Following the early 1990's recession, Feldman expanded by entering into joint ventures with several corporate and private investors including partnerships with GE Capital, George Soros, Morgan Stanley and the Carlyle Group. Many of these investors made above market returns from Feldman's turnaround strategy of buying and renovating under performing property. Many of these investors continued or increased their investment in the Company's initial public offering in 1997.
In October of 1997, the company was renamed Tower Realty Trust, Inc. and was reorganized as a Real Estate Investment Trust. The Company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol: "TOW"). Led by Merrill Lynch, Tower was one of the hottest IPO's of 1997. Tower was a major owner and manager of office and retail property. Including property owned outside of New York, Tower owned 4.6 million square feet of office space, including 50 acres of land under development as an office park. In addition, Tower managed 1 million square feet of retail space.
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