Michael Russer

Being young, dumb and full of you-know-what, my eyes strayed to even "greater" adventures in the business. In 1978 I thought I'd try my hand at limited partnership syndication. Let's just say that didn't pan out so well (moral: choose your partners carefully). However, being a serial entrepreneur I noticed that all limited partnerships must put into public record who their investors are, how much they invested and for what purpose. For the next 12 months I started and ran a small publishing business that sold this information to anyone who found it valuable. It was an interesting gig for awhile but it just didn't hold my attention.

So, in 1979 I got together with an investor and set off to Colorado Springs, CO to find fame and fortune by snapping up and flipping properties. What was supposed to take just three months ended up lasting three years. During that time my partner and I bought several properties including an abandoned JC Penny's building right in the middle of downtown Colorado Springs. We gutted the shell and in the course of about 18 months built the very prestigious "19 North Building" that offered premier restaurant, retail and office space. Unfortunately, during the hyper-interest rates of that time (about 17%), there was a huge gap between offering space and businesses being able to lease it. We ended up losing that property and then selling the rest of our holdings just to pay back everyone else. In the spring of 1982 I made my way back to Santa Barbara with little more than my clothes and a typewriter (even my car was totaled on the drive back from Colorado).

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