Continentia Capital

In 1992, the Subic U.S. Naval Base was turned over to the Philippine Government and converted into the Subic Bay Freeport.  The Phillippine government created a special customs district to attract foreign investment with tax and duty-free imports and exemption from all local and national taxes. The strategy sought to capitalize on the existing infrastrcuture and skilled English-speaking labor force to create an international hub for transhipment, industry and tourism.  Federal Express left the cramped airport of Hong Kong and made Subic its Asian Regional Hub and a Taiwanese joint venture opened a 740 acre industrial park for light to medium industries including computer manufactuer ACER and Reebok. The base also contained 5,400 acres of pristine forest area was preserved for toruism and habitat protection.

Sebastian Hardy worked for four years at Subic Bay eventually serving as an interim planning director for the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.  He organized an international architectural competition funded by the World Bank for the 420 acre waterfront central business district of the Freeport.  He then worked with the winner, Kenzo Tange Associates, to develop detailed urban design guidelines for 6 m.s.f. of development and implemented a new design and development approval process.

He also created population, land use and utility forecasts for the Freeport to guide $110M in World Bank and Asian Development Bank infrastructure and environmental investment. As the interim director, he prepared the SBMA's ten-year Corporate Plan providing strategic guidance and directing investment and staffing to convert the 67,500-acre military base into a transport, industry and tourism hub for the Philippines.

Subic Bay, Minus the U.S., Becomes Surprise Success

NEW YORK TIMES - By Seth Mydans - November 23, 1996

When President Clinton and 17 other world leaders gather here on Nov. 25 for an economic conference, they will stay in new luxury villas built on the site of ammunition bunkets at what was once one of America's main overseas military bases. . . .

Philippine Police Use Tear Gas In Attempt to Oust Freeport Chief

WALL STREET JOURNAL - By Jon Liden - July 24, 1998

What started as a bizarre skirmish on the grounds of this former U.S. military base is turning into an embarrassment for the Philippines. On one side are several hundred . . .

In 2006, Starrett City, the largest subsidized housing complex in the United States, was put up for sale. The 5,881 apartment complex received a $1.1 billion offer that failed to secure government approval. In 2008, a city-state-federal agreement to preserve affordability under a 20 year agreement and a second round of bidding began.

As a partner in The Cogsville Group, Sebastian Hardy led a team of local stakeholders and investors to a winning bid. He created a structure utilizing the NYC Housing Partnership as a 49-year leasehold owner, financing the acquisition through 501c3 bonds by the New York State Housing Finance Agency. This innovative structure avoiding the use of scarce low-income housing bonds, enabled the construction of additional housing on the site, and increased the purchase price by $100 million. While the transaction was approved by regulatory agencies including the Public Authority Control Board, the capital markets were unable to execute the transaction in the aftermath of the Lehman Brothers.

Effort to Sell Starrett City is Down to Single Bidder

NEW YORK TIMES - By Charles Bagli - December 20, 2008

The owners of Starrett City, the sprawling low- and moderate-income housing complex on Jamaica Bay in Brooklyn, are negotiating with the finalist in the bidding to buy the property . . .

After Two Years of Trying, Owners Give Up on Selling Starrett City

NEW YORK TIMES - By Charles Bagli - February 19, 2009

And then there was one.

The owners of Starrett City, the country's largest federally subsidized housing complex, have abandoned their dream of selling the property for more than a billion dollars . . .

Two Real Estate Firms Battle for Spring Creek Towers, aka Starrett City

DAILY NEWS - By Rachel Monahan - October 1, 2008

It's a David and Goliath tale - but it's hard to know which real estate investment firm to root for now that the battle for Starrett City is down to . . .

Following the financial crisis of 2007, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation began a series of non-performing loan sales to manage assets from failed banks.  The public-private program created joint ventures with asset managers to modify and liquidate small commercial real estate loans.  Sebastian Hardy as a partner of The Cogsville Group oversaw the financial analysis and pricing as well as the asset management of a portfolio of 3,000 loans acquired in four transactions in conjunction with Colony Capital, WL Ross & Company and other investors.  He also oversaw the asset management for the non-performing loan portfolio of Centennial Bank, a portfolio of small commercial real estate loans including the resolution of the bank's portfolio of SBA-guaranteed debentures.

Colony, Cogsville Team Up in FDIC Asset Sale

WALL STREET JOURNAL - by Lingling Wei - July 14, 2010

A partnership between Tom Barrack's Colony Capital LLC and a minority-owned investment firm won the bidding for a $1.85 billion portfolio of distressed commercial real-estate loans auctioned off by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp . . .

In 2010, the Federal National Mortgage Administration began a program of selling geographic portfolios of foreclosed single family homes to investors.  The portfolios consisted of foreclosed rental properties most with tenants in place. Investors entered into a joint venture with the federal government to manage the properties and encourage existing tenants to achieve home ownership. Sebastian Hardy, as a partner in The Cogsville Group, oversaw the financial analysis, pricing for a portfolio located in metropolitan Chicago as well as liaison with local and state home-ownership programs to encourage the sale of properties to existing tenants.

Fannie Mae Chicago Foreclosures Sell for $11.8 Million

BLOOMBERG - By John Gittelsohn - October 2, 2012

Cogsville Group, LLC, a New York-based real estate investment fund, won an auction of 94 homes for $11.8 million in Fannie Mae's second bulk sale of foreclosures to be managed . . .

Investment Firms Look to Single-Family Rentals

USA TODAY - By Meghan Hoyer - October 21, 2012

As homeownership rates continue to fall, a new type of single-family home buyer has emerged: large corporate investors. With house values still depressed in many areas, investment funds and real estate trusts have been scooping up thousands . . .