"Mr. Walentas, 71, is the founder and principal of the Two Trees Management Company, which has developed and managed more than four million square feet of commercial and residential real estate, mostly in New York City. Mr. Walentas is also credited with establishing the Dumbo neighborhood in Brooklyn."
Q. Could you explain the genesis of the Dumbo name?
A. We were in SoHo almost 40 years ago, and then we did the Silk Building in NoHo. When I was in NoHo, I asked one of the artists, one of the kids, SoHo, NoHo, what’s next? And somebody said, “Dumbo.” I said, Where the hell is Dumbo? He said, “Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass.” So I came over one day, walked around the neighborhood and said, Wow!
Q. And that’s where the bulk of your development has been since — by the Manhattan Bridge.
A. We bought two million square feet 30 years ago for $12 million, about $6 a foot, which today seems incredibly cheap. But for 20 years everybody thought I was the dumb in Dumbo; now they think I’m a genius.
Q. What are you getting per square foot now?
A. We routinely sell condos for $1,000 a foot. We have a 6,000-square-foot triplex at One Main for $25 million — the Clock Tower.
Q. Are you close to selling that Clock Tower penthouse?