Life In Fast Lane Suits Him Just Fine
San Gabriel Valley Tribune - November 30, 2001
INDUSTRY -- Ed Roski Jr.
walks through double glass doors to greet visitors in the lobby of
his sixth-floor office at Crossroads Parkway in the City of Industry.
The first thing you notice about the man who built the Staples Center
is his smile.
Ed Roski Jr., president of Majestic Realty, presides over an empire
that reaches across the country. It's life in the fast lane and he loves
it. It's also a long way from the real estate business his Dad, Ed Roski
Sr., started in 1948. Today, Majestic Realty owns 50 million square feet
of space in Southern California, Denver, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas and Atlanta.
Ed Sr. died last October, his legacy long established. Ed Jr. has run
the business since the mid-1980s. "I've always been involved in the
business," Ed Jr. said. "As a child I would go with my Dad on weekends
and drive the industrial areas. I worked for my Dad during the summer."
 Ed,
born in Oklahoma and raised in Southern California, graduated
from USC with a degree in finance and real estate. He entered the Marine
Corps and served as an officer in Vietnam before coming home and returning
to the family business.
"My Dad started out as a real estate broker doing normal transactions
until the 1960s," Ed Jr. said. "When I came back from the Marines we got
involved in development and construction.
"We're basically industrial real estate developers," he continued. "We
buy land and build the buildings. We have our own architects, our own
construction company and our own leasing agency. Our core business is real
estate development."
One of Roski's most satisfying projects to date is the Staples Center,
a magnificent structure that houses the World Champion Los Angeles Lakers,
the Los Angeles Clippers and the Los Angeles Kings.
"We had an idea," Roski said. "It was time Los Angeles had an arena we
could all be proud of. The Forum and Sports Arena were excellent facilities
for their time, but LA needed a new one."
Roski realized that they needed to buy a team in order to build the
Staples Center so he and his partner, Philip Anschutz, purchased the Los
Angeles Kings hockey team in 1995. Roski is co-owner of Los Angeles Sports
Holding LLC, which owns a 60-percent interest in the Staples Center. Fox
Television owns the other 40 percent. Roski also is minority owner of the
Los Angeles Lakers.
"The Staples Center was not an easy project," Roski pointed out, "even
if it was good for the city. Immense roadblocks stood before us throughout
the process but we even surprised ourselves by constructing such an imposing
structure in only 18 months."
Roski talked about his emotions when the Staples Center opened with a
Bruce Springsteen concert Oct. 17, 1999.
"The feeling of accomplishment that came over me was the most intense
I've ever felt in my business career," he said. "To see 20,000 citizens
from all walks of life thoroughly enjoying themselves and to see the benefits
of the project, that was an amazing thing to see."
"Every night when two teams take the court or ice at Staples Center, we
will all be reminded of the teamwork it took to make this building possible,"
Roski added.
"We had a big party the night before for anyone who had any involvement
in the project," Roski said, that grin lighting up his face, "the architects,
the numerous contractors, subcontractors, Los Angeles city officials, vendors,
engineers, construction workers. We opened all the concession stands and it
was great to see the pride they had in the project. That was a bigger
highlight for me than the Springsteen opening."
Roski said he was totally satisfied with the results of the Staple Center.
"In every project we do, I always say to myself, 'maybe we could do better,'
but I didn't say that about the Staples Center," he explained. "We had visited
every arena in the U.S. and Canada so we were able to pick up what was good
and what was bad in these facilities. We wanted the Staples Center to be
exciting architecturally. We wanted to develop a facility that says 'LA.' A
Buffalo arena lit outside in blue probably wouldn't sit that well."
"We were able to get a product that fits the market and be a real asset
to Southern California for a long time," Roski continued.
Ed Roski Jr., the father of three, has no intentions of retiring to his
Toluca Lake home any time soon.
"I never think about retiring," he said. "This is an exciting business.
I really enjoy it. I'm able to do things that if you were a big public company
you wouldn't be able to do. My Dad worked up to his last three years."
"I enjoy challenges," Roski added. "I'm very project oriented. It's also
nice to know that we are providing places for about 50,000 people to work."
Roski is comfortable with his success.
"The reason for my success is that I live in the U.S.," he says without
hesitation. "There is such a tremendous opportunity living here. No matter
who your parents are, or where they came from, you have the opportunity to
succeed. You can't do that in any other country."
"There are no requirements like being born in the right family. You can
succeed by a lot of hard work. We're really fortunate. You don't even have
to be born here to have the opportunity to succeed. Twenty to 30 percent of
businesses are run by individuals not born in the U.S. They came here and
made a success of themselves."
 Does
Ed Roski Jr. ever take time to relax?
"I like the adventure-type experience," he said. "I enjoy the out of doors.
I do things that most people consider not relaxing or safe."
"I enjoy mountaineering, traveling in Third World countries," he continued.
"I always enjoy being outdoors. Weekends I spend a lot of time in the San
Gabriels, mountain biking and hiking. My vacations are usually to areas that
are remote. I like to get an understanding of the culture of Third World
countries."
Roski has been to Everest's mighty K2 (28,251 feet) three times. "Never
to the top, but I've been there," he says, smiling. He climbed 37 days to
base camp at Mt. Everest with each of his children when they were in their
early teens.
He also has climbed to K2 base camp, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, bicycled
across Mongolia, Russia and Ireland, bicycled the entire length of the Burma
Road and climbed most mountains in South America. He and his entire family
have scuba dived around the world including diving with the great white
sharks off the coast of Australia.
Any regrets? "I think I have the normal businessman's complaint, not
spending enough time with my family," Roski said. "Should ofs and would ofs
don't work. Some things can't be changed. We all need to realize our
shortcomings."
Roski, 63, is married to Gayle and they have three children - daughters
Reon and Katrina and son Ed III (Trey). The Roskis have four grandchildren.
Reon, a real estate attorney, has triplets born in 1995 and another daughter.
Roski takes great pride in Majestic Realty's continued involvement in the
community.
"Everyone associated with Majestic believes in volunteerism," he said
proudly. "They give time to umpteen community projects. That's important
to us as a company."
Roski also likes the challenge of projects involving Majestic.
"As opportunities come up, we like to grab them and go forward with them,"
he says. "We're stubborn. When a project is worthwhile, we'll stick with it
to make it a reality."
Despite this tremendous drive, Ed Roski Jr. never thinks about success.
"I don't imagine myself as a national figure," he said. "I enjoy what
I'm doing, enjoy people I work with at the company. I like working on things
that can make a difference."
"Industrial real estate and construction isn't flashy, but it provides a
place for people to work, which contributes to everyone's well-being," Roski
continued. "We have an additional responsibility and that's to make a
difference in the community. When it comes to a charitable project, maybe
you can't give $1 million, but you can spend time being involved in a project."
"By trying to do as many community projects as we can, it helps to make
where we live a much better place. We all benefit from everyone working -
less crime, etc. The more we can do to keep people working, it selfishly
makes our lives better and easier. Since Sept. 11 we see problems when we
don't have the freedom. We're seeing the way they live in other countries.
It gave us a wake-up call. We need to get back to those freedoms as quickly
as we can."
Ed serves on many boards including Big Brothers of Greater Los Angeles,
Los Angeles Sports & Enertainment Commission, Bowers Museum of Cultural
Arts and Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County among others.
As the group boarded the elevator, the first impression also was the
last impression - Ed Roski Jr. smiling and waving goodbye.
Stan Wawer
Special Sections Editor |
