Steve Siegel

Stephen Siegel
Born (1971-01-26) January 26, 1971
Occupation Entrepreneur, Commercial Real Estate Investor and Developer, Hotelier
Known for The Siegel Group

Stephen Garrett Siegel ("Steve Siegel" - born January 26, 1971), is an entrepreneur and commercial real estate investor. He is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of The Siegel Group Nevada, Inc., a real estate investment and management company that specializes in the acquisition, disposition and development of under-performing, value-added real estate and businesses with significant turn-around potential. The company has a portfolio valued in excess of $1 billion. Assets include a variety of businesses and a sizable commercial real estate portfolio comprising multi-residential, flexible-stay apartment complexes, extended-stay hotels, boutique resorts, hotel-casinos, retail, office, development land, restaurants and bars. The Siegel Group employs over 1,000 employees with professionals specializing in the areas of operations, management, legal, finance, marketing, branding, leasing, renovation, design, entitlements, construction, redevelopment and insurance.[1]

Early Life

A consummate entrepreneur and self-made businessman, Siegel began his business endeavors at a young age with only a few dollars in his pocket and a passion to succeed. Not one for school, he dropped out of junior high and never attended high school. At the age of 15, after moving out of his family home to live on his own, Siegel supported himself by working at McDonald’s. Later, he met a friend whose father was a mechanic and owned a small repair shop where he began to spend all of his waking hours watching the father and son repair the cars that came and went from the busy little shop. He credits this experience for instilling in him a desire to fix problems. Siegel began using this newfound knowledge to his benefit by buying cars which he customized to his friend’s specifications and quickly sold for a profit. With no bank account, and only a few thousand in savings, Siegel operated his business from his pocket working tirelessly to save what little money he could. He attributes this time in his life with being instrumental in developing his passion for buying, fixing and selling assets of all types.[1]

Initial Business Ventures

Unique Sounds

At the age of 20, Siegel invested what savings he had accumulated from his car venture, partnering with a friend to open Unique Sounds - a car stereo and alarm store. He operated this business all the while continuing to sell the cars he was able to restore for a profit. He ultimately agreed to sell his interest in the operation back to his partner so that he could pursue other business interests. Just one week after finalizing this transaction, Siegel narrowly avoided losing his entire investment as the business he had helped found was destroyed by vandals during the 1992 Los Angeles riots.[1]

Prestige Motors

At the age of 21, Siegel embarked on his first solo venture, founding Prestige Motors, a one-bay mechanical auto repair shop which he ultimately repositioned as a collision center. Over the next six years, he grew this business to where it was generating annual sales in excess of $2 million at which point he sold the business to focus on other business interests.[1]

Uncle Howie Products

After selling Prestige Motors Siegel utilized the proceeds to acquire a 45% stake in Uncle Howie Products, a struggling business involved in the manufacturing of children’s upholstered furniture. The company was immediately restructured under Siegel who used his business know-how to expand operations and increase sales(Howard increased sales, Steve ran the inside operations) and efficiency. He expanded the business from a 50 employee venture operating out of a small warehouse to one that employed over 100 employees working 24-hour production shifts in new manufacturing space that exceeded 54,000 square feet. Howard Napolske AKA "Uncle Howie" successfully negotiated, secured and managed licensing for brands such as Nickelodeon’s Blues Clues, Mattel’s Barbie, Pokémon and Betty Boop and expanded the company’s product line into national retailers including Sears, Target, JCPenney and Toys "R" Us, accelerating annual income from $1 million to over $8 million in one year. [1]

McAlister’s Collision Centers

In 2000, Siegel acquired McAlister’s Auto Body - a failing business originally established in 1975 that suffered from significant cash flow problems, poor management and an aging founder. He completely revamped and rebranded the business changing the name to McAlister’s Collision Centers and worked diligently to initiate an aggressive and effective change in daily operations. Staff was increased, accounts were established with local automotive dealerships and new insurance companies and weak relationships with existing insurance carriers were restored to further increase sales. Within the first six months of Siegel taking over daily operations, monthly sales dramatically increased from $50,000 to $500,000. Four years later, annual sales had skyrocketed to over $8 million. McAlister’s Collision Centers flourished under Siegel’s leadership, expanding to a second location. Siegel ultimately exited the automotive collision center business to focus on the development and expansion of his real estate portfolio and entrepreneurial ventures.[2]

Real Estate Development

It was while operating McAlister’s Collision Centers that Siegel began to gradually acquire commercial real estate using the same principles he had used selling cars. He had a penchant for problem properties with upside potential that were undervalued and suffered from a host of problems including deferred maintenance, under-market rents and low-occupancy and significant rehabilitation issues. Siegel formed a property management company that operated out of his body shop to oversee his real estate holdings which grew to include a variety of assets including multi-residential, industrial, office, retail, mixed-use, shopping centers and land.

Today Siegel’s commercial real estate portfolio spans the United States and comprises over 100 properties that are operated under distinct business brands that he developed and continues to grow.[1]

Recognition

In March 2009, the City of Las Vegas, Mayor pro tem Gary Reese and Mayor Oscar Goodman named Stephen Siegel as the Citizen of the Month[3]] in recognition of his many past and present redevelopment projects relating to his Las Vegas properties and his continued support of the city and its revitalization efforts. Siegel’s focus on improving properties and cleaning up the surrounding areas has resulted in safer neighborhoods and led to the creation of numerous jobs for Las Vegas residents in a variety of industries.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman has said that "Siegel’s practice of buying lost-cause properties overrun by drugs and crime and renovating them into viable, safe residences solves two problems at once, blight and the need for quality, safe, lower-income housing".[4]

Inc. magazine recognized the Siegel Group as one of the fastest growing private businesses in America in 2007 and 2008.[5] Las Vegas Weekly named Siegel Las Vegas's Best Entrepreneur in 2010.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 http://www.stephensiegel.com
  2. ↑ "Siegel Companies".
  3. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5Le3IgnWuw
  4. ↑ http://www.portfolio.com/companies-executives/2010/04/08/stephen-siegel-takes-on-las-vegas-real-estate/
  5. ↑ http://www.inc.com/profile/the-siegel-group
  6. ↑ http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/news/2010/may/27/entrepreneur-stephen-siegel/
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