Stephen Muss | |
---|---|
Born | 1928 (age 95–96) |
Nationality | American |
Occupation(s) | Businessman, investor, philanthropist |
Known for | Presiding over the resurgence and redevelopment of Miami Beach, Florida |
Spouse | Sandra Paul Muss |
Parent | Alexander Muss |
Family | Isaac Muss (grandfather) |
Stephen Muss (born 1928) [1] is an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist known for leading the resurgence and redevelopment of Miami Beach, Florida.
Muss was born to a Jewish family in New York City [2] [3] and raised in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. [4] His father, Alexander, was one of eleven children, six of them brothers who worked for their father's construction company building homes during and after the Great Depression. [2] Muss worked for the family business first as a laborer and then in sales and construction supervision. [2]
Muss eventually went into a partnership with his father founding Alexander Muss & Sons developing 30 acres of tract homes on Long Island. [2] From 1952 through 1968, they went on to develop over 20 subdivisions with about 20,000 houses in Queens, New Jersey, and on Long Island; they also built over 4,000 multifamily units. [1] In the 1950s, his family moved to Florida [2] where his father, now a multi-millionaire, built the Seacoast Towers in Miami Beach, [2] known for the distinctive MiMO architectural style, the Towers of Key Biscayne, and the Towers of Quayside. [4] In 1967, Stephen took over the Florida business, now named the Muss Organization, becoming Miami Beach's single largest landlord. [4]
In 1978, Muss bought the largest hotel in Miami-Dade County, the aging Fontainebleau Hotel (founded by Ben Novack), for $27 million [4] rescuing it from bankruptcy. [2] He injected an additional $100 million into the hotel for improvements [2] and hired the Hilton company to manage it. [4] In 2005, the Muss Organization sold the Fontainebleau to Donald Soffer's Turnberry Associates [5] for $165 million. [4]
Muss was seminal in getting Miami Beach to implement a 3% "bed" tax to rebuild the city's aging infrastructure [4] which included refurbishing and expanding its convention center. [4] [6] He was the president of the Miami Beach Redevelopment Agency. [7] In 1994, he sold the Seacoast Towers for $94 million. [4]
Muss is the chairman of the Alexander Muss High School in Israel and honorary chairman of The Lapid, Coalition for High School Age Programs in Israel. [8] [9] Muss has served as Board Chair of Temple Emanu-El and also served on the board of the Miami Art Museum and on the Board of Governors of Haifa University. [10]
Muss married the ex-wife of his friend and CenTrust banker David L. Paul, who was sentenced to eleven years in federal prison. [4] His wife Sandra is a daughter of Holocaust survivors and was Board Chair of the Holocaust Memorial in Miami Beach. She is currently a member of the Board of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC). [10] The Musses are members of Temple Emanu-El in Miami Beach. [10]
Stephen Muss | |
---|---|
Born | 1928 (age 95–96) |
Nationality | American |
Occupation(s) | Businessman, investor, philanthropist |
Known for | Presiding over the resurgence and redevelopment of Miami Beach, Florida |
Spouse | Sandra Paul Muss |
Parent | Alexander Muss |
Family | Isaac Muss (grandfather) |
Stephen Muss (born 1928) [1] is an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist known for leading the resurgence and redevelopment of Miami Beach, Florida.
Muss was born to a Jewish family in New York City [2] [3] and raised in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. [4] His father, Alexander, was one of eleven children, six of them brothers who worked for their father's construction company building homes during and after the Great Depression. [2] Muss worked for the family business first as a laborer and then in sales and construction supervision. [2]
Muss eventually went into a partnership with his father founding Alexander Muss & Sons developing 30 acres of tract homes on Long Island. [2] From 1952 through 1968, they went on to develop over 20 subdivisions with about 20,000 houses in Queens, New Jersey, and on Long Island; they also built over 4,000 multifamily units. [1] In the 1950s, his family moved to Florida [2] where his father, now a multi-millionaire, built the Seacoast Towers in Miami Beach, [2] known for the distinctive MiMO architectural style, the Towers of Key Biscayne, and the Towers of Quayside. [4] In 1967, Stephen took over the Florida business, now named the Muss Organization, becoming Miami Beach's single largest landlord. [4]
In 1978, Muss bought the largest hotel in Miami-Dade County, the aging Fontainebleau Hotel (founded by Ben Novack), for $27 million [4] rescuing it from bankruptcy. [2] He injected an additional $100 million into the hotel for improvements [2] and hired the Hilton company to manage it. [4] In 2005, the Muss Organization sold the Fontainebleau to Donald Soffer's Turnberry Associates [5] for $165 million. [4]
Muss was seminal in getting Miami Beach to implement a 3% "bed" tax to rebuild the city's aging infrastructure [4] which included refurbishing and expanding its convention center. [4] [6] He was the president of the Miami Beach Redevelopment Agency. [7] In 1994, he sold the Seacoast Towers for $94 million. [4]
Muss is the chairman of the Alexander Muss High School in Israel and honorary chairman of The Lapid, Coalition for High School Age Programs in Israel. [8] [9] Muss has served as Board Chair of Temple Emanu-El and also served on the board of the Miami Art Museum and on the Board of Governors of Haifa University. [10]
Muss married the ex-wife of his friend and CenTrust banker David L. Paul, who was sentenced to eleven years in federal prison. [4] His wife Sandra is a daughter of Holocaust survivors and was Board Chair of the Holocaust Memorial in Miami Beach. She is currently a member of the Board of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC). [10] The Musses are members of Temple Emanu-El in Miami Beach. [10]