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 Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) contains the central business district of Los Angeles. In addition, it contains a diverse residential area of some 85,000 people, and covers . A 2013 study found that the district is home to over 500,000 jobs. It is ...

, the New Orleans Central Business District and cities across the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

Early life

Judah Hertz was born circa 1948/1949 in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Career

Hertz founded the Hertz Investment Group, a real estate investment company based in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

, in 1979. The company includes a subsidiary, Sapphire Gaming, which invests in casinos. Hertz 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 ...

, also known as the California Market Center, in

in 2000, only to sell the building complex to investor David Lee for US$135 million in 2004-2005. By 2000, Hertz was the owner of "about 3 million square feet of office space" in Downtown Los Angeles. Hertz acquired the

Comstock Hotel & Casino The Comstock Hotel & Casino is a former hotel and casino in Reno, Nevada, USA. The building is now home to the Residences at Riverwalk Towers. History The construction of the hotel and casino began in 1977, and it was completed in May 1978. It was ...

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

in 1999, but sold it by 2000. However, by 2000, he was denied a license in

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

by the Nevada Gaming Commission, then chaired by

Brian Sandoval Brian Edward Sandoval (; born August 5, 1963) is an American politician, academic administrator, and former federal judge who served as the 29th Governor of Nevada from 2011 to 2019. A graduate of the University of Nevada, Reno, Sandoval began ...

. Hertz denied any wrongdoing. Four weeks before

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

in 2002, Hertz acquired several buildings in the

Central Business District A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, including the Hyatt Regency, the Dominion Tower and the New Orleans Centre. He also acquired the Poydras Center, the Louisiana Land and Exploration Company Building, the Texaco Center on Poydras Street. In total, he spent US$200 million. Hertz weathered the hurricane thanks to his insurance. By 2006, Hertz was in disagreement with

Laurence S. Geller Laurence Stephen Geller, CBE, (born November 1947) is a British-American real estate investor, author and philanthropist. He served as the founder, president and chief executive officer of Strategic Hotels & Resorts from 1997 to 2012. He is the ch ...

, the chief executive officer of the

Strategic Hotels & Resorts Strategic Hotels & Resorts is an American REIT in the hospitality industry. It was publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange as BEE. The company owns 18 luxury hotels, 17 of which are located in the United States and one of which is in German ...

, over the ownership of the Hyatt Regency. Hertz subsequently acquired buildings in Downtown Memphis. In 2007, he began acquiring buildings in

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the Capital city, capital of and the List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, Mississippi, ...

, including the "Pinnacle, One Jackson Place, 111 East Capitol, Regions Plaza and Regions Bank Building." By 2015, Hertz returned to investing in New Orleans real estate and acquired One Shell Square. He also acquired office buildings in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 census, it is the second-largest city in South Carolina. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the city ...

and Greensboro, North Carolina. Hertz spent US$417 million on the buildings in the four cities. That same year, he acquired City Centre, another high-rise building in Jackson, Mississippi, from

Parkway Properties Parkway Properties, Inc. was a real estate investment trust that invested in office buildings in the Sun Belt. In 2016, the company was acquired by Cousins Properties. Notable properties owned by the company included Liberty Place, Phoenix T ...

Philanthropy

Hertz has held an annual fundraiser for the Ahmanson/UCLA Adult Congenital Heart Disease Center at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

since 1997. For example, it raised US$155,000 in 2003. Hertz serves on the World Chairman's Council of the

Jewish National Fund Jewish National Fund ( he, קֶרֶן קַיֶּימֶת לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, ''Keren Kayemet LeYisrael'', previously , ''Ha Fund HaLeumi'') was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Syria (later Mandatory Palestine, and subseq ...

, which means he has donated US$1 million or more to the JNF.

Personal life

Hertz had a wife, Astrid. Their wedding was held in Bel Air, Los Angeles in 2013. He passed away on Feb. 4, 2021, in Los Angeles, Ca.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hertz, Judah Living people People from Brooklyn People from Malibu, California American real estate businesspeople American company founders Philanthropists from California Jewish American philanthropists 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople Philanthropists from New York (state) Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century American philanthropists 21st-century philanthropists 21st-century American Jews