Overview
Asher Zamir is the founder and CEO of a prominent and privately-held real estate private equity firm, Zamir Equities. The firm is based in New York City. Asher Zamir founded Zamir Equities in 2003.
Asher Zamir takes pride in overseeing all Zamir Equities asset management and portfolio holdings.
The recent acquisitions of Asher Zamir include 587 Fifth Avenue, Penncom Plaza, and several office buildings throughout the United States. Besides, Asher Zamir has ownership interests in several properties overseas.
Asher Zamir has been involved in real estate since 1990. He has acquired different properties in New York City and outside.
However, since the ’90s, Zamir’s focus has been downtown Manhattan. He has acquired properties there when the price per square foot to buy was about $15 or $20. Zamire has strongly believed in the downtown real estate market from day one. Today, his perseverance has paid off.
Before founding Zamir Equities, Asher Zamir has been actively running a company deals with the manufacturing and distribution of fine jewels and diamonds, called DIA-DEB International, Inc. This company has facilities in New York, Tel Aviv, and Bombay and has been in operation for the past 40 years.
Asher Zamir was born in Iran. He is a citizen of the United States. Asher Zamir holds an undergraduate degree from the Queens College and a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance and Business Administration from the New York University.
Services
Non-Fiction
Work experience
Zamir Equities
Mr. Zamir founded Zamir Equities in 2003. Mr. Zamir serves as head of investments for the Zamir Equities team, while overseeing all Zamir Equities asset management and portfolio holdings.
Projects
Real Estate Trends Watch
What is your outlook for real estate PE?
According to Asher Zamir, Real estate, as a sector, has had a strong performance and is an “investor favorite” as a result of a strong and an extended economic cycle since 2010. Our outlook for real estate private equity is positive. Real estate is embedded in the economy and, more powerfully, in people’s lives. Our buildings are where we live, work, and shop, and we depend upon functioning real estate. What is certain is that the focus on core assets and gateway markets has reached saturation or peak, and this is leading many institutions to go further out on the risk curve in search of better yields, which also means that there is a lot more competition chasing the same deals.
What is your outlook for the economy?
Asher Zamir' firm focuses on acquiring and managing suburban office assets. The performance of our product is highly sensitive to the U.S. economy. Real estate looks good right now because of the strong economy. However, slow growth in the economy is anticipated in the near future with the Fed announcing two rate hikes in 2018, and our view is that there might be some form of market correction or downturn within the next five years and a “rush to the exit” as this cycle unwinds. Consequently, we are acquiring assets with minimal tenant rollover within the first three years of new ownership to reduce our portfolio risk.
Why do you believe office spaces are the most attractive investment over residential?
Asher Zamir has built our company on the asset class we know best, which is office buildings. Office buildings can be very profitable, and long-term leases mean less management than with residential income properties. We like owning core, prized assets, and offices are generally viewed that way.
ZAMIR EQUITIES ACQUIRES 36 S. CHARLES, A 25-STORY CLASS A OFFICE BUILDING IN CBD BALTIMORE, MD
Asher Zamir, CEO of Equities announces the successful acquisition of 36 S. Charles St., right in the heart of Baltimore’s up-and-coming Central Business District. An iconic twenty-five-story Class-A office building with nearly 314,000 square feet available for commercial use, 36 S. Charles already boasts an impressive list of long-term anchor tenants including the US Attorney’s Office, Peter T Nicholl Esq. and City of Baltimore Development Corp.
“We are excited about our first acquisition in the Baltimore CBD market (and in the state of Maryland) as we expand our office portfolio with the acquisition of 36 S. Charles Street,” commented Asher Zamir, CEO of Zamir Equities. “Our equity investment and extensive operational experience will enable us to make significant capital expenditures to this best-in-class building – it’s part of our long-term business plan to increase building occupancy over the next few years.”
In recent years, strong economic growth has led to a revitalization of Baltimore’s CBD neighborhood, and 36 S. Charles is expected to benefit from both the upside of the renewal efforts and from the continued growth of the city center as a live-work-play environment with an extremely active pipeline of government, corporate, retail, and residential projects.
One block away from 36 S. Charles is the city’s scenic Inner Harbor, the center of revitalization efforts in Baltimore, which is already drawing significant tourism traffic. All the new developments solidify the Inner Harbor and the Central Business District as an extension of the traditional residential neighborhoods that surround Downtown, showing that investors, residents, and tourists are uniting to transform the area into a prime destination location.
36 S. Charles is ideally situated in HUB and Enterprise zones with the Metro less than a block away. There’s also excellent access to I-95, I-83, the Light Rail System, and the Camden Station of the Maryland Rail Commuter (MARC), which provides high-speed access to Washington D.C. and to other major East Coast cities.
In addition to its prime location, 36 S. Charles has made notably competitive through recent modernization efforts. $6.5 million has already been invested into base building improvements and updates to the lobby, conference center, and elevators. In addition, the building offers sought-after amenities such as cafes, onsite storage, and an onsite parking garage.
Asher Zamir also plans for additional capital improvements coming soon, including further modernization of the elevators, upgrades to the common areas, enhanced building security, and a new boutique coffee shop, just for starters.
