real estate
Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more genera ...
investment company
An investment company is a financial institution principally engaged in holding, managing and investing securities. These companies in the United States are regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and must be registered under t ...
based in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, coordinates =
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, subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
. In 1993, after suffering during the
early 1990s recession
The early 1990s recession describes the period of economic downturn affecting much of the Western world in the early 1990s. The impacts of the recession contributed in part to the 1992 U.S. presidential election victory of Bill Clinton over incum ...
Rodamco
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield SE (previously Unibail-Rodamco SE) is a French Commercial property, commercial real estate company headquartered in Paris, France. Its history originates with the formation of two separate Shopping mall, shopping centre ...
in 2000 and broken up. After selling off its remaining assets in the late 2000s, JMB Realty was defunct; although its debt finance group was spun-out as JMB Financial Advisors and still exists as a going concern based in Chicago.
History
The company was founded as Robert Judelson & Co. in 1968. In October 1969, Judelson was joined by
University of Illinois
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Unive ...
roommates
Neil Bluhm
Neil Gary Bluhm (born 1938) is an American billionaire real estate and casino magnate. He is a partner of Midwest Gaming & Entertainment, which owns several casinos. He had an estimated net worth of US$7 billion in October 2021.
Early life
Bluhm ...
and Judd Malkin. Judelson split from the partnership in 1973 to form Balcor Company with
Jerry Reinsdorf
Jerry Michael Reinsdorf (born February 25, 1936) is the owner of the NBA's Chicago Bulls and MLB's Chicago White Sox. He started his professional life as a tax attorney with the Internal Revenue Service. He has been the owner of the White S ...
. Bluhm became chairman and Malkin was president.
In 1983, JMB acquired Federated Realty Associates from Federated Department Stores (now
Macy's, Inc.
Macy's, Inc. (originally Federated Department Stores, Inc.) is an American conglomerate holding company. Upon its establishment, Federated held ownership of the regional department store chains Abraham & Straus, Lazarus, Filene's, and Shillito ...
) for $112 million.
In 1984, it acquired Urban Development from
Aetna
Aetna Inc. () is an American managed health care company that sells traditional and consumer directed health care insurance and related services, such as medical, pharmaceutical, dental, behavioral health, long-term care, and disability plans ...
for $45 million in cash and $131 million in notes. At that time the company had a $9 billion real estate portfolio.
In 1985, it acquired the portion of
Water Tower Place
Water Tower Place is a large urban, mixed-use development comprising a shopping mall, hotel, theater, and condominiums in a 74-story skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The mall is located at 835 North Michigan Avenue, along the Mag ...
that it did not already own. In 1986, the company acquired a real estate portfolio in
Century City
Century City is a 176-acre (71.2 ha) neighborhood and business district in Los Angeles, California. Located on the Westside to the south of Santa Monica Boulevard around 10 miles (16 km) west of Downtown Los Angeles, Century City is one o ...
for $600 million from Alcoa. In 1987, the company acquired Arvida (now
St. Joe Company
The St. Joe Company is a land development company headquartered in Panama City Beach, Florida. Founded in 1936 and until 1966 known as St. Joe Paper Company, the company still operates a forestry division but is primarily engaged in real estate d ...
), a developer of planned communities in Florida and Georgia, from
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Stud ...
for $400 million. It also acquired
Cadillac Fairview
The Cadillac Fairview Corporation Limited is a Canadian company that invests in, owns, and manages commercial real estate, mainly in Canada and the United States. As of March 2017, the company had 73 properties, encompassing 38 million square fee ...
, Canadian developer-owner of shopping centers and office buildings, for $2.6 billion.
In 1988, it acquired
Amfac
Amfac, Inc., formerly known as American Factors and originally H. Hackfeld and Company, was a land development company in Hawaii. Founded in 1849 as a retail and sugar business, it was considered one of the so-called Big Five companies in the T ...
, a large Hawaii
sugar cane
Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus '' Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stal ...
land owner for $920 million.
In 1989, it acquired Randsworth Trust P.L.C. for $800 million. In 1990, it acquired
Houston Center
Houston Center is a retail and office complex in Downtown Houston, Texas, United States. It is owned by Brookfield Property Partners and Spear Street Capital, LLC, and operated separately by Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) and Brookfield Property Manage ...
for $400 million.
During the early 1990s recession, the company was forced to give some properties to its lenders. In 1993, it reorganized and completed the
corporate spin-off
A corporate spin-off, also known as a spin-out, or starburst or hive-off, is a type of corporate action where a company "splits off" a section as a separate business or creates a second incarnation, even if the first is still active.
Charact ...
and
initial public offering
An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investme ...
of Urban Shopping Centers Inc. Urban later acquired
Houston Galleria
The Galleria, stylized theGalleria and also known as the Houston Galleria, is an upscale mixed-use urban development and shopping mall located in the Uptown District of Houston, Texas, United States.Century Square Shopping Center. In 1997, Urban sold
Copley Place
Copley Place is an enclosed shopping mall within the mixed-use Copley Square in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It features direct indoor connections to several nearby destinations including four office towers, and the Bosto ...
for $300 million.
In 2000, Urban Shopping Centers was acquired by
Rodamco
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield SE (previously Unibail-Rodamco SE) is a French Commercial property, commercial real estate company headquartered in Paris, France. Its history originates with the formation of two separate Shopping mall, shopping centre ...
. Who later sold Urban to a small consortium of
The Rouse Company
The Rouse Company, founded by Hunter Moss and James W. Rouse in 1939, was a publicly held shopping mall and community developer from 1956 until 2004, when General Growth Properties (GGP) purchased the company.
Beginnings - Moss-Rouse Company
Th ...
,
Westfield Group
Westfield Group was an Australian shopping centre company that existed from 1960 to 2014, when it split into two independent companies: Scentre Group, which owns and operates the Australian and New Zealand Westfield shopping centre portfolio; ...
, and
Simon Property Group
Simon Property Group, Inc. is an American real estate investment trust that invests in shopping malls, outlet centers, and community/ lifestyle centers. It is the largest owner of shopping malls in the United States and is headquartered in Ind ...
in 2002.
In 2002, Amfac was put into bankruptcy. As part of the bankruptcy reorganization, JMB formed
Xanterra Travel Collection
Xanterra Travel Collection (formerly Xanterra Parks & Resorts, Amfac Resorts and Amfac Parks & Resorts) is a privately owned American park and resort management company based in Greenwood Village, Colorado, controlled by entertainment magnate Phi ...
, which was acquired by
Philip Anschutz
Philip Frederick Anschutz ( ; born December 28, 1939) is an American billionaire businessman who owns or controls companies in a variety of industries, including energy, railroads, real estate, sports, newspapers, movies, theaters, arenas and mu ...