|
|
September 22, 2000/22 Elul 5760, Vol. 52, No.55
Childhood friends develop business
BETH OLSON
Editorial Assistant
Jeff Geyser's office sits in the same south Tempe neighborhood where he was raised - the neighborhood in which he became childhood friends, over 20 years ago, with his current business partner, Spike Lawrence.
The two founded Lawrence and Geyser Development, a real estate development company, in 1994.
"I think we had both always wanted to be in the business," says Geyser, 31. In the beginning, he says, "It was a little difficult. ... We started with nothing and kind of had to slowly build up from there." Since, they have purchased and developed nearly 20 retail properties in Arizona and California.
Geyser and Lawrence purchase shopping centers in good retail locations, that have been mismanaged. These centers include tenants who are not paying market value to lease space, as well as vacant spaces, says Geyser. He and Lawrence then fill the vacant spaces, frequently with national tenants, such as La-Z-Boy, Goldberg and Osborne and Realty Executives. Once all of the spaces are leased, the properties are sold for a profit, including the Warner Executive Park in which the Lawrence and Geyser Development office is located.
"It wasn't really our intention to sell it. We put it on the market and figured we'd take offers and we finally got an offer we just couldn't turn down," says Geyser. They now lease space from the new owners.
Lawrence and Geyser Development will break ground on a new development, The Falls at Ocotillo, later this month. The Falls is a nine-acre site at Alma School and Queen Creek roads in Chandler, which will house a 70,000 square-foot specialty retail center and office complex.
Geyser, who grew up in Tempe, attended Phoenix Hebrew Academy, where he feels he received a "fantastic" education.
"We learned twice as much in a half day as most kids in public school learn in a whole day," he recalls.
After graduating from an eighth-grade class of nine students, he attended Corona del Sol High School in Tempe with his neighborhood friends, including Lawrence.
After high school, Geyser followed in the path of his older brother, Richard, to Harvard University, where he studied government and international relations.
There, Geyser was a member of Hillel, where he found it very easy to stay active in the Jewish community because his life centered around a square-mile area.
"They actually serve kosher meals right there at the Hillel, so it was nice going there and meeting people and getting involved," he says.
Upon graduation from Harvard, Geyser attended Arizona State University College of Law, where his mother, M. Joyce Geyser, had also gone to law school. Though his mother has been a local attorney for more than 20 years, Geyser did not have the same career aspirations.
"I think I realized that I didn't want to practice (law) before I went (to ASU). It's certainly a great background for no matter what kind of business you're in," he says.
Geyser's father, Michael, a doctor, died in 1995.
Geyser lives in Phoenix with his wife, Amie. The two met in Las Vegas five years ago while Jeff was attending a real estate conference and Amie was vacationing with her parents. Amie had just graduated from ASU and was also living in the Valley. They will celebrate their first wedding anniversary Oct. 30.
The couple are members of Beth Joseph Congregation in Phoenix and are looking to become more active and involved in the Jewish community in the future.
|
