Whitehall chief to retire at end of year

Stuart Rothenberg, the global head of Goldman Sachs’ Real Estate Principal Investment Area (REPIA), is set to retire at the end of the year at the age of 45.

After 21 years with the firm, Rothenberg – who has led Goldman’s private equity real estate operations since 2003 – has said he will step down at the end of 2008.

A spokeswoman for Goldman Sachs confirmed Rothenberg would retire but would remain a consultant to some of REPIA’s funds, including some of the Whitehall Street series of funds run by the real estate group. A report by the Wall Street Journal said Rothenberg was on a non-compete agreement.

Rothenberg, who was speaking at the annual New York University Schack Institute of Real Estate conference, said Whitehall Street had between $5 billion and $6 billion in dry powder, according to the report. He added: “A lot of 2009 would be keeping your powder dry.”

in September, PERE magazine recently published a special report on REPIA revealing that while the Whitehall platform has continued to expand globally – raising more than $26 billion in real estate funds during its 17-year history – it remained among the most opaque private equity real estate firms in the world. The firm has come under fire by some in the market that its fees weigh too heavily on its performance.

Rothenberg joined Goldman Sachs in 1987 as an associate investment banker and was involved in the creation of Whitehall Street Real Estate in 1991 with Daniel Neidich. Rothenberg became a managing director in 1996 and chief operating officer in 1998. He was appointed global head of REPIA in 2003 following Neidich’s departure.