Gurus – Who, How & What They Said
Gurus of Land Banking
Howard Hughes was a dreamer with a stunning intellect. He was also a visionary with land holdings in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. He was a real believer in land banking. In Los Angeles, California, Howard Hughes is well known for Playa Vista - the 974-acre, former site of the Hughes Aircraft Company. This property extends from the Pacific Ocean to the San Diego Freeway, between Marina del Rey and Los Angeles International Airport. Plans for the site include 13,000 residential units, 6 million sq. ft. of commercial space and 1,000 hotel rooms. In the early 1950s, Howard Hughes acquired a 22,500-acre parcel of land located along the western rim of the Las Vegas Valley, well outside the Las Vegas city limits. Today, this land parcel is known as Summerlin, and regarded as one of the most desirable and prestigious master planned communities in Nevada. By 2015 Summerlin is projected to be home to approximately 160,000 residents in 30 distinct villages. Howard Hughes’ land holdings made him vast fortunes during his lifetime. Can you possibly imagine what the 974-acre Playa Vista property in Los Angeles would be worth today?
Bob Hope loved land banking in Southern California. Bob Hope and Walt Disney both made huge personal fortunes by investing in land in Southern California when it was little more than orange groves and empty lots. At one point Mr. Hope owned at least 10,000 acres of land in the San Fernando Valley. Mr. Hope owned so much land in Los Angeles County that he became the largest single land holder in California. Between his holdings in Palm Springs, Malibu and other areas he had over 20,000 acres of land. It was said if he had all his holdings together he would have a kingdom 50 times the size on Monaco. In 1978, his property-tax bill to the state exceeded $1-million (U.S.). With his recent passing, reports of his immense wealth are flying once again. National News Papers and even Fox News have estimated his land holdings to be value between 500 million to 1 billion dollars!! Now THAT’S Land Banking!
The tale of how Donald Trump became the quintessential American Success Story is fascinating and impressive. It’s hard to believe that in 1990 Trump was $900 million in debt. Unlike the average person who throws in the towel at the first sign of adversity, Trump did not he hung in there and made an astounding comeback, and is now sitting on a sizable fortune. In an interview with Wall Street Week on July 26, 2002, Trump said: “I just love real estate. It’s tangible, it’s solid, and it’s beautiful.” The Trump Tower on 5th Ave. was his original crown jewel. Today he owns many other Manhattan properties that include the Trump World Tower, and the Trump Palace. Yet, if you were to ask Mr. Trump what property excites him the most these days? Well, it would be his prime undeveloped land parcel, the old West Side Rail yards in Manhattan. This amazing, undeveloped 100-acre plot goes from 59th to 72nd streets along the Hudson River, and is one of the last remaining large land parcels left in Manhattan and estimated to be valued in the millions. Donald J. Trump understands the value of land banking. He realized that if he just buys and holds the land, he would position himself to make a fortune. When fully developed, this 100-acre parcel will be called Trump Place. If Donald Trump has one regret it’s that he didn’t buy and hold more land in New York City when he had the chance.
“Don’t wait to buy land, buy land and wait.” - Will Rogers
“More millionaires have achieved their wealth through real estate than through all other endeavors combined.” - William H. Pivar
“Every person who invests in well-selected real estate in a growing section of a prosperous community adopts the surest and safest method of becoming independent, for real estate is the basis of wealth.” - Theodore Roosevelt
“Buy land on the fringe and wait. Buy land near a growing city! Buy real estate when other people want to sell. Hold on to what you buy!” - John Jacob Astor
“Buying real estate is not only the best way, the quickest way, but the only way to become wealthy.” - Marshall Field
“Find out where the people are going and buy the land before they get there.” – Will Rogers
“Ninety percent of all millionaires become so through owning real estate. More money has been made in real estate that in all industrial investments combined. The wise young man or wage earner of today invests his money in real estate.” - Andrew Carnegie
“I always felt very secure and very safe with real estate. Real estate always appreciates.” - Ivana Trump
“The best investment on earth is earth.” - Louis Glickman
“I would give a thousand furlongs of sea for an acre of barren ground.” - Shakespeare
