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Q&A with Ted Disabato: A man of many talents

Some might call Ted Disabato an over-achiever. As an accomplished attorney, the St. Louis native holds also holds an MBA from St. Louis University and is the owner/broker of Premier St. Louis Properties. In a recent conversation with Mr. Disabato, Metro Wire asks him about about this unique dual-sided perspective.

MWM: Do you focus primarily on law or on real estate?

Some months are heavier on the law side. Some months are heavier on the real estate side.

I developed (the real estate side) because of the number of Realtors I had taken suit against. I realized how much people were lacking in skill. It’s a minority. There are a lot of high-quality professionals out there, but some of them are a little less scrupulous. I practice almost exclusively on the law side of real estate and some estate planning. So it was a natural flow. I actually do a lot of commercial transactions on the attorney side.

MWM: You have a law degree and an MBA from St. Louis University. What prompted you to go after your real estate license?

I got my real estate license in 2004.It was completely on a fluke. Somebody else was taking the test. He said, ‘Go with me. We’ll grab lunch afterwards.’ Attorneys don’t have to take the classes. They just have to sit for the exam. I passed with flying colors. I was actually surprised.

MWM: When did you start actually using it within the realm of your practice?

I did nothing with it. I actually went to New York City. My wife went to med school there. I worked for a private bank managing its national residential closing department, which was actually kind of fun. You get to find out the actual names of all the rock stars and superstars.

My wife got residency back here at Wash U. I took a position with First American as underwriting counsel for their commercial department. I was only there for about seven months. It was a great job – great office to work for. But I was recruited by the two gentlemen who own Kozeny & McCubbin to run their title company. That was for a little over two years. Then I started my own firm.

MWM: What were some of your larger commercial transactions in St. Louis?

The recent ones were all not so great. The biggest ones were One Bell Center, which is the AT&T Tower. We did Savvis to Scott Trade. I had a significant part in the transaction and title insurance role. Now the commercial market is relatively dead and people are kind of fighting for the work.

MWM: From the legal side of things and with someone who also had the real estate based knowledge, do you see any upswing coming to the market anytime soon?

I see small peaks. There will be a rush of small volume projects and then it dries up. It usually has to do with how the lending environment is. There are people who want to do deals. People who want to make purchases, but there aren’t a lot of people who have cash . . . and there are definitely not a lot of people who have cash that are willing to spend it. The savviest investors I know stopped buying in 2004.

MWM: As someone who has that dual perspective, can you tell me a little about the challenges?

The challenge is that everyone thinks you’re an attorney. Attorneys are known for being deal killers. The fact that there is not an i dotted, what is the real risk? It’s not a reason to kill the deal. Attorneys are notorious for thinking if there’s not a dot on this i then you should walk away, which is not always the case. They are over-emphasizing the details versus visualizing it from a big picture standpoint, which is that you have a client who is trying to accomplish something. What can you do best to, within the contract, protect them and help them accomplish what they want to accomplish. Most attorneys just protect or walk away.

MWM: Do you think a lot of people anticipated the market collapse?

The one good thing about commercial real estate is the people who work in it are much more savvy. There’s a much higher standard of entry. I think that’s actually a positive. People pretty much know what they’re doing. Now, just cause you know what you’re doing doesn’t mean you anticipated the downturn in this market. A lot of people did, though. When the cap rates don’t make sense and people are negatively leveraged, too many people leave their initial understanding and go with herd. If you’re negatively leveraged and just waiting for the value to increase to make this deal make sense, that’s insane.  Somewhere in that deal, there has to be a working cash situation.

~Habitat For Humanity builds hope~

The St. Louis Chapter of Habitat for Humanity relies on hundreds of volunteer hours every year. Since 1986, Habitat has provided over 300 homes in neighborhoods throughout St. Louis.

Along with trained construction volunteers, prospective home owners must participate in the construction of their home.

“Creating more affordable housing is imperative in St. Louis and in communities across the country. Bank of America is proud to be a partner with Habitat for Humanity working side by for the past 20 years to help make family dreams a reality,” says Patricia Mercurio, President, Bank of America – Missouri.

“Not only does Habitat for Humanity Saint Louis receive the benefit of IBEW Local #1 quality and safe installations, but the union electricians benefit as well, having an opportunity to be involved in such a worthwhile project,” says Steve Schoemehl, IBEW Local #1 business manager.

More than 70 other foundations, corporations, individuals and faith groups participate in fundraising efforts so that Habitat can meet the needs required to build these homes.

Images courtesy of Habitat for Humanity

General Motors brings jobs to St. Louis

General Motors recently announced the details of $380 million dollar investment to the existing Wentzville assembly plant. The recent decision was spurred by the passing of the Manufacturing Jobs Act, passed last year by the Missouri Legislature.

GM plans to add a half-million square foot addition to the plant, making space for the production of the Chevrolet Colorado, a midsize pickup truck.

Initially, this manufacturing effort will add 1,260 jobs to the St. Louis employment base. This is in addition to the 400 jobs already being added next year for second shift production of the Chevy Express and the GMC Savana.

United Auto Workers Officials anticipate that the Colorado will start rolling out some time in 2013.

Images courtesy of General Motors

–Angela Fonner