Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/231459
MATTHEW (RIGHT) WITH HIS SON, JOHN, IN 2003 AT RECON father's footsteps again in 2006 when he became chairman of ICSC's Board of Trustees; the Bucksbaums were the first father and son to both serve in this role. By the time Matthew Bucksbaum retired in 2007, the company owned and managed malls comprising more than 200 million square feet of retail space and had 4,700 employees. Over the course of four decades, he had overseen $22 billion in shopping center acquisitions. He had come a long way from the uncertain days of that first shopping center project in Cedar Rapids, when he and his brother hawked the family jewels to help cover their costs, Bucksbaum once said at an ICSC convention. Yet his colleagues and business partners say he rarely talked about his own success, preferring to focus on those around him instead. "He always asked questions about what you do, and did not talk too much about what he had done. That was a great quality because, when you partnered with him, you always felt like an important partner," said René Tremblay, a past chairman of ICSC's Board of Trustees and formerly president and CEO of Montréal's Ivanhoe Cambridge, which teamed up with General Growth in a number of U.S. mall acquisitions. "Within the whole organization, the values he transmitted were really in place." Tremblay now heads up Taubman Asia. In addition to his involvement with ICSC, Matthew Bucksbaum was active in a number of other professional organizations, including the Urban Land Institute and the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts. Along with other family members, he was a big supporter of the arts, generously contributing time and money to the Aspen Music Festival and School, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Lyric Opera of Chicago. Bucksbaum was a lifetime trustee and past chairman of the Aspen festival, an organization with which he was involved for more than 25 years. He was a trustee of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Lyric Opera of Chicago. He was also devoted to the University of Chicago's medical school; and with his wife, Carolyn, he co-founded the Bucks- baum Institute for Clinical Excellence. In addition he provided scholarships for young people to pursue careers in various fields, including music and the shopping center industry. "He and other members of his family built a vast and successful organization, one that was widely seen as good to work for, that developed and operated good projects, that looked to go from good to better. Much of that was due to Matthew," said Riordan. "Wealth comes in a number of different forms. Matthew earned many types of it and then gave of it unstintingly." Michael Kercheval, ICSC's president and CEO, also noted Bucksbaum's generosity. "The Bucksbaums' role in the development of the shopping center industry makes for one of the most compelling stories in the history of any industry," he said. "Some call their entry into the shopping center business an accident; if so, it was one of the happiest accidents ever to befall our industry. A happy accident to those outside the industry too, given how many in so many other fields benefited from Matthew's enormous generosity." In addition to his wife of 61 years, he is survived by children, John Bucksbaum (wife Jacolyn) and Ann B. Friedman (husband Thomas L.) as well as grandchildren Orly D. Friedman, Natalie F. Winston (husband Daniel) and Max and Eli Bucksbaum; and his brother, Maurice Bucksbaum (wife Dorothy). The funeral was held Nov. 26, at Temple B'nai Jeshurun, in Des Moines. A memorial service will be held in the next few months in Chicago. SCT For the latest breaking news about shopping center development and the retail industry from Shopping Centers Today, follow @sctnews on Twitter and "like" us on Facebook. J AN UAR Y 201 4 / SCT 53