David Y. Lee is an American

real estate 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 land and the sale of developed land or parcels to others. R ...

known for holdings in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Early life

David Y. Lee was born 1955. He graduated from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

, where he received a medical degree.

Career

Lee began investing in properties after the

1992 Los Angeles riots The 1992 Los Angeles riots, sometimes called the 1992 Los Angeles uprising and the Los Angeles Race Riots, were a series of riots and civil disturbances that occurred in Los Angeles County, California, in April and May 1992. Unrest began in S ...

. He acquired the

California Mart The California Mart, also known as California Market Center, are three high-rise buildings in Los Angeles, California, USA. Location The buildings are located in the Fashion District of Downtown Los Angeles. The main entrance is on Olympic Boul ...

from investor

Judah Hertz Judah Hertz (born 1948/1949 - died Feb. 4, 2021) was an American real estate investor and philanthropist. He was the founder of the Hertz Investment Group and owned many office buildings in Downtown Los Angeles, the New Orleans Central Business Dis ...

for US$135 million in 2004-2005. His company, Jamison Properties, has a portfolio valued at $3 billion in 2008 and includes Banco Popular Center, MCI Center and Macy's Plaza in downtown LA. Much of his portfolio is concentrated in properties on

Wilshire Boulevard Wilshire Boulevard is a prominent boulevard in the Los Angeles area of Southern California, extending from Ocean Avenue in the city of Santa Monica east to Grand Avenue in the Financial District of downtown Los Angeles. One of the principal ...

. In 2013, Jamison sold the former Macy's Plaza multi-use complex for $241 million to The Ratkovich Company. On Feb. 23, 2018, at a meeting with Los Angeles City Council President

Herb Wesson Herman J. "Herb" Wesson Jr. (born November 11, 1951) is an American politician who served as a City council, councilmember representing the Los Angeles City Council District 10, 10th District for three terms between July 1, 2005 and December 14, ...

and a community advocacy group that had campaigned against his project at 3700 Wilshire Boulevard, Dr. Lee reportedly said he would use his

AR-15 An AR-15-style rifle is any lightweight semi-automatic rifle based on the Colt AR-15 design. The original ArmaLite AR-15 is a scaled-down derivative of Eugene Stoner's ArmaLite AR-10 design. The then Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation d ...

rifle to shoot people who step on his land. Dr. David Lee later apologized for his remarks. Following the Los Angeles City Council’s vote to make 3700 Wilshire Boulevard a Historic-Cultural Monument, preserving the building and the park, Jamison Properties agreed to preserve the disputed open space. Garrett Lee, president of Jamison Properties and Dr. Lee’s son, said the company respected the city’s decision and would preserve the open space. He said the company was proud to be a part of Koreatown and wanted to work with the community “for the betterment of our neighborhood.”

Philanthropy

Lee serves on the board of directors of the Korean American Museum. He has made charitable contributions to the

UCLA School of Dentistry The UCLA School of Dentistry is the dental school of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) located in the Center for Health Sciences building in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. The school has seve ...

Personal life

Lee is married to Miki M. Nam, a dentist. Dr. Lee has four children. Three of his children work for Jamison Realty, the company he founded. His daughter, Jaime Lee, serves as CEO of Jamison, his son Garrett leads the residential development company, and Phil runs the commercial property management.

References

Living people Businesspeople from Los Angeles Northwestern University alumni American real estate businesspeople Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-business-bio-stub