Murray Menkes (April 21, 1926 – April 24, 2013) was a Canadian

property 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 Real Estate, land and the sale of developed land or parce ...

and founder of Menkes Developments Ltd. in

North York, Ontario North York is a former township and city and is now one of the six administrative districts of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the northern area of Toronto, centred around Yonge Street, north of Ontario Highway 401. It is bounded by ...

, which became one of the largest developers in the Toronto area.

Early life and family

Murray Menkes was born in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

on April 21, 1926, to Max and Anne Menkes. His parents were

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

immigrants and came to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in the late 1910s. Menkes in his youth started working at his father's fur business until he realized that he can be more successful selling real estate in the 1940s. In 1949 Menkes married Pauline Weintraub and together had three sons Alan, Steven and Peter. His three sons as well as grandsons Jared, Adam, Jason and Sean work at Menkes's company Menkes Developments.

Menkes Developments

Menkes started Menkes Developments in 1954 with the purchase of several residential buildings in Toronto. Menkes had started out small with building single-family homes and later expanded with rental apartments, condominiums and office properties. By the 1960s, Menkes expanded greatly with the addition of an apartment complex on his property investments. Menkes Developments under Menkes became one of the largest private real estate developers in Canada. In 1984 Menkes Developments built the Procter & Gamble building near Yonge Street and Sheppard Avenue. Several other notable buildings built by Menkes Development is the Four Seasons Hotel in Yorkville, Harbour Plaza and Sun Life Financial Tower. As of 2013, Menkes Development has developed over 15,000 homes and condominiums. Menkes has been credited with creating the modern

North York City Centre North York City Centre is a central business district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in the administrative district of North York. It is located along Yonge Street, between just south of Sheppard Avenue northward to Finch Avenue with its focus aroun ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Menkes, Murray Canadian businesspeople 1926 births 2013 deaths