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."

The other driver will be a newly minted agreement with Hausinvest Global Fund, a German-based open-ended vehicle for which HRO will be scouting buys throughout North America. By this time next year, says Wyman, he hopes to have as much as $1 billion invested for the fund, which is valued at $15.3 billion (US).

HRO, which was founded by Howard P. Ronson in the 1970s, came to the US in the latter part of the decade and rode the crest of the go-go '80s development cycle. As the local real estate climate dried up in the early 1990s, Wyman says, "we still had as many as 10 projects running in Europe." The group turned its attention to the more active European front, selling off its last New York property--380 Madison--in 2001 and closing its office. HRO maintains active offices throughout most of Europe.