Hotel tycoon, R. Donahue Peebles, celebrated the launch of his book, The Peebles Path to Real Estate and Wealth: How to Make Money in Any Market, yesterday at an event in New York hosted by hip-hop icon Russell Simmons and William C. Thompson Jr., New York City comptroller.
“I think what he is doing now and what he has tried to do over a period of time in trying to help people accumulate wealth makes a lot of sense. It’s nice to listen to things in theory, but you want to hear from those who have actually done it and been successful at it,” Thompson says . “He has built a real estate empire and he is one of the best.”
The book details how to increase wealth through real estate, and includes insights based on Peebles’ personal experiences in his climb to success. In the book he uses the analogy of a 12-hour clock to explain how the real estate cycle works. “You want to be a buyer from 5 o’clock to 9 o’clock, and you want to be a seller from 11 o’clock to 12 o’clock,” writes Peebles. “The trick is having the stomach to buy when most people don’t want to buy; that’s when the most money is made.”
Peebles has used this principle in several of his deals which has rewarded him handsomely. A Washington, D.C. native, he is most known for his tenacity in the pursuit of ocean-front property in Miami, where his purchase of the Royal Palm Crowne Plaza Resort made him the first African American owner of a major hotel. He spent $84 million in acquiring the 417-room, oceanfront resort, which opened in 2002 during the recession sparked after Sept. 11, 2001, and then sold the property for $127.5 million in 2004.
“One of the things that is very impressive about Don is that since he was in his twenties he has been an entrepreneur,” says Star Jones, former talk show host and good friend to Peebles. “He realized very early on that having property is a real commodity that can always be traded.”
The book also explains the current housing crisis, fundamental investment tools, and a plan to help readers build assets in a market climate that seems scary and unstable to most. “The reality is that in real estate money is not made when you sell a property, the profit is made when you buy and you realize your profit when you sell,” Peebles says. “Now is a good time for the average person to become homeowners.”
Peebles is president and CEO of the Peebles Corp. (No. 18 on the B.E. Industrial/Service 100 list with $245 million in revenues), the country’s largest African American real estate development company, with a portfolio of luxury hotels, residential and commercial properties, and other developments in major cities such as Washington, D.C., New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas, and Miami. Peebles also has a $2 billion, mixed-use development consisting of