Rick H. Singer, Founding Member and Principal
About Mr. Singer
Rick H. Singer is a Founding Member and Principal of Eastbridge Al Mal. Mr. Singer is Chief Executive Officer of all Real Estate Related Entities and Head of its investment activities.
Mr. Singer has approximately 30 years experience in real estate equity and debt investments, management and investment banking, spending much of his career as Managing Director and Head of Global Real Estate at Salomon Brothers, Inc. He has a wide range of strategic, finance, management and investment experience in public and private markets with diverse knowledge in all property types, and an appreciation for opportunities worldwide.
Recently Held Positions
From 2006 to 2008, Mr. Singer was an Executive Managing Director in Island Capital Group, an international merchant bank focusing on real estate, real estate securities and direct equity investing. Island Capital’s portfolio included interests in real estate investment properties and securities with market capitalization of more than $20 billion and equity investments of more than $5 billion.
From 2002 to 2006, Mr. Singer was the Senior Partner in Eastbridge Ventures, LLC, formed in 2002 to invest in real estate public securities, mortgages, and private equity, and to engage in real estate investment banking. His activities included common and preferred equity investments in various real estate investment trusts; private equity investments in non-core real estate; direct investments in office buildings, hotels and residential projects; and cross-border real estate investments in Europe and the United States. At the time, he was also Chairman of the holding company of a U.S. bank, converting its activities from trade finance to real estate activities.
From 1998 to 2002, Mr. Singer was a principal investor and General Partner in Asset Recovery Fund—engaged in high-growth real estate opportunities, including private equity, restructurings and mortgages. Managed assets included equity investments in undervalued real estate and mortgages from financial institutions, value-added commercial real estate, and land development. Mr. Singer also had a joint venture with Eichner Properties and the Continuum Company, engaged in the financial capitalization of residential condominiums and the recapitalization of various hotels.
Historical Positions
From 1989 to 1998, Mr. Singer was a Managing Director and Head of Global Real Estate at Salomon Brothers Inc. Under his direction, the firm became an industry leader with transactions in both public and private markets exceeding $25 billion. He was responsible for all business strategy and management across the United States, Europe and Asia. He led a comprehensive real estate investment banking effort that engaged in mergers and acquisitions, private and public equity, investment grade and high-yield corporate debt, real-estate debt and mezzanine financing. He oversaw capital raising for such firms as Regency Realty Trust, General Growth Properties and Simon Properties. Additionally, he was instrumental in acquiring, selling or financing many real-estate assets, including the largest private portfolio of hotels (at the time).
While at Salomon Brothers, Mr. Singer led real-estate principal investing, merchant banking and firm-wide real estate capital commitments. He was a partner in certain direct real estate equity investment activities, and public real estate activities, including the acquisition and recapitalization of thousands of multi-family residential units converted to equity share ownership with AIMCO (a publicly traded REIT). In the nineties, he was the largest advisor to the Resolution Trust Corporation, executing billions of dollars of transactions between failed savings and loan institutions and the private sector.
Mr. Singer was a member of Eastdil Realty, Inc. from 1982-1989, where he became a shareholder, specializing in real estate private equity investments. He was actively involved in the firm’s joint venture with a Japanese securities firm to purchase commercial real estate, including the World Financial Center, located in New York City. From 1979-1982 he was an attorney at Schulte Roth and Zabel, specializing in real estate partnerships, development and fund formation. Mr. Singer received his JD, with distinction, from Hofstra University School of Law, and holds a BA from Stony Brook University.