David Feldman, Shareholder, Olin, Feldman Pittleman, PC
When clients work with David Feldman they benefit from his 50 years of experience – what he has done right as well as lessons learned and knowledge gained. The guiding principle from when he and partner, Dexter Odin, founded the firm was “the client comes first, second, and third.” That principle remains today and has been the foundation of decades-long relationships with clients.
Currently, David’s practice focuses on real estate and banking issues where his practical experience in real estate development and banking complement his legal experience. For nearly 30 years, he has been involved in the development, ownership and management of retail shopping centers, office buildings, a townhouse development, and an industrial park. David has represented clients in numerous commercial, industrial, and residential purchases and sales of undeveloped and developed properties, loan closings, workouts and foreclosures. He has also served as bank counsel, has founded a bank, and has been on the board of directors of three banks.
David began practicing law in 1964 handling general civil and criminal trial work, personal injury, matrimonial, criminal, and eminent domain cases. He later became a member of the first County Attorney’s Office in Fairfax County where he advised and defended the Board of Supervisors. In 1968, David formed a partnership with Dexter Odin and continued his trial practice with an emphasis on land use and matrimonial law.
David received an AV Rating, the highest rating given by Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Ratings™ for his legal ability and general ethical standards. He has been selected by his peers for inclusion since 2010 in The Best Lawyers in America® listing for Real Estate Law. He was also selected for inclusion in the Virginia Super Lawyers listing eight times and Washington, D.C. Super Lawyers seven times.
Wendy Feldman-Block, Executive Managing Director, Savills, USA
Since joining Savills in 1987, Wendy has focused on providing real estate services on behalf of major tenants in Washington, DC and around the country with a focus on law firms, associations, nonprofits and corporations. Her expertise lies in her experience advising clients on creative thought leadership, market expertise, leveraging market intelligence and structuring transactions that best suit her clients’ unique objectives. She provides a broad range of services including build-to-suit transactions, lease deals, due diligence and acquisitions and dispositions. Wendy has most recently completed the first project in the world to achieve Platinum WELL and LEED certifications. She is sought after for her experience in negotiating leases that would enable tenants to pursue this new designation.
Wendy is active in numerous professional and service organizations. A graduate of Leadership Washington, she has been an active volunteer in the community, taking leadership roles on the boards of many organization including The Washington DC Chapter of Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW), Bell Multi-Cultural High School and Jubilee Support Alliance. She has also been active in helping Year Up and College Tracks. She served as the president of the board of directors for IONA Senior Services and was the chair of membership for Tikkun Olam Women’s Foundation.
At present, Wendy is an active trustee of the Tikkun Olam Women’s Foundation, funding social change to benefit women and girls, the Board Advisors for IONA, the Board of Advisors of Sol Systems, Co-Chair of the Annual Gala for the Higher Achievement Program, and a member of the Capital Campaign Committee for the Round House Theatre.
Wendy was the honored recipient of several awards including most recently the Washington DC Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Association’s Brendan McCarthy Memorial Award, Women to Watch for Jewish Women International, Bisnow Power Series Women of Influence in Commercial Real Estate Award, and the Commercial Real Estate Women Lifetime Impact Award for Washington DC. She was also selected as a March of Dimes Heroine in real estate for her commitment to community service.
Show Notes
David Feldman
- Origins- Grew up in Herndon, VA working for his parents at 8 yrs. old at their store in Leesburg, VA (4:30)
- Parents separated when he was 9 yrs. old and it was bitter
- Had a paper route at 6 yrs. old and his wagon wheel fell off (6:45)
- He was happy when his parents separated and remained with his mother working in her store.
