You might or may not have heard of Judah Hertz. If you want to know how your normal Joe went from small town New York to big city riches, you want to know about him. Hertz Investment Group is owned and run by Judah Hertz. Hertz Investment Group is a real estate investment group that acquires, markets and controls high class office buildings, landmarks, multi-family homes, and retail centers around the country. Judah’s career sparked in the 1970′s when he started to buy, update and re-sell run down buildings in the SoHo warehouse area. How did he make his money? By seeing potential where others only saw run down buildings. He turned them into desirable, expensive lofts. And this was only the beginning. The investment guru moved on to other cities.

Leaving SoHo, Judah Hertz transferred his business to Florida. He did the similar thing in the Miami area where he renovated a dilapidated apartment building and turned it into high class condos. He improved not only the buildings that he renovated but the area that they were in as well. From Florida, he shifted to Los Angeles. It was there that he planned to establish his business, in his 3.5 million square foot office building. However, the rising prices in California, cut into his incomes and he decided to start looking for other alternative investment properties.

When Judah Hertz made a plan to acquire properties in a new area, he came to New Orleans. There he bought a large number of properties in the area such as the Dominion Tower, the New Orleans Shopping Center, the Poydras Center, LL&E Tower, and the Texaco Center. His investment properties in this area totaled 2.5 million square feet out of a 9.5 million square feet market.

Largely investing in the New Orleans was not without consequences – when Hurricane Katrina struck the area, Judah Hertz’s properties were hard hit. The damage from one of the biggest storms in US history was extensive, as most people saw via television at that time. Windows were blown out, ground floors were filled with water, structures were destroyed. The storm not only knocked out power and property, but also demoralized the morale of an entire city. nevertheless, Judah Hertz did not exit. He assessed the damage and moved forward. He renovated and redesigned the buildings that were damaged . This helped not only his own personal portfolio but also the spirit and look of the entire area. Since Katrina, he has moved forward to build his portfolio and expand his investments.

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