An Oriental Rose Blossoming in the U.S. Real Estate Industry

Thirty-one years ago， an im- migrant housewife from Taiwan， with three young children and no previous business experience， decided to start a company. She found her way into real estate， creating Stone Mountain Properties. Her determination， drive and can-do attitude resulted in major successes， attracted her husband and son to join her in the business， and eventually led to her recognition， domestically and internationally， as a leading entrepreneur and role model. This is the story of Mrs. Leeshan Birney， an award-winning Chinese American entrepreneur， who amongst those who know her， is legendary for her extreme determination， inexhaustible dedication， and warm kindness.

East meets west: A love story in America

Leeshan Chuang was born in Taiwan. Leeshan was passionate about school， and her passion rewarded her dramatically when her employer encouraged her to study abroad. In 1963， she headed to New York City for an exciting new life journey. While studying nutrition at Columbia University， she met a tall American named James Birney. They fell in love， and in August 1968， despite the disapproval of his family， James married Leeshan at a simple but solemn wedding ceremony. Determined to prove herself， she eventually won not only her in-laws’ acceptance but also their love， and she helped the Birney family to prosper.

Her eldest son Ceyan was born on Christmas Eve in 1970. One year later， she received her second master degree， an MBA degree in Economics from New York University. Her two daughters Mayling and Shanlenn were born over the next several years. To care for her growing family and provide a good stable home， she decided to become fulltime devoted mother and wife. Leeshan says， “I never regretted my decision to stay home for ten years. My children are very happy， and I could share that time with them. This is more important to me than anything else.”

Innovation and focus: The challenge of starting a business

More than ten years later， Leeshan woke up one day to find herself an entrepreneur. She had not intended to start a business， but simply to help her sister in Taiwan find a real estate investment in US. After significant analysis and evaluation， they had identified a modest 18-unit apartment building located in South Orange， NJ， adjacent to Seton Hall University. They had also identified a property manager， but just one day before the closing date， the agreement with the manager fell through. Leeshan couldn’t sleep that night. She did not want to lose the deposit and a good investment. So when she woke on May 1， 1981， she had made a sudden decision that would change her destiny. Despite her complete lack of business experience， she would manage the property by herself. Working quickly， she arranged for her father to help them to buy out the property manager’s share. Then， bravely， Leeshan called her husband to join the closing at 4pm that day. James was proud of her， but extremely busy in his own firm， so she knew she would have to manage her new real estate business completely on her own.

At the beginning， the revenue was unstable and challenges significant. The day after she took over the business， a tenant complained about necessary repairs. Leeshan called some names she found in the phone book and quietly observed how they handled the repairs. After watching various repairs， she soon started going to the hardware shop to buy materials and tools so that she would handle similar problems， such as repairing a toilet or leaking water， not asking for outside help unless absolutely necessary.

During the following five years， with financial assistance of James， Leeshan was able to purchase more than a hundred apartment units， which laid the foundation for the future Stone Mountain empire. The new acquisitions included 28 units in Hoboken in 1982， which she extensively renovated in 1984; 44 units in South Orange， New Jersey in 1983; and a further 56 units in South Orange in 1985. Although the company was still small and resources limited， Leeshan ran it well and the occupancy rate was high. She also made improvements， renovating the interiors and exteriors， and profits poured in due to increasing revenues and sensible cost controls.

Encouraged by her husband， who would always tell Leeshan to think bigger， she seized on an exciting chance to more than double the company assets in 1985. A large apartment complex with 133 units and 10 acres of land was for sale and conveniently located near the primary school her youngest daughter attended. If she purchased the apartments， it would be easier for her to care for her littlest one， and this part really tempted Leeshan. However， the selling price was quite high for the company then – nearly $10 million. And the additional challenges were significant: if they purchased the property， they would have to spend more money to make much-needed renovations; finally， the banks would only offer a 50% loan， thereby requiring an additional large capital investment. From a conventional return on investment analysis， the project did not seem worth it.

