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R.I.P. Walter H. Shorenstein, San Francisco Real Estate Titan

Posted: 26 Jun 2010 08:29 AM PDT

Walter-shorenstein Walter Shorenstein was a self made real estate mogul who at one time owned 25 percent of the commercial real estate in San Francisco. Let me say that again,

Walter H. Shorenstein owned 25 percent of the commercial real estate in San Francisco.

It is truly amazing how he could have accumulated so much of the property in one generation after arriving in the city with only $1,000 in his pocket after World War 2.

When he retired from the company bearing his name, Shorenstein Co., he was a billionaire and ranked on the “400 Richest Americans” list in Forbes Magazine.

Walter H. Shorenstein passed away at the age of 95.

“He was a street-smart, self-made man whose business acumen was matched by a lifelong dedication to both politics and philanthropy,” Feinstein said in a statement.

A World War II veteran who said he arrived in San Francisco after the war with “no job, a pregnant wife and less than $1,000 to my name,” Shorenstein went on to head one of the country’s largest privately owned real estate firms, with holdings across the nation.

By 1985, when he bought Bank of America’s 52-story world headquarters in downtown San Francisco, Shorenstein was known as the city’s biggest landlord. He estimated at the time that he owned or managed about 25% of the building space in San Francisco, some 10 million square feet of office and commercial real estate. via the LA Times

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R.I.P. Walter H. Shorenstein, San Francisco Real Estate Titan