Sherman W. Dreiseszun (May 23, 1922 – December 3, 2007) was a banker and real estate developer who built

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

's two tallest buildings as well as several shopping malls throughout the

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

Early life

Dreiseszun was the son of Polish Jewish immigrants. He was born at 1734 Prospect Avenue in the

18th and Vine 18 (eighteen) is the natural number following 17 and preceding 19. In mathematics * Eighteen is a composite number, its divisors being 1, 2, 3, 6 and 9. Three of these divisors (3, 6 and 9) add up to 18, hence 18 is a semiperfect number. ...

Jazz District of

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

. He served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

as a crewmember on B-17 planes. In 1946, he and nephew Frank Morgan (four years his junior) formed a partnership Vic-Gene Manufacturing Inc. to sell women's wear to

-area stores.

Shopping malls and banking empire

In the 1960s, it branched into building shopping malls opening the French Market in Overland Park, Kansas. In 1964, they took over a struggling effort to build the East Hills Mall in

St. Joseph, Missouri St. Joseph is a city in and the county seat of Buchanan County, Missouri. Small parts of St. Joseph extend into Andrew County. Located on the Missouri River, it is the principal city of the St. Joseph Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includ ...

They operated under the name of MD Management. In 1967, they opened

Metcalf South Shopping Center Metcalf South Shopping Center was a shopping mall in Overland Park, Kansas. It opened in 1967, near a large, unique department store called the French Market, which later became a strip mall anchored by Kmart and Hancock Fabrics (the Kmart closed ...

which was the first large indoor mall in the Kansas City area. They would also establish a banking network Mission Bank in Mission, Kansas, Metro North State Bank in Kansas City, Missouri, Valley View State Bank in Overland Park Industrial State Bank in

Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City, abbreviated as "KCK", is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As of the ...

and Security Bank of Kansas City as well as Merchants Bank in Kansas City. The banks would finance their expansion. Some of the projects would be done in conjunction with

Copaken, White & Blitt Copaken Brooks, formerly Copaken, White & Blitt is a privately owned full-service commercial real estate developer headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri that acquires, develops, leases, manages and sells various types of commercial assets withi ...

Rebuilding the Kansas City skyline

In addition to building suburban shopping centers, they made their mark with the construction of Kansas City's two tallest buildings—the

Town Pavilion Town Pavilion is a 38-story skyscraper at 1111 Main Street on the northeast corner of 12th and Main Streets in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, around the corner from Oppenstein Brothers Memorial Park. The tower occupies the former site of seve ...

in 1986 and

One Kansas City Place One Kansas City Place is the tallest building in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, bounded by 12th Street to the north, Baltimore Avenue to the west, and Main Street to the east. Built in 1988, this 18 ...

in 1987. The buildings changed the landscape of downtown Kansas City where the Kansas City Power and Light Building had stood as the tallest since 1931. One Kansas City Place is twenty one feet taller than the Gateway Arch. In 1985 and 1991, he and Morgan were listed on the ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

'' list of richest Americans with more than $500 million in assets.

Collapse

Their empire took big hits in the early 1990s when their banks faltered in the Savings and loan crisis. They were charged with bid rigging for leasing its office space. Morgan died in 1993 proclaiming his innocence. The FDIC prohibited Dreiseszun from being involved with the banks. In 1996, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges and paid a $375,000 fine and would regain control of many of his banks via the Valley View Financial Group.

Personal life

In 1956, he married Irene Friedman; they had three children, Helene Dreiseszun Abrahams, Richard Dreiseszun, and Barbara Dreiseszun. He was president for life at Kehilath Israel Synagogue in Overland Park and was active with Jewish philanthropies.

Shopping malls

*Buckingham Square Mall (now The Gardens on Havana), Aurora, Colorado * Crestview Hills Mall, Crestview Hills, Kentucky * East Hills Mall in

Saint Joseph, Missouri St. Joseph is a city in and the county seat of Buchanan County, Missouri. Small parts of St. Joseph extend into Andrew County. Located on the Missouri River, it is the principal city of the St. Joseph Metropolitan Statistical Area, which inclu ...

(1965) *French Market, Overland Park, Kansas *

, Overland Park, Kansas (1967-2014) *

Metro North Mall Metro North Mall was a mall located at 400 NW Barry Road, in Kansas City, Missouri, United States Metro North opened in 1976 and was the only enclosed mall located north of the Missouri River in the Kansas City metro area, as well as being the ...

(1976-2014) * Oak Park Mall, Overland Park, Kansas (1975) *

Southwyck Shopping Center Southwyck Mall was a shopping mall in southern Toledo, Ohio. After the final anchor (Dillard's) left, along with most of the inline stores, the mall closed on June 29, 2008. History The mall first opened in August 1972 by Kansas City developers ...

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and according ...

(1972-2008) Demolished in 2009 *West Main Mall,

Kalamazoo, Michigan Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropolit ...

* Westminster Mall,

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

(1977-2011)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dreiseszun, Sherman 1922 births 2007 deaths Businesspeople from Kansas City, Missouri American real estate businesspeople American bankers American people of Polish-Jewish descent United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II 20th-century American philanthropists 20th-century American businesspeople