Edward J. Lewis
| Edward J. Lewis | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Edward J. Lebowitz May 30, 1937 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Died | November 30, 2006 (aged 69) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Cause of death | lung cancer |
| Nationality | United States |
| Education | B.A. University of Pennsylvania J.D. University of Pennsylvania Law School |
| Occupation | real estate developer |
| Known for | co-founder of Oxford Development Company |
| Spouse(s) | Anne Lewis |
| Children | Jon Lewis CathyLewis BenjaminLewis Andy Lewis |
Edward J. "Eddie" Lewis (May 30, 1937 – November 30, 2006) was an American businessman and philanthropist.
Lewis was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Eugene Lebowitz, a Hungarian-Jewish immigrant who lost family members to the Holocaust. After graduating from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Pennsylvania Law School on a full scholarship, he embarked upon a brief law career in Philadelphia before moving back to his native Pittsburgh. Lewis changed his change from Lebowitz to Lewis to avoid antisemitism, with his father's blessing.
After school, he worked for Don Mark Realty, a partnership founded by his father; his brother-in-law, Mark Mason; Harold “Harry” Soffer; and Soffer's son; Donald Soffer. (Don Mark Realty would be renamed the Oxford Development Company). In 1965, Don Mark built South Hills Village, Pittsburgh’s first indoor mall. In 1967, with funding from the John Hancock Life Insurance Company, Oxford Development partnered with the Arlen Realty and Development Corporation to form the DonArl Partnership and bought 785 acres of mostly swampland in South Florida for $6 million. Originally named Turnberry, they renamed the site Aventura (Spanish for adventure) and set about to build an upper class development centered around the Aventura Country Club with a golf course designed by architect Robert Trent Jones. The project required that they drain the swamps (to the ire of environmental activists) and re-zone the property from residential single family to high-rise development (to the ire of controlled-growth advocates). With the support of then governor, Claude Kirk, the development went ahead. In 1969, Metro-Dade County approved the 23,900 condo unit master plan which included the construction of a fire station, a library, and a causeway to Sunny Isles Beach. They completed the first stage in 1970 and by 1977 had completed the golf course and added another 4,000 units. The venture was very profitable as they purchased land at $5,000 and acre and sold plots for as high as $2 million an acre in 1981. In 1977, the partnership with Arlen Realty was dissolved over disputes about the quality of construction and the partners divided the properties. In 1983, Arlen Realty defaulted on a $39 million mortgage and went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy and Lewis and his partners purchased the remaining 68 acres of undeveloped land and built the Aventura Mall. Soon after, Lewis sold his interest to the Donald Soffer who formed Turnberry Associates while Lewis kept the Oxford Development Company name.
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