Scott wolstein biography

Editor's Note: In memory of Scott Wolstein (1952-2022) who passed at age 69. Wolstein was instrumental in the development of Flats East Bank as it is known today. Flats East Bank issued the following statement after Wolstein’s death:

Say your father’s worth millions. Chances are, you’ll do one of two things: Become a well-educated, Aspen-skiing, fun-loving trust fund mooch. Or follow in the old man’s lucrative footsteps.

Not Scott Wolstein.

Sure, he likes to have fun. But it’s mostly the good, clean kind. While his high-school buddies got into the whole hippie vibe, Scott, now 53, preferred to dress well and wear his hair short, lettering in five sports and earning good grades. “I always thought I was born 15 years too late,” Scott jokes.

His college roommate recalls his wildest escapade as the time Scott was the first person in line to wait all night for season tickets for the school’s basketball team. Or maybe it was that crazy scavenger hunt he organized for his fraternity. And, after law school, he moved back home with his parents. (They finally incented him to move out at age 31 by giving him land to build a house.)

But as square as he was, Scott was his own man with his own plans, which is why he didn’t take the easy path laid out for him. When your father is Bertram “Bart” Wolstein, the legendary real-estate developer who passed away last year, it’s hard to say no.

“I’d like to work with you, Dad, but not for you,” was the standard line Scott gave his father.

Bart’s response? When he built new headqu

American real estate company

SITE Centers Corp. (formerly DDR Corp. and Developers Diversified Realty, Inc.) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that invests in shopping centers. Founded in 1965 by Bert Wolstein, the company is headquartered in Beachwood, Ohio. As of December 31, 2019 the company owned interests in 170 shopping centers in the United States containing 57.0 million square feet and managed 13.2 million square feet for Retail Value Inc. Notable properties wholly owned by the company include Shopper's World in Framingham, Massachusetts. Its major tenants include retailers such as TJX Companies, PetsMart, Dick's Sporting Goods, Ulta Beauty, Ross Stores, and Nordstrom.

History

SITE Centers was founded in 1965 by Bert Wolstein as Developers Diversified Realty, Inc. After two years, the company built its first property, a KMart store in Eastlake, Ohio.

On February 12, 1993 Developers Diversified Realty, Inc. became a public company after making its initial public offering. Two years later the company acquired ten power centers from Homart Development Company during that company's acquisition by GGP Inc.

In 1998, the company acquired a portfolio of nine properties in Salt Lake City for $300 million. In 2002 the company acquired JDN Realty Corporation for $436 million in stock. In February 2011 the company's executive chairman, Scott Wolstein, resigned, and the company was renamed to DDR Corp. that September.

In December the company sold Town Center Plaza to Glimcher Realty Trust in exchange for Polaris Towne Center.

In August 2013 DDR Corp. entered into a joint venture with Blacks

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - The Wolstein Group CEO Scott A. Wolstein died on May 26 at the age of 69 after battling Metastatic Melanoma, reports say.

But his legacy as the Principal Developer of the Flats East Bank in Downtown Cleveland will live on.

“This man has been a major pillar and integral part of Cleveland, the world and in my life,” his son, Merrick, lovingly posted when he announced his father’s “sudden and shocking” diagnosis in November of 2021.

A VeloSano rider who had been friends with Wolstein for over 30 years and dedicated his fundraiser to cancer research in his honor described his battle.

“Rosie and I hosted a film event in October and Scott attended, in his normal sharp, energetic, intellectual self. Visibly, he appeared in perfect health.  Just 2 weeks later, he was feeling dizzy and fell.  He went to the hospital to be checked and much to his surprise, found he had Metastatic Melanoma with tumors in his brain, lungs, and abdomen.  No prior signs of any kind.  No advance warning.  Just bam!  Super aggressive cancer...

Scott underwent emergency surgery to remove the tumor on his brain.  After recuperating from the initial surgery, Scott underwent gamma knife treatment at the Cleveland Clinic.  With some physical therapy, and LOT of help from his family and some friends, Scott was able to return home.  After about a month at home, he returned to the hospital and has been fighting the fight there and in various facilities since.”

As the son of Bertram “Bart” and Iris Wolstein, for whom The Wolstein Center on Cleveland State University’s campus is named, Scott continued his family’s legacy that leaves a permanent and positive mark on The Land.

Wolstein has been the CEO of The Wolstein Group since 1979 and a real estate industry leader in developing office, retail, mixed-use, and multi-family projects.

His first company was called Diversified Equities, a syndication firm that specialized in

American businessman

Bertram Leonard Wolstein (February 23, 1927 — May 17, 2004), known to his friends as Bart and publicly as Bert L. Wolstein, was an American real estate developer, sports team owner, and philanthropist based in Cleveland, Ohio. He founded Developers Diversified Realty Corporation (now SITE Centers), which at the time of his death was the 4th-largest developer of shopping centers in the United States. In 1979, he purchased the Cleveland ForceMajor Indoor Soccer League team, and attempted to purchase the Cleveland Browns in 1998. He retired from active business in 1997, and became one of the most generous donors in the United States in his final years.

Early life and education

Wolstein was born to a Jewish family on February 23, 1927, in East Cleveland, Ohio, to Joseph and Sarah (née Lipson) Wolstein. He had an older sister, Malvene. Both his parents were immigrants from the Russian Empire. His father had been born in Minsk, and emigrated to the United States in 1903. Fluent in Yiddish, he was an actor in Yiddish theater for 15 years before taking a job as a fabric cutter for Printz Bierderman Co. and later Keller Kohn Co. His mother was also born in Minsk, and emigrated to the United States in 1904. She worked in clerical jobs for the General Accounting Office and for the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections.

The Wolsteins lived in a very small home with another family in East Cleveland. When Wolstein was 12 years old, they moved into a duplex in adjacent Cleveland Heights, Oh