Izek Shomof

Izek Shomof (born c. 1959) is an Israeli-born, American real estate developer, investor, one-time film producer and former restaurateur. Born in Tel Aviv, he dropped out of high school to open restaurants and an autoshop. Since the 1990s, he has restored many historic buildings in Downtown Los Angeles. He has been honored for his philanthropic work in reducing homelessness in Los Angeles.

Izek Shomof
Born1959/1960 (age 60–61)[1]
Tel Aviv, Israel
OccupationReal estate developer
Spouse(s)Aline Shomof
Children5
Parent(s)Hanan Shomof
Sara Shomof

Early life

Izek Shomof was born July 28, 1959 in Tel Aviv, Israel.[1] His parents, Hanana and Sara Shomof, owned a bar in Tel Aviv until they emigrated to Los Angeles, California in 1973.[1] His brother, Jacob, owned a restaurant in Los Angeles.[1]

Shomof went to high school in Hollywood from 14 to 16, when he dropped out.[1]

Career

After working in his brother's restaurant, Shomof opened his own restaurant, Tony's Burger, in Downtown Los Angeles, at 16.[1] By the age of 18, he had owned three restaurants, and he opened an autoshop on Pico Boulevard called Star Auto Body.[1]

The Hotel Alexandria in Downtown Los Angeles, prior to its restoration.

Shomofs Elder brother purchased Spring Tower Lofts located at 639 South Spring Street in the Spring Street Financial District of Downtown Los Angeles for US$1 million in 1991.[1][2] and brought his 2 brothers in as partners one of them being Izek, Izek cleverly pushed his then struggling older brother out of the property to forge his new ventures into real estate. Izek later converted it in 2000 to 36 lofts being first to use the adaptive reuse ordinance.[1] Meanwhile, he also acquired and restored the Premiere Towers at 621 South Spring Street.[1]

As an investor, Shomof acquired the historic Leland Hotel, the King Edward Hotel, the Hotel Alexandria, the Baltimore Hotel in 2012.[3][4] Additionally, he acquired the Hayward Hotel, The City Lofts, The Corporation Building, Property in China Town and other Office/retail buildings throughout Los Angeles.

Shomof produced For the Love of Money, a crime film starring James Caan, Jeffrey Tambor and Edward Furlong, in 2012.[1]

In 2013, Shomof purchased the Sears, Roebuck & Company Mail Order Building in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles for US$29 million from Mark Weinstein, another developer.[5] Shomof expressed his intention to transform the building to 1,030 apartments, 200,000SF of creative office and 100,000SF of retail shopping/restaurants.[6]

Shomof secured entitlements for a 34-story tower at 4th and Broadway, and subsequently sold the site to SCG America, a subsidiary of Shanghai Construction Group, for $32 million in 2015.[7]

Shomof purchased the Rialto Theatre in South Pasadena, California in 2015.[8] Additionally, he made a US$80 million bid on the Revel Atlantic City in Atlantic City, New Jersey.[9]

Philanthropy

Shomof believes homelessness must end on Skid Row, as it is "inhumane".[10] With his business partner Leo Pustilnikov, Shomof was honored by the LAMP Community, a non-profit organization which aims to prevent homelessness in Los Angeles, in 2015.[11]

Personal life

Shomof has a wife, Aline,[2] and five children.[1] They reside in Beverly Hills, California.[1] He collects cars, and has over 100 cars in his collection ranging from old American Muscle to brand new exotic supercars. Shomof owns a Ford GT 40 signed by Carroll Shelby and a newer Ford GT.[1]

References
  1. Or-el, Ayala (April 4, 2016). "Izek Shomof is driving the Downtown L.A. revival". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  2. Freeman, Keri (April 18, 2013). "Building Downtown from the Ground Up". Downtown LA Examiner. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  3. Vincent, Roger (March 5, 2012). "Three downtown Los Angeles hotels are sold to developers". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  4. Vaillancourt, Ryan (June 25, 2013). "Downtown's Quiet Bel Air Buyer". LA Downtown News. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  5. Vincent, Roger (November 20, 2013). "Sears building in Boyle Heights sells to developer for $29 million". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  6. Vincent, Roger (November 21, 2013). "Owner of historic Sears site in Boyle Heights sees eastward growth". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  7. Slayton, Nicholas (September 21, 2017). "Historic Core Tower Breaks Ground Today". LA Downtown News. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  8. Shyong, Frank (January 9, 2015). "South Pasadena's historic Rialto Theatre sold to downtown developer". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  9. Rosenberg, Amy S. (March 4, 2015). "UPDATE: Judge puts off approving Revel proposed sale, part 3, to allow other offers". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  10. Holland, Gale (August 23, 2014). "For skid row residents and advocates, mural is a sign of survival". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  11. "LAMP Meets 30. Save the Date for our Fall Affair". LAMP Community. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
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