S.E.C. Real Estate Observer

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An S.E.C. Biography

Robbie Robinson was born in 1931 and grew up in “the golden age of Hollywood” in Hollywood, California. Although his father passed away when he was very young, his Mother provided him with a very happy childhood. At a time in which women were not as they are today, his Mother achieved the position of editor of the Hollywood Citizens News and was a syndicated writer. Despite the ongoing Depression, She was able to provide a very comfortable family environment. Robbie credits his Mother for instilling in him a work ethic and a tenacity for achievement which has been the lynchpin of the success he has enjoyed down through the years. He was, as he describes, “very fortunate.”

He served in the United States Air Force from 1950-1954. During this period, he served in the Strategic Air Command 15 Air Force 22 Bomb Wing 2 Bomb Squadron. It was during this period that he got his nickname, “Robbie.” It is short for Robinson and had a distinctive sound over the intercom in a noisy bomber.

After his Honorable Discharge from the U.S. Air Force, he became a real estate broker in California while finishing college. After graduation, he moved to Big Bear Lake, California, and with a partner, opened a real estate brokerage and law firm. While his partner chose to concentrate on the law practice, Robbie opted to concentrate on the real estate field, eventually opening a mortgage, construction, and development company. His partner ultimately became the sitting judge in this jurisdiction.

Following the sale of his operation in California he moved to Boulder City, Nevada, where he acquired and developed a large tract of land overlooking Lake Mead. Upon completion of this successful development he moved to Las Vegas, Nevada where he commenced the business of handling tax-deferred real estate exchanges. In addition to this he formed a mortgage company handling well over $100 million in loan business annually. In the early 1990’s, he was instrumental in forming a REIT called Oasis Residential, which focused on the ownership of residential apartments. This REIT was the first Nevada REIT to go public on the NYSE. The REIT achieved an asset value just under one billion dollars, and was eventually merged into Camden Properties, another NYSE Company. During this time period, he became President of Crowne Ventures Corporation (a NASDAQ company) that acquired such properties as the Continental Hotel in Las Vegas. He formed and was involved with “The Mortgage Mart” a very successful mortgage company, which today is still in operation in Las Vegas, Nevada.

At this same time, he formed the company that he stills leads today, National Commercial Properties, LLC. It began as a brokerage business handling tax-deferred exchanges and packaging large commercial loans for institutional investors. In addition his company is the broker/developer of his own commercial office and Hotel development project site in Las Vegas, Nevada known as Park Place Properties, LLC. Two 70,000 square feet office buildings have been completed and fully leased. Plans are well under way for the three additional office buildings together with a 210 room five story Wingate Hotel, which he predicts all should be completed by the end 2007. This development can be seen on the web under parkplacellc.com.

He is unmarried and has two daughters and two granddaughters all of whom are school teachers, and continue to live near him in Las Vegas, Nevada.

He remains quite active and enjoys tennis and skiing. He is an avid reader and consistently has two or three books in the reading process. He classifies himself as a “history nut” and is particularly drawn to documentaries on the Founding Fathers and other great men of our history. He is a strong conservative in his political thinking, and believes strongly in the original Constitutional intent of the Founding Fathers together with the more recent Reagan philosophy.

As a long-standing member of the S.E.C., he thoroughly enjoys the stimulating creativity that the Society fosters. He looks forward to continuing the close relationships that he has developed over the years. Quite frankly, retirement for him is not even an option, nor is he interested in sitting back waiting for the grass to grow. His focus is to continue to do the deals that have given him so much satisfaction over the past 50 years of his life.

He is a Scotsman and maintains that he has NOT YET BEGUN TO LIVE!