Albert M. Greenfield
| Albert Monroe Greenfield | |
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| Born |
Avrum Moishe Grunfeld August 4, 1887 Lozovata, Podolia Governorate, Russian Empire (currently Vinnytsia Oblast, Ukraine) |
| Died | January 5, 1967 (aged 79) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Occupation | Real estate broker and developer, banker, investor, board director, trustee, philanthropist |
Albert Monroe Greenfield (August 4, 1887 – January 5, 1967) was a real estate broker and developer who built his company into a vast East Coast network of department stores, banks, finance companies, hotels, newspapers, transportation companies and the Loft Candy Corporation. His high-rise office buildings and hotels were instrumental in changing the face of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, his base of operations. Uniquely for his time, he formed business relationships across religious, ethnic and social lines and played a major role in reforming politics in Philadelphia as well as at the national level.
Greenfield was born Avrum Moishe Grunfeld in 1887 to trader Jacob Gruenfeld and wife Esther (née Serody) in Lozovata, a village in what is now south-central Ukraine. After emigrating to New York City in 1892, he and his family (with names anglicized) moved in 1896 to Philadelphia, settling in South Philadelphia where Jacob Greenfield ironed shirts in a factory and operated a grocery in the family's home. Albert left high school at age 14 to become a clerk for a prominent local real estate lawyer. In this position, Greenfield found his calling as a real estate broker.
In May 1905, Greenfield opened his own real estate firm at 218 South 4th Street, with $500 that his mother borrowed for him from her brother. Within seven years Greenfield was earning $60,000 a year; by 1917, his personal wealth had increased to $15 million. During the 1920s he largely rebuilt the face of downtown Philadelphia, creating numerous landmark office buildings and hotels, including what was then the world's largest hotel, the Benjamin Franklin, in 1925.
The alliances created through his growing real estate business led to investments in motion picture theaters, building and loan associations, and mortgage financing. By the early 1920s he controlled 27 building and loan associations. In 1924, Greenfield and his father-in-law Sol C. Kraus formed Bankers Bond & Mortgage Company to handle first mortgages on real estate in Philadelphia. After expanding to the New York City market, the firm was renamed Bankers Bond & Mortgage Company of America. By 1930 his real estate concern, known as Albert M. Greenfield & Co. since 1911, was the largest real estate company in the U.S. and Greenfield sought to become a commercial banker.
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