John Banks, president of the Real Estate Board of New York, paid tribute to Edward Riguardi, the 85-year-old executive known as the ‘Dean of Property Managementʼ who died on March 5.
“We will greatly miss Edward A Riguardi,” said Banks.“His work had a lasting impact on New York City’s safety regulations and building codes, among his many significant achievements throughout his remarkable career.”
Mr Riguardi served the New York real estate industry for more than 50 years before retiring for his role as managing director at JLL in 2008.
Before that, he had earned the respect and admiration of his colleagues and peers for a steadfast dedication to his role in running some of the cityʼs premier office buildings.
Before JLL, Mr Riguardi was chair of Colliers ABR, and also served as president and founder of Koeppel Tener Riguardi, which grew to oversee nearly 10 million square feet of institutional property.
He had worked his way up from the Operations and Engineering Department at Williams Real Estate where, over the course of 29 years, he became one of three senior executive vice presidents and a member of the six-man executive committee that oversaw the firm’s operations.
At its peak, Williams’ portfolio consisted of nearly 30 million square feet of office space in 200 Manhattan office buildings.
Outside of the company, Mr Riguardi acted as a consultant to big-name companies like Exxon, American Express, Bank of New York, Citibank, Equitable Life, Merrill Lynch and John Hancock, coordinating asset management strategies for their real estate portfolios.
And throughout his career, Mr Riguardi served on the Board of Governors and Executive Committee of The Real Estate Board of New York, overseeing its management division. He was a Vice President and a member of the Executive Committee and Board of Directors of the Realty Advisory Board.
He served three prior mayors on real estate committees in New York and served as the Chairman of the Realty Advisory Board Labor Negotiating Team, a group that negotiates agreements with labor organizations, representing building owners in the real estate industry.
Mr Riguardi’s long legacy earned him several honors from the Real Estate Board of New York, earning him The Bernard H. Mendik Lifetime Leadership in Real Estate Award in 2008, The George M. Brooker Management Executive of the Year Award in 1983, The Kenneth R. Gerrety Humanitarian Award in 1997, and The Commercial Management Leadership Award in 2003. REBNY decided to further honor Riguardi by renaming the Commercial Management Leadership Award to the Edward A. Riguardi Executive of the Year Award in 2010.
Riguardi is a former president of BOMA New York, where he was the recipient of their Outstanding Local Member of the Year Award in 1997-98, and served on the Mayor’s Committee on the Commission of School Facilities, the Committee on Maintenance Reform, and The New York City Building Code Review. He is the recipient of the 1999 Iona College Trustee Award.
A Brooklyn native, Mr Riguardi held degrees in engineering, real estate, and insurance and was a licensed real estate and insurance broker in New York. He also earned the RPA designation from the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM) and the CRE designation from the American Society of Real Estate Counselors.
He is survived by his son, Peter, chairman and president of JLL’s Tri-State Region; his daughter Sarah Gerace; six grandchildren, and five greatgrandchildren.
All arrangements are under the care of John E. Day Funeral Home, 85 Riverside Avenue, Red Bank, NJ, 07701, 732-747-0332, johnedayfuneralhome@gmail.com. A wake will be held on Sunday, March 11, at the John E. Day Funeral Home from 1 to 4 p.m. and a memorial service will be held at 11:00 AM on Tuesday (3/13) at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola Church – 980 Park Avenue (b/w 83rd & 84th Street)
