As submitted for the Philadelphia Business Journal last week, unedited, for Friday’s edition.
David Dinenberg made some big deals as a real estate broker.
“But I was so unsatisfied,” said the new chief operating officer of Grasso Holdings, a full service real estate firm based in Philadelphia.
It wasn’t for him. Uniting one company looking to buy and another looking to sell, no matter the field, left him feeling like a middle man, Dinenberg said.
Dinenberg’s new role will let the company’s CEO David Grasso focus on the largest deals and developing strategy for the growing firm.
“I cover the day to day management of the company,” said Dinenberg of his corporate management of the company’s affiliates, involved in construction, development, residential sales, leasing and property management. “Now I need to understand everyone’s projects.”
Those projects vary for Grasso, which isn’t asset specific. They’ve recently renovated the Lofts at Bella Vista and the Packard Grande, two Center City condominiums. Last year, Grasso opened Valley Square, a 400,000 square foot shopping center in Bucks County. In the coming months, the company is to break ground on a 1.2 million square foot mixed-use project in Center City, which will include a Whole Foods Grocery, a Best Buy, a hotel and high end rental apartments.
“We are a medium sized company doing huge deals,” he said. “We put our sights above where most people would put their own sights.”
“The best thing about real estate is that there are so many aspects to real estate,” Dinenberg said. “That’s what captivates my interest in the business in general.”
As the company continues to expand, Dinenberg is charged with developing an internal structure, offering oversight without hurting the company’s independent and entrepreneurial spirit, he said.
“You need those checks and balances as you grow up,” he said. “And we’re growing up.”
As he reduces his load of personal projects and shifts to a leadership role over the accounting, human resources, marketing, public relations, sales and leasing of Grasso and its affiliates Tycoon Entertainment, GH Property Services and GH Realty, Dinenberg said he hopes to help the company grow in a healthy way.
“I can take that to the next level, to operate Grasso and offer corporate oversight,” he said. “This is something I’ve always wanted to do.”
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