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Giuseppe Cecchi on Italian architect Luigi Moretti and Moretti's work on Watergate ~\n\n". . .we had to convert it from strokes of pens in meters into design, working drawings, in inches. . .He was a genius. I think the Watergate is a really a fantastic architectural project. . .he was that kind of prima donna genius. . . you couldn't change . . . a comma of what he did. . .we hired a local architect here, and I was sort of the marriage counselor between these two . . ."\n\nGiuseppe Cecchi (right) - Visionary Real Estate Developer - and Andy Ockershausen (left)\n\nA Ockershausen:\tThis is Our Town, this is Andy Ockershausen and I have just a delightful guest here, who has been a very dear friend for many years. He's a visionary in a Real Estate development. He's built close to three million square feet of office space and three hotels. He was building mix-use office space before it was the rage. He saw the importance of technology even before Silicon Valley when he built Techworld. He saw the trends for senior living with Leisure World. His name is synonymous with Watergate. He came to America from Italy over 50 years ago, probably now over 60, to start a company and build a great future for our town, for our community. And I've seen him play tennis for many years and I've played tennis with him. He's a very dear friend who's had discussions with his wife in three languages, I always got a big kick out of that. Welcome Giuseppe Cecchi to Our Town.\nGiuseppe Cecchi:\tThank you, Thank you.\nA Ockershausen:\tWhich is really almost your town, now.\nGiuseppe Cecchi:\tWell I've been here 57 years. \nA Ockershausen:\tAnd you came . . .\nGiuseppe Cecchi:\tAnd I came for a three year assignment . . .\nA Ockershausen:\tAnd stayed! \nGiuseppe Cecchi:\tAnd I'm here after 57. \nFrom Milano to Washington DC\nA Ockershausen:\tWhat was your first build, was your first build in Watergate?\nGiuseppe Cecchi:\tWell there was a building before Watergate, it was called Potomac Plaza Terraces, which was a little piece that came in the deal when we bought the Watergate side. It came with another piece about a block away.\nA Ockershausen:\tI got it.\nGiuseppe Cecchi:\tAnd it had already drawings ready to go and just to pick up a permit at that time it was easy to pick up a permit. Doesn't take two years like now. And so we decided to build that as an experiment as a pilot project. \nA Ockershausen:\tRight, before the big one.\nGiuseppe Cecchi:\tAnd we did 190, at that time condominiums did not exist in Washington, so it was called cooperative. We built a cooperative building, with 190 units, it was successful. We made a million dollars, I think of profit. So then . . .\nA Ockershausen:\tThen they go for the big one. \nGiuseppe Cecchi:\tThe top of the company decided, let's go and develop the Watergate. \nA Ockershausen:\tAnd you were born in Milan, Milano. \nGiuseppe Cecchi:\tYes. \nA Ockershausen:\tAnd that's where you got into the learning how to be a builder? I mean, you went to college there and \nGiuseppe Cecchi:\tI went to college there. I graduated as a civil engineer, as a structural and mechanical engineer. And then I went to work for this company, the Societa Generale Immobiliare, in Rome. And I worked for them for several years, and then when the opportunity come to go to America. Very gloomy because I had a little English background. You know, I had spent a couple of vacations in Ireland, in the Channel, Jersey near England, and so I had enough to qualify. I was a bachelor so it was easy to move and less expensive to move. So they put me in the teams that they sent to ... they opened three location in this continent. One in New York, one in Mexico City, and one in Montreal. And I was a part of the New York office. And the task was to scout for business opportunities. And the business opportunity we found in New York was a piece of land in Washington that was a company in New York that had an option on the gas company ...