Shopping center pioneer Alfred Taubman dies at 91

New York -- A. Alfred Taubman, a real estate developer who is credited with inventing the modern indoor shopping center, has died. The 91-year-old Taubman died Friday evening of a heart attack at his Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, home.



The announcement was made over the weekend by his son, Robert Taubman, chairman, president and CEO of Taubman Centers Inc., in a statement to employees.



“This company and all that you stand for were among the greatest joys of his life,” he said. “Just last month he was in Puerto Rico to celebrate with us the grand opening of The Mall of San Juan," his son said. "He was so proud of what this wonderful company he founded 65 years ago has accomplished. Tonight, after dinner in his home, a heart attack took him from us, ending what was a full, extraordinary life that touched so many people in so many wonderful ways around the world.”



Taubman launched his retail career at age 11, working after school at a department store near his family's home in Pontiac, Michigan. He served in the Army during World War II and studied art and architecture at the University of Michigan. He eventually transferred to night school at Lawrence Institute of Technology in Southfield, working at the Charles N. Agree architectural firm by day.



In 1950, he founded decided to launch a retail real estate development company, Taubman Co. , and borrowed money to build and rent out a store. More stores, and parking lots, followed. By 1953, he owned a string of strip shopping centers.



In the late 1950s, Taubman opened his first mall, the 350,000-sq.-ft. Arborland in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He was among the first developers to capitalize on the great middle-class migration to the suburbs, and went on to build the Mall at Short Hills in New Jersey, the Queens Center in New York, Woodfield Center outside Chicago and Fairlane Town Center near Detroit, and others. He was also among the first to bring such high-end accents to malls as skylights, waterfalls, leafy interiors and wide entrances to stores in an effort to overcome what he termed “threshold resistance.”



In 1983, he bought the auction house Sotheby's. In 2002, he was jailed following a conviction for conspiring with rival auction house Christie's to fix auction house commission rates to maximize profits. He was released in 2003 after having served nine months in prison.



Today, Taubman Centers Inc. owns, manages and/or leases "22 regional, super-regional and outlet shopping centers in the U.S. and Asia, " according to the company website said, including such high-profile developments such as the Beverly Center in Los Angeles, the Mall at Short Hills in New Jersey and the Shops at Crystals, in Las Vegas. The company recently announced its ownership of The Mall of San Juan had risen to 95%.



Taubman, one of the country’s richest men, was well-known for his philanthropic endeavors, particularly those involving his home state. He donated millions to the University of Michigan’s health care center, medical school library and college of architecture and urban planning; to Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government; and to Brown University’s public policy and American institutions program, the New York Times reported.



He also led a $75 million expansion of the Detroit Institute of Arts, and was a director of the Detroit Symphony and other cultural organizations.