- Moved to Washington DC when he was young- attended school in DC (8:30)
- Hated Hebrew school where he attended (9:00)
- Got his Bar Mitzvah and stopped his Jewish religious duties (10:00)
- Became President of his temple later in life in Herndon, VA then Reston, VA (10:15)
- Robert Simon (founder of Reston)- Met him, but didn’t know him (11:15)
- He had the vision but could not get it developed so Gulf Oil eventually took it over (12:00)
- Took bar in Herndon, VA, but moved to Reston, VA shortly after. (12:45)
- Went to GWU undergraduate and law school (13:00)
- Tuition was $350 per semester at that time (AU and Georgetown more expensive) (13:50)
- Got married at 21 yrs. old while in college (14:30)
- Worked in store in Herndon while in school (15:00)
- Subsequently worked at the Giant Store on Wisconsin Ave. (15:30)
- Story about a box of Kotex (17:00)
- Giant’s training program (17:30)
- Went back to work for his mother through law school (18:10)
- Coming out of law school he had no idea, but joined a single practitioner, Mike Martin, in Virginia (18:30)
- He introduced him to several contacts including personal injury cases (19:45)
- One case was a site on Sully Road in Chantilly which he bought with Mike Martin (20:30)
- Dexter Odin, his friend, became County Attorney for Fairfax County and asked David to join him as an Assistant (21:30)
- After a year and a half he joined Dexter Odin into their current firm (22:45)
- Story about Mike Martin (his first boss) where he needed to plead a case in Arlington County (23:15)
- Associated with another potential partner, Mr. Farley, yet decided to run for office, but gave David and Dexter considerable new business (25:45)
- Spoke about several cases (27:00)
- David admitted that he did not get along with Wendy growing up as she had a strong mind (29:30)
- Needed to provide for his family (30:20)
- Went skiing with family (31:00)
- When you got in a battle with Wendy, she always won (31:45)
- Now they have a great relationship (32:00)
Wendy Feldman–Block
- Wendy was born in Herndon, VA (32:15)
- Spent a lot of time in the car as a kid (32:30)
- Route 7 was the only road out to where they lived (33:00)
- Was in 2nd graduating class at South Lakes HS in Reston, VA (33:45)
- Vivid memories that her Dad worked all the time (34:10)
- Learned about “doing the right thing” from her Dad (34:30)
- Her Mom grew up in NY and was a strong personality (34:45)
- Her Grandmother was a huge influence as a “strong woman” (David’s Mom) (35:30)
- Her Mom was a family therapist and a “renaissance woman” (36:30)
- She went on to Emory University (37:00)
- She was not an academic, but got in to Emory (37:45)
- Economics major (38:20)
- Pre-Law society (38:40)
- Loved Art History- Wanted to pursue it (39:00)
- Took a year off in Florence, Italy
- Decided not to take the bar go into real estate (39:15)
- David inserted that he recommended her to go into residential real estate (39:45)
- She wanted more of an office environment than residential real estate (40:50)
David Feldman
- Why real estate? Describes an investment club he belonged to at 17 yrs. old where he bought a 3 acre piece of land (41:50)
- Investments in stock market were spectacular- US Photo Supply (43:00)
- Sold off the land and made a sizable profit (43:30)
- Began buying properties in early 1970s outside of legal practice (44:00)
- 1973- Had a dramatic effect on property values (45:00)
- Learned from mistakes (45:45)
- Discusses a site for a shopping center in 1998 (46:15)
- Talked about a “slam dunk” deal
- Built a good shopping center
- Partner was Uniwest for the property
- Decided to hire a property manager (49:00)
- Found a site on Elden Street in Herndon for a Dart Drug anchored shopping center in 1979 and the construction loan was not viable for a permanent loan (51:45)
Wendy Feldman–Block
- Joined Studley by referral and knew nothing about the business (53:00)
- Peter Spier started office in DC in the early 1970s
- Julie Schuelke was her mentor and she joined National Accounts team led by Peter Spier (53:30)
- Fortunate to have great mentors
- Blacks Guide and packets of information about listings sent out before CoStar existed (54:00)
- Not good at “cold calls” (55:15)
- Subsequently joined another team with Vernon Knarr, Bill Quinby and Julie Schuelke (55:45)
- Cites Bristol Myers Squibb case study (56:30)
- Crisis of early 1990s avoided due to diverse markets and client base (57:30)
- No layoffs and tenants were still active (58:00)
David Feldman
- David cites a site on Sully Road that they bought near the entrance to Dulles Airport in the early 1990s that went into default on its loan (59:00)
- Decided to let the site go back to the bank (1:00:30)
- Knowing when to get in and get out (1:01:15)
- After personally signing on a loan once he decided never to do it again (1:01:45)
- Decided to stay practicing law to keep a steady income and did not want to take the risks necessary to exclusively focus on real estate investing. (1:02:15)
- Law firm expansion- Jim Pittleman joined firm in 1974 as a tax and business lawyer (1:03:15)
- Grew the firm with litigators and government contractor law (1:04:00)
- Why real estate law? Because it is challenging and interesting (1:05:00)
- Did not like the political aspects of land use law (1:06:00)
- Story about a County Supervisor (1:06:30)
- Negotiation strategy- Keep cards close to the vest (1:08:00)
- Play by the rules (1:09:15)
- Do things the right way (1:09:45)
Wendy Feldman–Block
- Discusses differences in men and women about negotiations (1:10:00)
- Describes a project for Univ. of California in DC working with Bill Quinby and he let her do her own thing and she learned by herself and she made a mistake (1:11:15)
