Joseph Tahl

• Joseph Tahl was a real estate investor who got his start in the business as a lawyer for Donald Trump. “One worked on Wall Street, seeing the ups and downs of the financial markets as a research analyst at Drexel Burnham Lambert. The otherwas a real estate lawyer, navigating through the highs and lows of the real estate market as an attorney for The Trump Organization. Then a mutual friend introduced Rodney Propp and Joseph Tahl. The two hit it off, formed Tahl Propp Equities, and have been making their mark ever since as aggressive, savvy real estate investors. […] So far, that strategy seems to have served the 3-year-old Park Avenue firm well, allowing Tahl Propp to buy aggressively but still pay discounted prices for prized properties.” (Real Estate Weekly, January 31, 2001)
• Tahl got his start working for Donald Trump as an intern at Dreyer Traub, the law firm that represented Trump, in the summer of 1986. “Tahl first became interested in the real estate business as a real estate lawyer. ‘I first met Donald Trump as a summer associate at Dreyer & Traub in 1986. I realized immediately that I wanted to use real estate law as a vehicle to become a developer and principal,’ Tahl says. ‘If I could handle the acquisition, financing, leasing and restructuring of deals for someone like Trump, I might as well own the buildings myself.’” (Real Estate Weekly, January 31, 2001)
• 2000: In a single quarter, Tahl Popp bought $130 million worth of real estate for $100 million. “In the fourth quarter of 2000 alone, Tahl Propp closed on about $100 million in properties that, by most accounts, were worth closer $130 to million. The firm spent $57 million for Three Gateway Center, a 500,000-square-foot office tower in downtown Newark that most analysts felt would sell for $70 million; $22 million for the landmarked glass trophy building at 510 Fifth Avenue, whose true value is closer to $30 million; and $20 million for apartment buildings in Manhattan. ‘There's a story behind each one. There has to be, or there's no point in making the deal,’ said Tahl, who learned the art of the deal as an attorney for The Trump Organization.” (Real Estate Weekly, January 31, 2001)
• Tahl Popp relied on insider connections to buy up properties tied up in legal disputes. “The firm was able to buy 510 Fifth Avenue at a steep discount because the building was at the center of litigation between its owner, Chase Manhattan Bank, and the fashion designer Elie Tahari. Because Propp's family had established friendly relationships with both - banking with Chase almost 90 years and leasing office space to Tahari at anearby building - Tahl Propp was able to buy the building after convincing both sides to settle their claims. ‘In that case, we were uniquely positioned to be the buyer, even though all the usual suspects were bidding against us,’ says Propp. "Chase wanted the buyer to indemnify it against all claims - past, present and future - and our relationship with Tahari enabled us to get a handle on what those claims were worth. We're on excellent terms with both Chase and Tahari, and we intend to keep it that way.’” (Real Estate Weekly, January 31, 2001)