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A Vigorous Life: The Story of Fred F. French

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Frederick Fillmore French (1883-1936) was born into extreme poverty in the Bronx, New York City and rose heroically to become a self-made real estate tycoon. His mother was a University of Michigan graduate and a niece of the United States' thirteenth president, Millard Fillmore, in honour of whom Fred F. French received his middle name. French's father, by contrast was an impoverished cigar maker, who died when French was a child, leaving the boy (the eldest of four children) to help support the family with a range of part-time jobs.

Upon completion of high school, French won the coveted Pulitzer Scholarship to the Horace Mann School and eventually, after a year at Princeton University and a brief spell out West "ranching and mining", French enrolled in an engineering course at Columbia University, New York. Thereafter, French was variously employed predominantly as a Superintendent in charge of construction. Dissatisfied with low wages and urged on by his own ambition to succeed, French broke away from the regimentation imposed by others, which he so detested, to set up in 1910, at the age of Twenty-Seven years old, his own building organization, the Fred F. French Companies. The Fred F. French Companies would succeed beyond French's wildest dreams, amassing an expanding real estate and building empire whose activities in the 1920s would amount to over ninety million dollars. [Approximately $911 million in 2006 dollars].

There appear to be few studies on Fred F. French and his real estate finance method; `The French Plan", (which avoided the traditional bank financing of the time). French's stature and prominence in the New York Real Estate world prompted some editorial profiles in `The New York Times' and various industry publications such as the `Real Estate Record and Guide', to arise while French was still alive. Such publications alluded to analysis of the French Plan as well as Fred F. French Company's ongoing projects and potential deal flow pipeline, as well as the occasional reference to Fred F. French's personal background. Subsequent works on French and the French Plan, after French's death in 1936 are scarce.

`A Vigorous Life: The Story of Fred F. French, Builder of Skyscrapers" by John W. French and Fred F. French (New York: Vantage Press, 1993) is a combination of an autobiography and biography. Fred F. French wrote the first part of the work covering his life from 1883-1912. With French's death, John W. French, Fred's son, assumed the role of biographer and starting from where his father finished, completing the work on his father's behalf, through clear reference to company records, personal and business letters and newspaper articles. The work, in particular Part One by Fred F. French, furnishes the reader with personal information that would have been otherwise unknown. Part Two of the work provides the reader with various primary sources in their entirety of a personal and business regard. The work as a whole is a compound of personal and business chapters that intend to convey how French became a building executive, the problems encountered in financing skyscrapers, and the morals, philosophy, recreation and family aspects that encompassed and surrounded Fred F. French. While the given work provides a rounded picture of French in spheres of business and family, and while it provides essential primary source material, the work serves, as intended, as a memorial homage to Fred F. French rather than an analytical balanced assessment of his contribution to New York Real Estate Development. Nonetheless this is a most fascinating and highly recommended book into the life and dealings of one of the most pioneering real estate developers in the history of New York.

[Part of the above review is taken from; "A Pioneering Real Estate Developer: The Influence and Contribution of Fred F. French in the Development of New York City" by Alexander Rayden. Copyright 2006, All Rights Reserved]

A Vigorous Life, by John French and Fred French

How is it possible for a boy born in the Bronx with absolutely no economic advantage turn himself into a premiere builder of Manhattan buildings such as: The Fred French Building at 551 Fifth Ave., Tudor City, 1010 Fifth Ave., 55 Park Ave., 1140 Fifth Ave., The Harriman Building at 39 Broadway, The Everglades Hotel in Miami and dozens more? A few simple characteristics that are common in several builders of real estate empires. For example Fred had an overly optimistic attitude and when things got rough he would swim for hours and get plenty of sunshine to keep him positive. His attitude was if someone else can or will or even might do it, why not me. He was a great motivator of people and knew that there is more to putting a deal together than what it there at first glance.

French was one of the first to use the syndication concept to raise money from passive investors looking for a steady return to build a real estate empire, as detailed in his, "Fred French Plan, a 10 point plan that outlines the earliest workings of a real estate syndication on page 118. I can tell you firsthand that this is very valuable information. Using this and the Harry Helmsley and Martin Wein strategy I helped build a real estate holding company with a $25,000,000 portfolio. Other books on this subject are mentioned on my blog at: bloglines.com/blog/KevinKingston

Also well worth reading are French's letters to his salesman and stockholders called, The Voice of the Fred French Companies, later just called The Voice. These are very motivational and moving letters that helped push his company to be very successful.

The book belongs in any real estate investor's library.

By Kevin Kingston, author of: A 20,000% Gain in Real Estate

My Blog:
http://www.bloglines.com/blog/KevinKingston