Despite the challenges， and especially excited by the possibility of more quality time with her little daughter， Leeshan decided to imagine the possibilities. She saw its growth potential， even though it was unclear to others， and she set to work trying to round up the serious capital required to buy the apartment complex.

Eventually she was able to gather enough. Her agents gathered the seller， the buyer and their respective lawyers to see if a deal could be reached. After 9 hours of negotiations， they finally signed the deal. The agent offered to lend her the commission， and the seller offered $2 million loan to Leeshan. But the rest of the $7.4 million had to be funded through bank loans， and the banks still had to be convinced to provide the loans. Leeshan found experienced real estate experts to make appraisals， and they pointed out the great potential value increase through their analysis of the market， rental demand， and the community’s top school system. Leeshan approached the bank with this appraisal report， arguing that current low rent would increase by about $200 per unit to align with market prices. Leeshan also promised to renovate the apartment with funding from her husband’s successful career. She joked that the bank could easily oversee the management and operation of the apartment as their offices overlooked it! Touched by Leeshan’s enthusiasm and persistence， as well as her love for her daughter， the bank finally agreed to issue a $6 million loan to her.

Using money from the refinancing of her other properties in South Orange and Hoboken， she was finally able to raise the rest of the capital to purchase the property. Her innovation and focus had paid off. These apartments， Short Hills Terrace， have since served as the NJ headquarters for Stone Mountain Properties. They are also a fine symbol of Leeshan’s brave efforts and determination， her smart business sense and most fundamentally， her love as a mother.

Business expansion

By 1989， Stone Mountain owned more than 300 rental units in New Jersey， spread throughout four cities. The operation scale was more than enough for the management capacity of Leeshan and further business expansion came to a standstill. This timing also coincided with when her husband James decided to leave his job on Wall Street.

The U.S. real estate market hit a new low then， which provided a good opportunity for large scale purchase of properties. As James joined the management of Stone Mountain， the couple decided to expand their business to Houston， TX， as the real estate market there was poised for a quick recovery and long-term growth. As a harbor city with many immigrants， Houston has strong demand for renting housing. As the fourth largest city in the U.S. and the largest city in the southern U.S.， it also demonstrated strong development potential with interesting niches fueled by diverse multicultural elements， large congregations of foreign consulates， and renowned medical centers.

Since their first purchase in Houston， Walden of Westchase property， they expanded to include more than 2，000 apartment units. The SunBlossom International Village in Chinatown has become the prime choice for Asian immigrants due to its convenient location， fair price and careful service. Leeshan has even become known as the “Queen of Apartments”in the overseas Chinese circles.

During the past three decades， Leeshan has successfully expanded the business of Stone Mountain Properties with her excellent wisdom， great endurance and smart investment strategy that endures in any market condition. Today， besides the properties she owns in New Jersey， she also owns nine apartment complexes in Great Houston Area， two commercial centers， two office buildings and several undeveloped commercial lands， with the total rental area exceeding 2 million square feet. The business is poised to continue its success into the next generation of her family.

Unique operation concepts

Stone Mountain Properties would not become a well-established brand without the unique operation approaches used by Leeshan.

It is rather difficult to manage an apartment featuring multi-ethnic dwellers， but Leeshan holds the view that kind and honest care can bridge the gap among any ethnic groups. When selecting employees， Leeshan would hire multilingual talents who could speak Chinese， Vietnamese， Burmese， or Spanish， to make the communication with residents easier.

Leeshan and James drew upon their own personal passions and strengths to imbue their properties with distinctive identities. After joining the management in 1987， James vastly upgraded the technology and corporate management systems at Stone Mountain， as well as investing significant capital into the refurbishment of firstclass apartments in New Jersey and Texas. These assets proved critical after buying the properties in Houston， especially after the market turned sour. James used his knowledge and passion for computers to create a unique rental environment at Walden targeting the high tech community， resulting in a New York Times feature story. In addition， Leeshan learned how to leverage her knowledge of Asian immigrants， to provide valuable services and products targeting their unique needs.

