzing financial capital, was the first international-quality Class A office building in the entire country and upon completion was the tallest commercial building in Brazil. Another notable project during this decade was the firm’s clever move to acquire and redevelop Rockefeller Center, which helped revitalize not only the building itself but the entire Fifth Avenue retail district along with it.
The new millennium brought plenty of opportunities for Tishman Speyer to extend their business ventures. They launched a residential project in Brazil, opened the first observation deck in New York in over 30 years, inaugurated a publicly-listed fund of Class A office properties in the Australian Securities Exchange, completed the first environmentally-efficient high-rise in France (located in the financial district of Paris) and became the first U.S. company to develop class A office buildings in India—all before 2005 had ended! In the second half of the decade, Tishman Speyer broke into the Chinese market, starting an investment fund focusing exclusively on the country. They also acquired the MetLife Building in Manhattan and began developing a new Yankee Stadium, which was completed in 2009.
The 2010s started off with the regretful passing of one of the company’s co-founders, Robert Tishman. Nevertheless, Tishman Speyer’s active streak did not end, but continued with the company signing one of the largest leases in the history of Shanghai in collaboration with Nike, with the aim of creating a campus for their China headquarters. In 2013, the firm acquired an 800,000-square-foot office tower in Chicago and in 2016 purchased the CNN Tower in Los Angeles for a whopping $127 million.
Today Tishman Speyer has over 1,200 employees and operates in 18 regional offices supported by over 100 project and property offices on 5 different continents across the globe. North America, Western Europe, China, Brazil and India are some of its largest markets. After Robert Tishman’s passing, the executive managerial team has been led by Jerry Speyer, as Chairman, and his son, Rob Speyer, who serves as President and Chief Executive Officer in the New York City office.
Services and Expertise
Tishman Speyer operates in many different sections of the global real estate market, offering a wide range of top quality services to clients. One of their core branches is investment management, where they can utilize their knowledgeable team of experts and their 40+ years of experience to maximize overall value for investors. The company also excels in the construction and design category, with a proven expertise in handling large-scale development projects in all corners of the world.
Property management is another area in which Tishman Speyer shines, having opened a large number of first-class real estate developments, including Class A office spaces, along with top-quality residential and mixed-used properties in 30 different markets. They also specialize in managing acquisitions while constantly analyzing and keeping up with market conditions, as well as developing full-scale projects with maximum profitability in mind.
The company’s tenant and leasing services aim to establish long-lasting relationships between brokers and residents. They offer various amenities to lodgers that help them maintain a healthy work-life balance, like on-site exercise rooms, specialized ride-sharing services, food deliver and catering, as well as child care services.
The importance of sustainable developments is not lost on Tishman Speyer, a fact that is backed up by the company’s continuous efforts to come up with environmentally-friendly practices and designs. The firm just recently achieved a 6% reduction in energy intensity across their global portfolio, their triumph being rewarded with the Energy Star Partner of the Year Award for Sustained Excellence in Energy Management.
Studio Coworking Spaces
In the second half of 2018, Tishman Speyer announced that they will be jumping on the coworking bandwagon and opening their first shared office space, called Studio, later in the year. The first Studio office opened its doors at Rockefeller Center in New York on the 1st of November. The company proclaims that their interest in coworking hubs springs from recognizing the demand of their clients and tenants, who have voiced their growing needs for flexible offices and agile workspaces.
Membership options range from flexible desks to private offices, ensuring access to top quality amenities such as concierge services and complete IT solutions. Studio stands out from the crowd of coworking hubs through its unique feature called ZO, which offers members on-site medical services, travel planning, wellness programs, child care assistance, food and catering services and many more fantastic perks. After the inauguration of the coworking hub at Rockefeller Center, Tishman Speyer aims to expand its Studio services on a global scale, with offices in Beverly Hills, Boston, Washington, Chicago and Frankfurt, Germany already in the works.
