Douglas Shorenstein who is known as the second-generation leader of one of San Francisco’s real estate, died of cancer at his home.
The 60-year-old real estate tycoon owns Shorenstein Properties that has sponsored 11 closed-end real estate investment funds of $7.9 billion in almost 60 million square feet of property over the last 20 years.
Prior to joining the real estate company that was founded by his father Walter Shorenstein in 1983, he was an attorney at the law firm Shearman & Sterling in New York. When he became executive officer in 1995, the firm branched out wherein they develop both old and new properties like the global headquarters of Twitter.
The company owns iconic structures including San Francisco’s Bank of America Building at 555 California, Chicago’s John Hancock Tower, Hamilton Square in Washington, D.C., Park Avenue Tower in New York, and 1201 Third Avenue in Seattle.
Aside from that, he was also well known for his philanthropic contributions like his investment in Aim High, which is a "Bay Area nonprofit that provides no-cost summer academic programs in San Francisco, Oakland, Marin County and San Mateo County," Biz Journals wrote.
“Education is an organization in transition where our involvement would make a real difference in the neighborhoods where we were doing business and where our employees could participate as volunteers or clients of the service,” Shorenstein told the Business Times back in 2011.
Shorenstein also did many remarkable decisions during his leadership of the Shorenstein Properties like how he invested heavily in tech-friendly warehouse-style buildings such as the Western Furniture Exchange and Merchandise Mart in San Francisco.
He is also remembered as generous, kind and “had this unbelievable instinctive intelligence for real estate,” Len Baker, a partner with financial consultants Sutter Hill Ventures and board member of Shorenstein Properties said.
“It was the two sides of him that made him such an interesting man. He was a guy who wanted to do good for the world, but he wanted to do it in a very practical way,” Baker added according to SF Gate.
The real estate giant is survived by his wife Lydia and their three children, Brandon, Sandra and Danielle as well as his sister, Carole Shorenstein Hayes.