James is very fond of landscaping design. Whenever the company would buy a new piece of land， he would develop a blueprint of a unique new landscape design theme and beautifully transform the environment. He often included Asian cultural elements in his design， creating gardens and office environments with distinctive oriental design elements. The exceptional landscape design of Walden of Westchase won the National Landscape Design Gold Medal Award.

The Birneys later developed SunBlossom International Villages， which provides beautiful apartments and innovative services that appeal to new immigrants， such as high-speed internet and education， orientation and community programs. SunBlossom Gardens was chosen as a principal community model for the Asian community tour of The Neighborhood U.S.A. Conference hosted by the City of Houston in May 2002.

Whenever a resident of a new country moves into the International Village， a flag of their country is raised on the property， helping to provide a sense of belonging to the new guests. Today， dozens of flags proudly wave outside along the front of the property greeting guests. The Stone Mountain staff is especially skilled at helping new immigrants， who have never lived in the United States， settle into their new home， helping them with everything from applying for a telephone line to applying for driving licenses. They also provide other services， such as free English language classes， job training classes， and cultural orientation services.

Leeshan understands that her talented staff is one of the most invaluable assets of the company， and she treats each employee as part of an extended family. For example， if an employee comes to her with an urgent need， the company will offer no-interest loans until the employee can pay. Sometimes the company also offers employees free airline tickets to allow them to go back home to visit their families or relatives. The staff can also qualify for rent-subsidized housing as well. As evidence of this family nature， the staff often calls Leeshan “Birney Mother.”

Continuity: Stick with your career and strive forward against the wind

As the world financial crisis was sweeping through the U.S. in 2008， Stone Mountain Properties also faced the most difficult period in its history. Facing potentially difficult challenges， James and Leeshan took further measures to competitively differentiate their apartments through renovations and service improvement. For example， many of their apartments are equipped with the highest internet network speed possible， which attracts high quality and professional residents. They also spend significant time in shaping the apartment environment， including special landscape design and bold， bright paint colors on the buildings. The differentiation works well， catching people’s eyes as they drive by and clearly distinguishing their properties from the masses.

Other thoughtful changes also make a difference. To better match residents’ preferences， Leeshan installed ceramic tiles and laminate wood floors in the apartments， instead of carpet， as the latter is often thought to be harder to clean， hot and a source of allergies. These improvements helped to dramatically increase the properties popularity， competitiveness， and most importantly， their occupancy rate.

The economic slowdown also led to higher unemployment rate， and many people living in the Birneys’ apartments lost their jobs， finding it hard to pay the rent. Leeshan was sympathetic to the residents’ predicaments and worked hard to try and create job opportunities for her residents. She opened up more positions within the company and used her network to help residents find jobs. She also worked with several charity organizations to help apply for rent subsidies for the residents when they qualified. For those new immigrants who do not speak English， Leeshan would find ways to provide jobs that need no English knowledge， like mowing grass or painting. Leeshan also hired aroundthe-clock security guards， to improve the security of residents returning home late at night. As a result of these efforts， she won the “Golden Lantern Award”from Asian American Family Services.

Noting that people’s needs were changing， Leeshan adjusted the closing time of the work day to 7pm in the high rental season in summer， to help clients who need to rent houses after work. She also studied the financial reports to cut unnecessary costs when maintaining the housing quality. Moreover， taking into consideration the instability of the current economic climate， Leeshan cancelled the 6-12 month contract system， to offer more flexible short-term leases to dwellers. She also provides temporary corporate housing that includes home furnishings and extra services.

Always an entrepreneur， Leeshan diversified her investments into other areas during the financial crisis， including mineral water projects in Changbai Mountain， China. Also the reputation of her enthusiasm for public service has helped Stone Mountain to withstand the financial crisis and march on towards a path of further growth.