- She wants know what matters and to push hard but not too hard (1:12:00)
- Preparation important
- The most important thing one has is their word (1:13:00)
- If client changes their mind, she wants to know in advance
- Went to the “school of hard knocks” (1:14:00)
- Not a ladder but a “jungle gym” in her career (1:14:45)
- 25 yr. old self advice- “Make sure you have a good grounding finance, writing and accounting”
- Told to learn how to write (1:16:00)
- Got involved in community (1:17:00)
- Office use today (1:18:00)
- Never seen anything like this today
- Long term leasing still, but not as much (1:19:00)
- Opportunities now- Wellness (1:19:45)
- Wellness certification now includes air quality as a primary factor (1:20:20)
- Educating wellness (1:21:20)
- Amenitization of office- want hospitality feeling (1:21:45)
- When people start to go back, more people will want to come back (1:23:00)
- Business has pivoted to less transactional to more consultative (1:24:00)
- “Intersection of real estate and psychology” (1:25:30)
- Lease is not going away (1:26:30)
- Tenants looking for both short term flexibility and flex suites (1:27:30)
- Example of a 13,000 s.f. lease and decided to take a spec suite for 8300 s.f. (1:28:30)
- Landlords are fighting over smaller tenants
- Large tenants are still leasing, with a few exceptions (1:30:00)
- More holistic for finding space geographically using data about customers and employees (1:32:00)
- Great Resignation is driving location to retain employees (1:32:30)
David Feldman
- First client asked him a business question and he recognized that it would be dangerous for liability (1:33:30)
- “Client is first, second and third”- Ethical to the nth degree (1:35:00)
- Judge said that you need confidence in what attorneys represent to trust them (1:36:00)
- Need to deflect purposes that are not right (1:36:45)
Wendy Feldman–Block
- Law firm work (1:37:00)
- Stay in touch after lease is done (1:37:30)
- Loves repeat business (1:37:45)
- Carnegie Endowment
- Hirschler
- Loves doing business on a team
- Many times she was asked to join some developers
- She enjoyed the flexibility that Studley and Savills gave her to raise her family (1:40:00)
- Savills merger discussion (1:40:30)
- ESG Movement
- Attention is rightly needed (1:41:00)
- Education (1:42:00)
- Reporting critical to raise capital (1:43:00)
- Pivotal time to focus on ESG (1:43:45)
- Class B & C office use now- look at repurposing space to flex office and multifamlly (1:44:00)
- Example of Sonder who will convert space
- Creative use needed and architects are addressing them (1:47:00)
David Feldman
- Involvement in civic activities is both important for business and to help the community (1:48:00)
Wendy Feldman–Block
- Iona Senior Services involvement (on Board) (1:48:30)
- Learned fundraising
- Leadership Washington (1:49:00)
- The Real Estate Group (1:49:15)
- Felt good to do non-profit work (1:49:30)
- CREW- work with women (1:49:45)
- Higher Achievment Program (1:50:00)
- Roundhouse Theatre (1:50:15)
- Raise awareness and help others
- March of Dimes involvement (1:50:45)
- Likes to connect the dots and problem solve (1:51:45)
David Feldman
- Surprising event- Acquired a site 38 yrs. ago in Prince William County and just sold the site to Prince William County that was farmed all that time and now will be the Innovation Center for the County (1:52:30)
- When he bought it the senior partners at the time said it was an “ugly” piece of ground at the time (1:54:45)
Wendy Feldman-Block
- Most surprising event- While in Morocco she checked her email and she got a message from a client (the Metropolitan Airport Authority) and secured a 75,000 s.f. deal (1:56:45)
David Feldman
- Personal life is now coming forward and he will be seeing family more now (1:57:15)
- Recent transaction took up so much of his life and that is now past
- Enjoys mentoring (1:58:00)
- Working with one associate who is learning about private placements (1:59:00)
- Involved with the Adler Center, a local hospice (2:01:30)
Wendy Feldman-Block
- Family first- Husband, daughter and son she is very proud of (2:02:30)
- Cyclist group
- Tight network of women (2:05:00)
- Advice to 25 yr. old self- Leadership at CREW and CREBA
David Feldman
- Advice to 25 yr. old self- Practice law and invest in real estate
- Wendy chimed in to say that as a grandfather he was very involved with his grandchildren (2:08:30)
Billboard Statement
- Wendy: “This is not a dress rehearsal, this is your life!”
- David: “It’s time to get back to the way things should be done”
Postscript
- Colin Madden wanted my take on Father/Daughter conversation
- Father (David) worked hard and didn’t spend enough time
- Wendy encouraged me to invite her Father
- She learned things about her Dad she didn’t know
- Keep it conversational
- Wellness needs to be taught to the marketplace
- Healthy Buildings
- Wendy is one of the few brokers who has a Wellness designation
- Increase in productivity with CO2 measurement
- Three legs to the stool in real estate
- Analytics
- Communications
- Form- Design and Structure
- Negotiations
- Gender gap in negotiations- emotional quotient stronger for women
- Risk has emotion in it
- Quote of career being a “jungle gym and not a ladder”
- Smaller firm (Studley) allows for considerable flexibility
- Employers need to be flexible with female employees
- Surface Area- Increase it to increase network effects
- Question about commitment to groups outside of work
- Young people should keep mix of networking perhaps 50/50
- Intermediary opportunities are important to stay connected
