The Central Park Conservancy - Keeping the Park Clean

An experienced real estate professional in the New York City area, Michael Mikelic has served as the managing principal of King Penguin Opportunity Fund III, LLC, for the past two years, leveraging his industry knowledge to build low-risk sustainable income streams through strategic investments in value properties. When he isn’t working, Michael Mikelic supports a number of community groups, including the Central Park Conservancy. 

For the past four years, the Central Park Conservancy has taken a novel approach in its efforts to keep the park free of trash and litter. Through its efforts, it disposes of an estimated 2,000 tons of trash as well as 1,800 tons of recyclable material on an annual basis. 

One of the main ways the Conservancy accomplishes this is through a new strategy that saw the group remove many of the trash cans on the inside of the park, instead limiting them to walking paths, roads, and near the outer edge of the park. Doing this has greatly reduced the rat population in the park and allowed other natural wildlife, such as chipmunks, to flourish.

Making up for the smaller number of trash cans, the park employs staff who clean up trash beginning at 7 a.m. and end the work at midnight each day. They start by emptying trash cans and recycling containers and then focus on any litter found in the park’s interior. Through these methods, the Conservancy has been able to keep the park cleaner than ever before.

About the Central Park Conservancy - Goals and Park Improvements

An accomplished real estate executive based in New York City, Michael Mikelic serves as managing principal of King Penguin Opportunity Fund II and King Penguin Opportunity Fund III. Outside of his day-to-day work, Michael Mikelic supports many groups that work to make New York City a better place, such as the Central Park Conservancy.

For more than four decades, the Central Park Conservancy has functioned as the primary governance board that makes all of the key decisions that impact the management and maintenance of the park. The group is made up of individuals who represent both public and private interests, as well as advocacy and recreational groups. 

The conservancy has two main goals: 1) to continue the maintenance and influence of Central Park as a fundamental part of New York City recreational culture, and 2) to serve as a resource for other groups worldwide who are working toward the same goals for their own parks. Two major improvements the conservancy has added to the park over its existence are the Grand Army Plaza and the Shakespeare Garden.

The Children’s Aid Society Receives Grant to Reduce Bronx Poverty

Michael Mikelic serves as managing partner of King Penguin Opportunity Fund II and King Penguin Opportunity Fund III. Outside of work, Michael Mikelic gives back to the community through his support of several organizations, including the Children’s Aid Society, which works to improve quality of life for children across New York City.

Recently, the organization received a $2.75 million grant from the New York State Assembly through the Empire State Poverty Reduction Initiative. With this money, Children’s Aid is charged with leading efforts in the Bronx to reduce poverty. The project will start with a task force to identify high-need areas and key problems. Then, a comprehensive plan to adequately address those issues will be formulated. 

Children’s Aid has worked extensively with youth and families in the South Bronx to help them overcome barriers to success and realize potential. Officials at the organization are thrilled to support the diverse Bronx community and develop new resources for a chronically underserved community. 

Already, Children’s Aid has a strong network of services for individuals in key Bronx neighborhoods with particularly high poverty and unemployment rates. This funding will help expand and adapt programming.

Central Park Paws Promotes Community

An accomplished New York real estate investment executive, Michael Mikelic currently serves as a managing principal with King Penguin Opportunity Fund III, LLC. In this role, he pursues commercial real estate investments in high-density urban locations such as Pittsburgh. In addition to his role with King Penguin Opportunity Fund, Michael Mikelic supports organizations such as the Central Park Conservancy, which raises 75 percent of the park’s annual budget from private donations. 

Established in 1984 by a group of New York citizens, the Central Park Conservancy encourages support from community members through programs such as Central Park Paws. Dog owners are a vital part of keeping Central Park clean and safe, and Central Park Paws invites them to become stewards of the park by becoming familiar with leash laws, clean-up information, and other regulations. The program also sponsors events such as Bagel Barks, a meet-up in dog-friendly areas of the park, and invites dog owners to experience one of its signature park tours with Hound Hikes.

Steps to Earning Designation as Certified Commercial Investment Member

A New York-based real estate executive, Michael Mikelic invests in urban commercial properties with extensive upside potential. As managing principal of King Penguin Opportunity Fund III, LLC, Michael Mikelic maintains Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) designation. 

Earning CCIM certification begins with meeting thresholds for qualifying experience in the commercial real estate sphere. Minimum qualifying activities involve at least three transactions totaling at least $30 million, or 10 transactions in excess of $10 million. Alternatively, 20 qualifying activities may be completed with no associated dollar volume requirement. Over the past two decades, Mr. Mikelic has well exceeded these thresholds, with the King Penguin Opportunity Fund engaging in multiple property acquisitions and dispositions, including several multi-family investment property holdings. 

CCIM designation also has an educational component, with online curriculum offerings including negotiation training and ethics courses. A culminating full-day comprehensive exam completes the process of proving mastery of core concepts and earning Certified Commercial Investment Member certification.

KPP Sells Ownership Interests at Trump Place Building in New York City

NEW YORK, March 3, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- King Penguin Properties, LLC (KPP) and its affiliates realize over a 20% IRR on the sale of units located at the Trump Place building on the Upper West Side of New York City.

KPP has decided to sell their condo and storage room units at the Trump Place building located at 120 Riverside Blvd in New York City. According to a representative from KPP, these units were sold for a substantial profit from their purchase prices in 2005 through 2006.

Michael Mikelic, the Managing Principal of KPP, is in the process of repositioning firm assets away from luxury units and into multi-family investments. Affordable multi-family units present less downside risk that a prolonged period of slow economic growth may present. In addition to selling off all his investment units at Trump Place, Mr. Mikelic has resigned from his position as Board Member and Treasurer at the Trump Place Building. "I decided it was just time to move on from my duties servicing as Board Member for the building. It is a wonderful building and should continue to operate well under the current board in place at the building. Back when we bought all these storage units from the developer of 120 Riverside Blvd a few years back we were able to acquire them at a significant bulk discount since they were in the process of finalizing a sale to Extell. The last thing that they wanted to worry about was selling off storage units that remained. These units ended up providing KPP with a significant annual cash flow generated from rental income along with good upside on the sale," according to Mr. Mikelic.

About King Penguin Properties, LLC:

Founded in 1998 and based in New York, King Penguin Properties owns and manages multi-family, residential, and commercial property located throughout the United States and Europe. For more information on KPP please visit our website at www.kpp.us.com.