Irvin Kahn
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Irvin J. Kahn (1916–1973) was an American attorney and real estate developer who played a major role in the expansion of the city of
San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. He received frequent press coverage for his ongoing role in developing Clairemont, University City and
Rancho Peñasquitos Rancho or Ranchos may refer to: Settlements and communities *Rancho, Aruba, former fishing village and neighbourhood of Oranjestad *Ranchos of California, 19th century land grants in Alta California ** List of California Ranchos * Ranchos, Buenos ...
. He is also notable for having built one of the first skyscrapers in
downtown San Diego Downtown San Diego is the central business district of San Diego, California, the eighth largest city in the United States. It houses the major local headquarters of the city, county, state, and federal governments. The area comprises seven d ...
.


Early life

Born in 1916, Kahn was the son of Abraham J. Kahn, a
Russian Jewish The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest po ...
immigrant who settled in
San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
in 1922. Abraham operated a bootlegging business during
prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...
, which he transitioned into a successful liquor import business after the end of prohibition. Irvin had two younger brothers – Julius and Yale.


Career

Observing his father's frequent run-ins with the courts due to his bootlegging past, Irvin was inspired to pursue a career as a criminal defense attorney. Irvin Kahn began his professional career as a defense attorney representing a number of high-profile clients, including several local labor unions. He also worked as a lobbyist on city affairs, representing the Veterans Cab Company in their bid to increase the number of taxi permits issued by the City of San Diego. In 1952, Kahn, along with
KFMB-TV KFMB-TV (channel 8) is a television station in San Diego, California, United States, affiliated with CBS, The CW, and MyNetworkTV. Owned by Tegna Inc., it has studios on Engineer Road in the Kearny Mesa section of San Diego, and its transmitter i ...
founder Jack O. Gross, became one of the owners of the
San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...
, then a minor-league team in the
Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...
. (The sale was delayed by several years due to concerns over his father's bookmaking activities and brother Yale's professional gambling.) Though he had been opportunistically acquiring land throughout the 1940s, Kahn's first major real estate development project was a 312 unit apartment complex in
Point Loma Point Loma ( Spanish: ''Punta de la Loma'', meaning "Hill Point"; Kumeyaay: ''Amat Kunyily'', meaning "Black Earth") is a seaside community in San Diego, California, United States. Geographically it is a hilly peninsula that is bordered on the ...
, started in 1951 as part of a 9,000 unit military housing initiative in
San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
.


Development projects

Beginning in the mid-1950s, Irvin Kahn began to receive frequent press coverage due to his high-profile development activities. Between 1952 and his death in 1973, Kahn initiated a series of large and small development projects that by some estimates involved 25% of all developable land in the city of San Diego. Kahn's first major project was the Clairemont Subdivision. The project was initiated by Carlos Tavares and Lou Burgener in 1950, but Kahn took a leadership role in the venture in 1955. He was responsible for the development of the Clairemont Shopping Center as well as hundreds of new housing units built in the late 1950s. He also launched development projects in
Chula Vista Chula Vista ( ; , ) is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. It is the second-most populous city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the seventh-most populous city in Southern California, the 15th-most populous city in the ...
and La Mesa during that time. In the early 1960s, as the Clairemont subdivision was reaching completion, Kahn turned his attention to nearby University City. He partnered with Carlos Tavares and brought in developer
Louis Lesser Louis Lesser (June 15, 1916 – January 29, 2013) was an American businessman. He developed property across the United States, predominantly around the Los Angeles area; he also purchased and managed property. Lesser developed Barrington Plaza, ...
as a minority partner to develop the approximately 4,400 acres. In 1962, Kahn acquired the approximately 14,000 acre
Rancho Peñasquitos Rancho or Ranchos may refer to: Settlements and communities *Rancho, Aruba, former fishing village and neighbourhood of Oranjestad *Ranchos of California, 19th century land grants in Alta California ** List of California Ranchos * Ranchos, Buenos ...
with financing from Sixty Trust, the employee pension fund of airplane manufacturer Textron, Inc. (Rancho Peñasquitos was one of only a handful of large ranches still operating within the city limits.) Kahn planned to develop the land into a massive $1 billion housing development with a golf course, apartments, single-family tract homes, retirement housing, and shopping centers. Kahn's broad vision set in motion a series of additional planning processes that created lengthy delays for the project, with the San Diego City Planning Commission voting to delay consideration of Kahn's subdivision plan for several years until a master plan could be developed for the area. By 1965 the project was in danger of foreclosure and required additional financing. Kahn recruited Louis Lessor's help in obtaining financing from the Teamsters Pension Fund through Lessor's relationship with
Morris Shenker Morris A. Shenker (January 10, 1907 – August 8, 1989) was an American lawyer best known for his connections to labor leader Jimmy Hoffa and Teamster funding of Las Vegas in the 1960s. Shenker was a Russian Jewish immigrant who arrived in St. Lo ...
, who was the gatekeeper for the Pension Fund's investments. Shenker arrange a $10M mortgage from the Mercantile Trust Company National Association and an additional $3.5M in financing from the Teamsters Pension Fund. In exchange, the Teamsters Pension Fund received a first deed of trust on Rancho Peñasquitos, and a 20% share in the Rancho Peñasquitos development corporation. By the early 1970s, additional capital was needed to finance the large-scale development that was expected to take place in the 1970s – Kahn's plan involved creating homes for more than 150,000 people. Though Kahn was able to refinance the project, his sudden death in 1973 put those plans in jeopardy. The vision for
Rancho Peñasquitos Rancho or Ranchos may refer to: Settlements and communities *Rancho, Aruba, former fishing village and neighbourhood of Oranjestad *Ranchos of California, 19th century land grants in Alta California ** List of California Ranchos * Ranchos, Buenos ...
shifted significantly after Kahn's death, with larger single-family homes taking the place of the apartment complexes and small-lot tract housing that Kahn had envisioned. Today
Rancho Peñasquitos Rancho or Ranchos may refer to: Settlements and communities *Rancho, Aruba, former fishing village and neighbourhood of Oranjestad *Ranchos of California, 19th century land grants in Alta California ** List of California Ranchos * Ranchos, Buenos ...
is home to roughly 55,000 residents, little more than a third of the size of the community originally envisioned.


