Success generated by combining
focused strategy, wide ranging
expertise, and valued relationships
ORIGINS: PROPERTY MANAGEMENT AND PROJECT
RESTRUCTURING EXPERIENCE
RESTRUCTURING EXPERIENCE
Rising from the ashes of the creative destruction brought about by the Savings and Loan crisis of the early 1980’s, Raj Development Corporation started out by turning around a failed patio home project for Texas Federal Savings. This was followed by the restructuring and completion of a 104 unit condominium project in the Texas Medical Center, which outperformed it’s net revenue generation projections by 18%. Having established its capabilities in the Houston market, RDC was awarded a contract to manage and liquidate an 1800 home Texas wide portfolio by Coastal Bank.
A commitment to transparency and the systematic analysis of the portfolio properties lead to achieving a 24% value over book, and resulted in the recognition of the RDC system of asset value realization by multiple financial institutions including the Resolution Trust Corporation, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Key to success was the careful selection of clients and projects, and the willingness to offer an Orderly Liquidation Plan free of charge, provided prospective clients offered full access to the under performing portfolio and 120 days of exclusivity to develop the plan.
This unique approach, mated with RDC’s commitment to its working partners to share 20% of the operating profits, and 20% of the capital appreciation of the assets under management, resulted in the realization of higher yields than projected in most cases. The working partner operating model allowed RDC to attract talented and dependable professionals, and set up operations nationwide in a short period of time with minimal resources allocation.
The commitment to scale mostly via internally generated funds provided a sustainable model for growth, which is a characteristic that is at the core of RDC’s operating ethos. This unique and effective approach resulted in a high demand for its services, and by 1990 RDC was managing a portfolio of $20 billion of real estate assets, nationwide.
TRANSITIONS: BUILDING THE RDC PORTFOLIO
After learning how to access, restructure and complete a full range of failed real estate projects from single family homes to large scale commercial projects, Raj Natarajan Sr decided it was time to transition from asset manager to investor. Proceeds from the sale of the management business were deployed via a unique full stack development model, in which undervalued assets were purchased, developed, marketed, sold and managed in house.
At each step of this value additive chain appreciation of the original capital investment was realized, leading to an extremely high internal rate of return. This integrated model defines RDC’s investment strategy, and has been crucial to the building of a debt free portfolio. An illustration of the RDC development model in practice can be found in the revitalization and continued development of the communities of Municipal Utility District 180, located in Northwest Houston.
EXPANSION: INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS
By the early 2000’s a U.S. based property portfolio was well established, and to provide geographic diversification to its holdings RDC undertook the process of expanding its operations globally. Adherence to high standards of transparency and value creation were the primary factors in the extensive evaluation process which covered Latin America, Europe, South Asia and Australasia.
Over a course of years operations were established in Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, India, New Zealand and Hong Kong, and in each of these geographies valuable lessons were derived which both helped localize the RDC operating model in each location, while also contributing to the greater global capabilities of the company.
As with any expansion strategy, not all plans came to fruition as expected, and in certain cases the lack of established chain of title as well as the prevalence of bribery as a normal business practice presented real challenges to the establishment of effective local operations, in line with RDC’s global operating standards.
These setbacks only served to further enhance the necessity of maintaining integrity and quality without compromise, and via consistent effort RDC built a set of best practices that lead to effective and value additive operations across the globe - the scope and quality of the projects in India are a perfect exemplar of these capabilities.
These experiences have a value that cannot be bought, but only earned, and will be invaluable as RDC considers opportunities in other geographies over the years to come.
TESTIMONIALS
Currently, we have extended Raj a substantial line of credit, which currently shows no current lending activity and no outstanding balance. The development of the land is progressing on a very fast track and we (Allegiance Bank) envision providing financing on some of his projects. In my forty years of knowing Raj he possess the qualities that lenders look for when lending money: honesty, integrity, development knowledge, uses leverage sparingly.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Raj Natarajan Sr.
Founder and CEO
Email: raj@rajdevelopment.com
Trained as a chemical engineer and holding an MS in Chemical Engineering and an MBA in Finance, Raj Natarajan turned to the real estate market as an outlet for his entrepreneurial talents, after hitting the glass ceiling at his corporate job in the late 1970’s. Driven by his principled focus on value creation, he took the opportunity presented by the Savings and Loan crisis of the early 1980’s to scale a small property management company with 15 rental homes under management into a nationwide real estate asset management with $20 billion of assets under management in just over a decade.
Having gained a deep knowledge of how to turn around failed real estate projects and how to achieve sustainable growth via the strict allocation of capital, he set out to assemble a global real estate portfolio with no debt or investor funds. The success of this effort is reflected in the highly diversified portfolio of RDC’s current projects. Raj Natarajan’s decades of experience have yielded a unique expertise in market positioning, effective utilization of resources and the structuring of projects to achieve long term value for all stakeholders.
