The space is temporary, promises partner Larry Wyman, who tells GlobeSt.com that they'll be in their own building as soon as its momentum begins to build, and that momentum will be fueled by the twin engines of redevelopment and acquisition, Wyman states. The first will be reminiscent of the type of upgrades that typified the firm's activities when it was a hot local player in the 1980s--get-your-hands-dirty-real estate, he characterizes it. The initial focus will be on New York-area renovations, including distressed properties in the near-in suburbs, the partner explains.

The bulk of this activity will be funded by the Boston-based Baupost Group which, Wyman says, are investors "in just about all of our products in Europe." That familiarity will help the capital flows, which can be "as large as we want them to be. They'll provide as much capital as it takes to reposition assets, manage them and renovate them to high technological standards."

He says there is no hurry to make that first upgrade. "We're patient from the standpoint that we aren't going to overpay just to be busy," he states. "We don't have to do a deal for the sake of doing a deal." New builds will also factor into the mix, but much later in the cycle, he says, when construction "makes sense."