Bowling alleys and other projects

In addition to Clairemont, University City, and
Rancho Peñasquitos Rancho or Ranchos may refer to: Settlements and communities *Rancho, Aruba, former fishing village and neighbourhood of Oranjestad *Ranchos of California, 19th century land grants in Alta California ** List of California Ranchos * Ranchos, Buenos ...
, Kahn was involved in a number of notable projects in the history of the City of San Diego. In the late 1950s, he participated in smaller development projects in
Chula Vista Chula Vista ( ; , ) is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. It is the second-most populous city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the seventh-most populous city in Southern California, the 15th-most populous city in the ...
and La Mesa and was a vocal advocate for the " Shattuck Plan" to convert Horton Plaza to a convention hall. In 1960 he was part of a group of developers who pooled together a $4M loan for low income housing in
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
. Also in the early 1960s, Kahn erected two 'skyscrapers' in Centre City. At the time they were two of the tallest buildings in San Diego, surpassed only by the El Cortez hotel (1927) and the Executive Complex (1963). Kahn built a bowling alley and nightclub in El Cajon with Louis Lesser, and eventually expanded his bowling holdings to include 11 alleys. He also developed two resort hotel properties on Shelter Island, the first of their kind on the small strip of reclaimed land adjacent to the canneries of Point Loma, and was Chairman & CEO of the Continental Connector Corporation, which held a controlling interest in the iconic Dunes Hotel, Casino & Country Club. In addition to San Diego, Kahn participated in real estate development activities in
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
,
Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
&
Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...
.


Teamsters pension fund controversy

Beginning in the mid-1960s, Kahn financed his increasingly ambitious development projects with loans from the
International Brotherhood of Teamsters The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of the Team Drivers International Union and the Teamsters National Union, the union now represents a diverse members ...
' Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Fund, which brought him under scrutiny from the
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
and
IRS The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting Taxation in the United States, U.S. federal taxes and administerin ...
. Newspapers after his death reported that an IRS trailer had been semi-permanently parked outside his company headquarters, reviewing the accounting books from Kahn's numerous businesses. (Despite the thorough review, the IRS effort turned up little incriminating information aside from Kahn's tendency to wait until the last minute to pay bills.) Similarly, the FBI monitored Kahn's activities for several years and raided a "high-stakes gambling ring" at his Murrieta Hot Springs resort. (The raid 'nabbed' dozens of elderly female spa guests who had been playing
mah-jong Mahjong (English pronunciation: ; also transliterated as mah jongg, mah-jongg, and mahjongg) is a tile-based game that was developed in the 19th century in China and has spread throughout the world since the early 20th century. It is played ...
and bridge, an outcome that was covered humorously in the contemporary press.)


Personal life and death

Kahn was married to Eleanor Barlin (1925–2011); they had one son, Samuel “Sandy” Kahn. Kahn and his wife were active in San Diego Jewish philanthropy.UJF Women
sandiegojewishworld.com
Kahn died suddenly in September 1973 from a heart attack while watching the Ali-Norton fight on closed circuit television. At the time of his death, he owed nearly $180 million to the Teamsters Pension Fund (nearly $1 billion in 2015 dollars), making the Irvin Kahn Organization & subsidiaries the fund's largest investment. Kahn's 19-year-old son Samuel, then a college freshman, took over the companies and the settlement of the estate, divesting the Kahn family companies from their association with the Teamsters and refocusing on less risky real estate development activities.


References


External links


Profile. Irvin Kahn
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kahn, Irvin 1916 births 1973 deaths American businesspeople in real estate American people of Russian-Jewish descent Businesspeople from San Diego Landowners from California 20th-century American landowners History of San Diego County, California 20th-century American businesspeople