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1982

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In 1982, Raleigh partnered with Executive Life Insurance Company (“ELIC”) to build a 211,000-square-foot office tower in West LA on Olympic Boulevard to serve as the home office for both companies.  Over the balance of that decade, the Executive Life relationship grew to include the development of an adjoining 250,000 square-foot office tower and the master planning of two additional development sites on Olympic Boulevard, which Raleigh designated as the “Garden District.”  Through its relationship with Executive Life, Raleigh ultimately acquired and/or managed approximately one billion dollars in assets, including a portfolio of nearly ten thousand Class-A apartment projects across the U.S. in a partnership with FSC Realty, LLC, and Executive Life.  Raleigh also oversaw and managed Executive Life’s nation-wide portfolio of 570 post-office and GSA buildings and 800 co-op apartments in NYC.

The year 1982 also marked the entry of the next generation of Rosenthals into the company, Mark joined Raleigh in 1982 and Deborah followed suit in 1984.

In 1982, Raleigh would acquire its first jet aircraft, a Mitsubishi Diamond Jet, and commenced operations of Raleigh Jet Enterprises, with its “Diamond in the Sky.”  That year also marked the opening of Raleigh’s shared workspace concept, long pre-dating WeWork, Raleigh Executive Suites.

1980

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Despite the US-prime rate peaking at 21.5% at the end of 1980, it would become a busy decade of growth for Raleigh. 

The early-1980s saw an expansion of Raleigh’s hotel operations, with the company acquiring and reinventing the Stephen F. Austin Hotel in Austin, Texas and in taking a lead role in the restoration of the Hotel Jerome in Aspen, Colorado.  Additionally, the company was brought in by the Kaempfer Company, the developer of the Regent International Hotel in Georgetown, Washington to assist in repositioning that hotel which was experiencing significant operating losses.  Unfortunately, the financial challenges faced by that property were too formidable to overcome, even with the considerable experience of the Raleigh team.

1979

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In 1979, Raleigh acquired and transformed a failed retirement community into the Westwood Marquis, one of LA’s earliest Grand-Luxe, European-style hotels.  The hotel became the inspiration for a host of new and rebuilt luxury hotels in the Los Angeles market.

At the end of the 1970s, Raleigh also pursued several projects in NYC. It purchased and rebuilt a luxury townhome on E. 64th Street in Manhattan for resale, put the Lowell Hotel in escrow, and flipped the contract at a significant profit.

1956-1309-DaviesDrive

1956

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In 1956, Raleigh completed its first luxury residential development, a home in Beverly Hills at 1309 Davies Drive for Woolworth heir, Lance Reventlow. Profiled in the January 1958 Architectural Digest, the success of this luxury home project inspired the company to develop eight new luxury homes in the hills above the Sunset Strip on Weatherly Drive. These early days in the company’s history also included land development, including the purchase and resale of a former airport property in East San Jose.

With its growing success as a developer and builder of for-sale residential projects, Raleigh began pursuing commercial investment properties at the end of the 1950’s. These early commercial projects throughout Southern California included: an apartment building in Belmont, California, and construction of the first of two office buildings on Third Street at Martel Avenue.

1955

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On January 13, 1955, George Rosenthal and his father, David, founded Raleigh Construction Company, Inc. In its first decade, the company designed, developed, built, and sold tract homes. The first project, twenty-five homes, was in Garden Grove, California. After earning a profit of one thousand dollars per home at a sales price of $12,250, George knew he had found his calling.

Raleigh commenced a residential subdivision and development in San Carlos, California in 1957. This second venture, however, nearly destroyed the fledgling company. Torrential rains in the Bay Area of California that year threatened to wash away the newly graded lots. George and David spent long nights, in the rain, digging trenches to redirect the flow of water, to save the project.

Rosenthal Ranch Entrance

1960

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The early sixties brought about a continuation of Raleigh’s commercial development efforts with a focus on apartments.  The company designed, developed, and built a dozen 10-unit apartment buildings, and one 24-unit project, in the unincorporated part of Los Angeles County that would become the City of West Hollywood.  Raleigh also completed similar apartment projects in Culver City, Beverly Hills and in Los Angeles on Ardmore Avenue.

During this era, the Rosenthals and their team commenced the development and construction of multiple commercial projects, including:

  • A shopping center anchored by a Market Basket in Los Angeles at the intersection of Western and Franklin Avenues.
  • A grocery-anchored center, the SanFair, is located at Santa Monica Boulevard and Fairfax.
  • Two additional Food Giant-anchored centers in Long Beach and in Compton.
  • An Albertsons-anchored center in Altadena.
  • A bank building at the Lakewood Center for the Weingarten Group.
  • A Carol’s Restaurant project in West Covina.
  • An office building for Metropolitan Theaters on Third Street east of Robertson Boulevard.
  • A furniture and fabric showroom on Robertson Boulevard south of Third Street for the Maloof family.

The 1960’s also saw a continuation of residential luxury residential developments with the completion of two beachfront homes in Del Mar, California.  These lots were purchased from Charlie Chaplin’s brother.