A Brief History of Raleigh
In 1955, entrepreneur George Rosenthal began Raleigh Enterprises as a general contractor and development company in Southern California, building and selling homes in Orange County. After several successful residential projects, the company completed several small commercial development projects. In 1963, Raleigh partnered with Playboy Enterprises to develop the Playboy corporate office and club on the Sunset Strip. That year also saw Raleigh open the first "all-suite" hotel, Sunset Marquis in West Hollywood (then, an unincorporated part of Los Angeles County).
The Sunset Marquis was just the first in a string of successful hotel projects. In the late 1970's, Raleigh acquired a failed retirement community being operated as a Hyatt Hotel, transforming it into the Westwood Marquis, one of Los Angeles' first Grand-Luxe European-style hotels. After a very successful run of nearly two decades, Raleigh joined with Starwood in re-branding the property as one of the first "W" Hotels. Continuing it's success in the hotel business, in the mid-1980's, Raleigh executives oversaw the refurbishment and re-opening of the Stephen F. Austin Hotel in Austin, Texas, the restoration of Aspen, Colorado's famous Hotel Jerome to its original Victorian splendor and the repositioning of a Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Georgetown, D.C.
In 1974, George Rosenthal perceived an interesting business opportunity and created File Keepers. Prior to the 1970's, there were very few companies providing dedicated records storage and management services. Most records retention was done by moving and storage companies as an adjunct to their storage of furniture. It was neither a secure nor efficient method of archiving and accessing important business records. About this time, George Rosenthal watched an ABC News White Paper report about an expected deluge of paper following the enactment of new legislation regarding businesses record-keeping requirements and the emergence of word processing technology. His first thought, "Where are people going to keep all this paper?" Coincidentally, a man by the name of Robert Purcell posed the same question and he developed a manual indexing and tracking system for file boxes. The two men met and shared their ideas and started File Keepers when George was able to secure a lease in the then vacated Broadway Department store in downtown Los Angeles. With the ability to take space on a floor by floor basis at a rent of $.03 per foot per month, it was the perfect opportunity to repurpose vacant space. Today, File Keepers is a recognized leader in the field of records retention and management in Southern California.
In 1979, Raleigh entered the film studio business with its acquisition of the historic Producer's Studios in Hollywood. While the site was originally acquired to be the location for a new K-Mart store, the executives at Raleigh saw a void in the market for a high-quality independent production facility. As part of a master-planned expansion program in the 1980's, Raleigh virtually reinvented soundstage design and construction techniques. In 1998, Raleigh Studios' operations more than doubled with the opening of Raleigh Manhattan Beach Studios. Along the road to becoming the world's largest operator of independent studio facilities, during the first decade of the 21st Century, Raleigh oversaw the development and opening of studio facilities in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Budapest, Hungary and Pontiac, Michigan and Wuxi, China.
In the late 1970's and early 1980's, in partnership with Televisa, SA, Raleigh launched a number of projects catering to the U.S. based Latin-American community, including Spanish International Network (Spanish language television), Discos America (records), Casa America (food) and the L.A. Aztecs (soccer).
During the 1980's to early 1990's, Raleigh partnered with Executive Life in the development of nearly one-half million square feet of Class A office towers in West Los Angeles. Raleigh was also engaged by Executive Life to manage the acquisition, operation and disposition of portfolios representing nearly a billion dollars in real estate assets, including nearly ten thousand apartments, 800 co-op units in NYC and 570 post office and GSA buildings.
The '80's also saw the birth of Rosenthal – The Malibu Estate wines, yet another example of the company's ability to translate skills across a variety of fields. These award winning wines, in homage to the vineyard's location in Malibu, have also spawned a new line of wines, Surfrider, featuring grapes from throughout California, creating other varietals with the unique Rosenthal style. A portion of the proceeds for each Surfrider bottle sold goes to support local organizations that help preserve the beauty or our oceans.
In 1982, Raleigh started Raleigh Jet Enterprises, a part 135 charter company. In less than 10 years, the company had five aircraft under management and had secured a lease for a new FBO at Van Nuys airport. This business was sold in the early 90's to publishing magnate, Bob Petersen, to become Petersen Aviation (since resold to become Maguire Aviation).
In 2003, Raleigh acquired the assets of a struggling lighting and grip company, Hollywood Rentals, and through Raleigh's obsession to detail and personalized service, has restored the company as a leader in its field. In the ensuing years, HR, under Raleigh's guidance, has made multiple acquisitions as part of its growth strategy.
In 2007, Raleigh completed a major expansion at the Sunset Marquis Hotel, creating 40 new world-class villas, a spa and new restaurant, nestled in a lush garden set in the middle of West Hollywood, one of LA's densest communities. Eschewing the creation of just another massive hotel building, the executives of Raleigh chose to emphasize the uniqueness of the hotel by building individual low-rise bungalows in an urban oasis. In the same year, the company completed construction of one-of-a-kind 15,000 foot luxury estate set on 40 acres in Aspen, Colorado.
Raleigh's ongoing commitment to quality, service to our markets and ethical standards of business conduct are the foundation of our success. Our insight, innovation and high levels of commitment have enabled Raleigh Enterprises to succeed where more institutionally-constrained management has previously failed. In the rapidly changing business environment, Raleigh has the experience, resources, breadth and ability to continue its successful growth well into the 21st century.