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Ben Tobin(1903-1996)
Ben Tobin's real estate career started during the depression era in Detroit, Michigan. Taking advantage and seeing this opportunity, he traveled to Baltimore by car (no small task) to meet with USF&G and bought "bonds" (the mortgages of the day) and purchased apartment buildings in relatively poor condition and largely vacant. Working day and night, with lack of experience, he relied on his instincts to slowly turn the properties around adding value and leveraging his way into the larger world of real estate. During this period, he also acquired an office building in downtown Detroit that until a few years ago, was still called The Tobin Building. After the war, in 1945, Mr. Tobin acquired the world famous Hollywood Beach Hotel Country Club and Resort in Hollywood, Florida from the U. S. Navy. He had to renovate, re-staff and return this hotel to its original 1930’s glory. This five star hotel, which was sold in 1971, had over 800 rooms and 1000 employees. In 1950, Mr. Tobin and his two partners acquired the Empire State Building in New York City with over $50 Million in financing provided by the Prudential Insurance Company. The building was purchased from the Raskob family, the original developers. He also owned: The Hollenden Hotel, Cleveland Ohio, Squibb Building, Fifth Avenue, New York, The Warwick Hotel, New York, The Governor Morris Hotel, Morristown, New Jersey. Mr. Tobin and his partners have, over the years, been investors on Broadway and in the movie industry. He invested in the Broadway productions of Peter Pan, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and West Side Story. Some of the numerous movies he invested in were The Robe and Chinatown. Mr. Tobin was a partner in the Brooklyn Paramount Theater, the Printing Crafts Building, the Taft Hotel, as well as land holdings in Long Island. Also, Mr. Tobin was an original investor in Cablevision of Long Island. In 1954, Mr. Tobin and his partners formed a company then known as University Properties, which is known today as UNICO Properties, Inc. They entered into a long term lease, which expires in the year 2014 on a ten acre parcel of land owned by the University of Washington in downtown Seattle. Today, this company owns and manages in excess of 4.2 million square feet of Class A office space throughout the Pacific Northwest in Seattle, Tacoma, Renton, Portland, Boise and San Francisco. The Tobin family has a 20% interest in this company. Mr. Tobin was very active in philanthropic activities, including the following:
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