David Y. Lee is an American

real estate developer Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to other ...

known for holdings in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Early life

David Y. Lee was born 1955. He graduated from

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

, where he received a medical degree.

Career

Lee began investing in properties after the

1992 Los Angeles riots The 1992 Los Angeles riots were a series of riots and civil disturbances that occurred in Los Angeles County, California, United States, during April and May 1992. Unrest began in South Los Angeles, South Central Los Angeles on April 29, after ...

. He acquired the California Mart from investor Judah Hertz for US$135 million in 2004-2005. His company, Jamison Properties, has a portfolio valued at $3 billion in 2008 and includes Banco Popular Center, MCI Center and Macy's Plaza in downtown LA. Much of his portfolio is concentrated in properties on

Wilshire Boulevard Wilshire Boulevard ( wɪɫ.ʃɚ is a prominent boulevard in the Los Angeles area of Southern California, extending from Ocean Avenue (Santa Monica), Ocean Avenue in the city of Santa Monica, California, Santa Monica east to Grand Avenue (Lo ...

. In 2013, Jamison sold the former Macy's Plaza multi-use complex for $241 million to The Ratkovich Company. On Feb. 23, 2018, at a meeting with Los Angeles City Council President

Herb Wesson Herman J. "Herb" Wesson Jr. (born November 11, 1951) is an American politician who served as a councilmember representing the 10th District for three terms between July 1, 2005 and December 14, 2020, and again on an appointed basis from March 2 ...

and a community advocacy group that had campaigned against his project at 3700 Wilshire Boulevard, Dr. Lee reportedly said he would use his AR-15 rifle to shoot people who step on his land. Dr. David Lee later apologized for his remarks. Following the Los Angeles City Council’s vote to make 3700 Wilshire Boulevard a Historic-Cultural Monument, preserving the building and the park, Jamison Properties agreed to preserve the disputed open space. Garrett Lee, president of Jamison Properties and Dr. Lee’s son, said the company respected the city’s decision and would preserve the open space. He said the company was proud to be a part of Koreatown and wanted to work with the community “for the betterment of our neighborhood.”

Philanthropy

Lee is on the board of directors of the Korean American Museum. He has made charitable contributions to the

UCLA School of Dentistry The UCLA School of Dentistry is the dental school of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) located in the Center for Health Sciences building in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. The school has seve ...

Personal life

Lee is married to Miki M. Nam, a dentist. Dr. Lee has four children. Three of his children work for Jamison Realty, the company he founded. His daughter, Jaime Lee, is CEO of Jamison, his son Garrett leads the residential development company, and Phil runs the commercial property management.

References

Living people Businesspeople from Los Angeles Northwestern University alumni American businesspeople in real estate Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-business-bio-stub