Christopher M. Jeffries founded Millennium Partners in 1990 to pioneer a new concept in mixed-use, urban living and entertainment centers. Together with partners Philip E. Aarons and Philip H. Lovett, Jeffries developed Lincoln Square, a four-building development adjacent to Lincoln Center, as the prototype of this concept.In 1997, once again at the forefront of national trends, Jeffries began a nationwide program in key gateway cities across The United States that would include luxury condominiums, five-star hotels, a sports club facility and retail as part of the mixed-use developments. Recognizing the value and services that a leading hotel brand can bring to a condominium development, he chose two of the world's most prestigious hotel operators, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company LLC and Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, to be his partners in introducing the new generation of Millennium properties. The Ritz-Carlton Hotel and Residences, Washington D.C., the first of these new prototypes, opened in October of 2000, and the following will be completed over the next two years in some of the nation's premiere neighborhoods: New York's Central Park South and Battery Park City; San Francisco's South of Market area; Boston Common; the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C.; and Miami's Brickell Avenue. With these site locations identified, Jeffries created a new investment vehicle to provide equity capital. The resulting financial structure included a consortium of German financial institutions including ERGO, Provinzial Wuerttembergische, AXA Colonia Immobilien AG, Energie Baden Wuerttemberg AG, as well as Goldman Sachs' Whitehall Fund and George Soros and his Quantum Realty Fund Limited. Jeffries gained most of his New York real estate experience as a partner with Aarons at General Atlantic Realty Corporation. They founded the company in 1984 to pursue residential development opportunities in emerging New York City neighborhoods. Prior to that, Jeffries was a principal in the leveraged buyout of Key International, Inc., a major metal recycling and automotive equipment manufacturing business in the Midwest. He was previously a partner in the Southfield, Michigan law firm of Keywell & Rosenfeld.Jeffries is a graduate of Columbia College and the University of Michigan Law School. |