New York City real estate lawyer Jon Mechanic is taking his latest Lifetime Achievement award in stride.
“I received the Chambers Lifetime Achievement Award when I turned 60, and I received this one from the New York Law Journal when I turned 70,” says Mechanic, “so I hope there’s at least one more Lifetime Achievement Award that I can earn when I turn 80. That would be the Triple Crown.”
Mechanic takes well-earned pride in his many achievements, from the ways in which he’s helped shape the NYC skyline to Fried Frank’s industry-leading real estate law practice, to his trophy case of awards and closing mementos. To celebrate his latest laurel, The New York Law Journal Lifetime Achievement Award, The Real Deal spoke with Mechanic about the lessons he’s learned from his mentors, the Fried Frank real estate law practice he built together with his partners, and how he and his partners cultivate the next generation of legal minds.
The Golden Rules of NYC Real Estate Law
Mechanic is a treasure trove of wisdom, and we got him to give us a few nuggets that he received from his mentors over the years. “Hal Rosen was my original mentor. He was the rabbi I first acquired when I came to Fried Frank,” recalls Mechanic, who joined the firm in the 1970s first as a litigator. Not long after he arrived, Rosen pulled him aside and convinced him to join the firm’s budding real estate practice.
“He taught me that you need to approach each transaction from a very commercial perspective,” says Mechanic. “It’s all about finding the way to make a deal, as opposed to finding 100 reasons to kill it.” It’s a lesson that Mechanic not only puts into practice every day at Fried Frank, but that he also imparts to law students in his real estate transaction courses at Harvard, NYU, and Columbia law schools.
“Howard Ronson was my next mentor when I worked as his general counsel at the development company that carried his initials, HRO International. I saw the real estate world through a developer’s eyes understanding what a sophisticated entrepreneur really cares about. He taught me that you can never ever work too hard to make things better.” Ronson was in the habit of walking his projects every weekend and using a dictaphone to record every detail he saw that needed to be addressed, from chipping paint to fixtures that needed to be replaced or upgraded. “He took me with him, which wasn’t great for my Saturdays and Sundays,” says Mechanic with a laugh, “but I did learn a lot.”
“My mentor and dear friend Joshua Mermelstein, of blessed memory, who sadly passed away in 2021, taught me how important it is to listen.” In 1987, Mermelstein recruited Mechanic back to Fried Frank from HRO International, and they enjoyed a very close partnership for more than 30 years, consulting each other on all strategic, operational and other material decisions related to the real estate practice. “Josh told me, ‘You have to hear the other side and understand what their issues are in order to help solve them. If you don’t listen, you can’t possibly know what they care about.’”
Mechanic remembers these lessons every day and imparts them together with his other partners to each new class of lawyers who joins the Fried Frank family. “We like to pass these things on to the next generation,” he says. “They’re all things that we currently have in our heads because someone was nice enough to explain them to us.”
Mechanic’s Greatest Achievement
Although Mechanic has been instrumental in shaping New York City’s skyline, if you ask him what accomplishment makes him the most proud, he doesn’t think about brick and mortar. “When you talk about things you helped create, compared with all the buildings and all the other stuff, it’s the quality of the people around me that make me feel like I really achieved something special. Any individual recognition that I or my partners receive is a testament to the immense talent (and breadth of experience) of our team and the multiple real estate-related disciplines that we have developed under the Fried Frank umbrella.”
In addition to the core “dirt” real estate practice where Mechanic first made his name, today the firm has formidable talent in all practice areas related to real estate transactions and investments, including real estate lender-side finance, land use, development, corporate real estate, REITs, real estate tax, and real estate litigation. “While our industry certainly has a way to go in terms of diversity, I am proud how many female partners we have across our various real estate-related practices. We have more to do, but we have accomplished a lot.”
The Life of the Party
No discussion of Mechanic’s career would be complete without a mention of the annual Fried Frank holiday party, over which he’s presided for the last three decades and which has become the industry’s unofficial annual social gathering.
“It started in one room, at the famed 21 Club,” he recalls. “Then we took over a floor at the 21 Club, and then we took over the whole 21 Club!” After a brief stint at the St. Regis Ballroom, the party moved to its permanent home at Cipriani. “Every year we host about 1,200 friends from the industry, including owners, tenants, brokers, and investment bankers, and there’s just so much going on.”
When asked to describe the atmosphere at the party, Mechanic tells the following story about Bill Rudin: “He showed up and told me, ‘I’m only here for half an hour.’ Then two and a half hours later I saw him and I said, ‘Billy, I thought you left two hours ago!’ And he said, ‘Yeah, but I ran into this one, and I ran into that one, and I can’t get out of here!’”
The evening has become the highlight of the NYC real estate social calendar because it brings everyone together for more than just cocktails. “There’s clearly an undercurrent of business going on,” says Mechanic. “It’s social and it’s a very festive atmosphere, but it also gives people an opportunity to see people they are dealing with, or they would like to be dealing with, in a very informal setting, which is great.”
Looking Forward and Looking Up
Mechanic is working hard to earn that third Lifetime Achievement award, with a number of new projects already underway. He’s excited about working together with Rob Sorin, Lee Parks and Valerie Kelly on the new Citadel headquarters at 350 Park, and on 25 Water Street, which is expected to be the largest office-to-residential conversion in the United States. Fried Frank had relationships with just about everyone involved in the conversion, and partners Steven Rudgayzer (corporate real estate), Rick Wolfe (real estate tax), David Karnovsky (land use), and Cyril Touchard (real estate transactions) all played a major role. “25 Water Street will have over 100,000 square feet of amenities,” he says, “and it’s right across the street from our downtown office, so I figure it’s going to be very convenient for a lot of our people.”
Talking with Mechanic, what comes across strongest is his love for New York City. “We do deals across the country, but I’m a New Yorker. How great is it that my grandson was named “Hudson”! Also, my wife says that I’m not allowed to drive in the City, because I can’t help but turn my head looking at almost every property and thinking about deals we have worked on in connection with that property whether it is leasing, sales, joint ventures, financing, or some combination. New York City is extraordinary. When you look at the skyline. It is always evolving and changing. You can’t help but be very proud to be an important part of it.”