Former investor learns to bet on his clients' needs: Jules Demchick, president, JD Carlisle Development Corp.

For a man who is heavily involved in sales and marketing, Jules Demchick, president of JD Carlisle Development Corp., is surprisingly reserved on the subject of his new projects.

It takes a while for him to reveal what the company is currently working on, which includes a number of exciting developments--a new boutique hotel in the West Village, a mixed-use hospitality and residential project in West Chelsea, a super expensive and swanky new condominium building opposite the Rockefeller Center which has only been marketed to European buyers ...

"The building is immediately across the street from One Rock Plaza, has views of the Christmas Tree and small units that range from 600 s/f to 1,300 s/f," Demchick explains, adding that the development will feature a second floor entertainment area that will serve as a conference room for the residents during the day and a party space during the night.

"We feel that this is the opposite of a family-oriented building, so we have been marketing it predominantly in Europe as pied-a-terres for high net worth individuals. We already sold 136 units out of 152."

But even though this particular project is supposed to go for about $1,600 per s/f, Demchick denies the label of luxury developer. He simply gives the market what it needs, he insists, be it luxury condominiums or affordable housing units.

"If people ask me what it is that we really do, I tell them that we manufacture housing for New Yorkers," he offers. "Right now, because of the flatness in the residential market, we are producing product that is more affordable to more people because no matter where the real estate cycle is, people require food, clothing and shelter, and we are in the shelter business. What I do is picture what is going to happen three years in advance and the person who is going to want what I am going to be developing--their age, income, profession--so that what I design and build is the answer to their needs."

As evidence of this strategy Demchick brings up Morton Square--a recently completed development in the West Village that features 129 condominium units, six townhouses, 12 lofts and 135 rental apartments. According to Demchick, Morton Square accommodates a wide range of incomes and lifestyles and represents a very different kind of project than, for example, the Cielo, a family-focused high-rise currently under construction on the Upper East Side.

"We see this as quite the opposite of Morton Square--many of the units have been sold in multiples of two and three and combined into large family homes," he notes.

This year, JD Carlisle is also testing the waters of the hotel market--its first foray into the sector as Demchick expects hospitality properties to become more and more popular.

"We feel that the hotel rooms in New York City have been converted into residential housing and there is demand for them," he explains.

"We own several properties that lend themselves to successful hospitality development, so we decided to go ahead."

But although Demchick extols the quality of his company's construction work--"We are one of the last firms to own, build and market its own properties, so our objective is to put all the value into the building. A JD Carlisle-designed and developed product is usually better constructed than most and has finishes that offer more value than most," he notes,--he admits that he views himself more as a market strategist than a developer.

Demchick started out in the business as an investor--real estate was just one of the sectors he was involved in--and became a serious developer only in the early 1980's, after meeting his partner Harry Feldman, a master builder and former marine architect.

"I was developing a building on East 30th Street and he was doing a project there as well--we used to see each other all the time around the sites and found out that we got along well together," Demchick explains. "We found out that the housing development concepts and the ability to get them financed were things that I could do well and the actual building was his best talent. So my function is to conceive, acquire, structure and market the concept and [his] part of the business is to deliver it."

But though Feldman recently retired (his grandson has replaced him as Demchick's working partner), Demchick himself shows no sign of wanting to slow down. He mentions three forthcoming major developments in New York City that he can't yet reveal and another one in Hoboken and shrugs when asked if he sees opportunities for new projects in the year ahead.

"We have 70 families here to support, so we have an obligation to find some," he notes.