| Robert H. Smith |
Robert Smith, 81, dies; created Arlington's Crystal City
By Matt Schudel and T. Rees Shapiro
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Robert H. Smith, a real estate mogul and philanthropist who created the sprawling
government and commercial center of Crystal City in Arlington County, and who built his
family's company into the single largest property owner in the Washington region, died
Dec. 29 at Winchester Medical Center in Winchester, Va. He was 81 and had a stroke.
Mr. Smith took over his father's businesses, the Charles E. Smith companies, in 1967 and
ran them for many years with his brother-in-law, Robert P. Kogod. Together they
transformed the family-owned construction firm into a multifaceted real estate empire,
building office complexes and apartment houses and eventually becoming Washington's
largest commercial real estate landlords.
Having amassed a fortune in real estate, Mr. Smith devoted increased attention in recent
years to philanthropy, giving hundreds of millions of dollars to universities, museums and
historic landmarks. He was the single largest donor to his alma mater, the University of
Maryland, which named its business school after him in 1998. Another bequest led to the
university's naming its performing arts center for his wife, Clarice Smith.
Mr. Smith and his wife were noted art collectors who have given many important works to
the National Gallery of Art, and their collection of Italian bronze Renaissance sculptures is considered one of the finest in the world. For 10 years, Mr.
Smith was president of the National Gallery's board of trustees.
But it was as a visionary builder that Mr. Smith left his greatest mark on Washington. He first began working with his father as a teenager and went against
his advice when he saw possibilities lurking beyond the Potomac River in Arlington. When Mr. Smith first surveyed the area in 1961, it was a dilapidated,
somewhat desolate neighborhood far removed from the District's corridors of power.
"It was a conglomeration of places that sold junk, used tires, a drive-in movie theater, a run-down ice skating rink, second-hand materials -- it was very
unattractive," he told The Washington Post in 1996. "I did see that there was an airport, there was the Pentagon, and that driving to D.C. was a pretty
short distance."
Negotiating a 99-year lease with a brick company, Mr. Smith launched the construction of two apartment buildings. He put a crystal chandelier in the lobby
of the first building, which he named Crystal House. A one-bedroom apartment rented for $145 a month, including all utilities.
The next few buildings the Smith family developed in the area all contained the name Crystal: Crystal Gateway, Crystal Towers, Crystal Square, Crystal
Plaza. Many were on Crystal Drive, where Mr. Smith lived in a penthouse apartment.
In 1964, the first office building went up in Crystal City, and Mr. Smith conceived of a plan to lure government offices by offering bargain lease rates of
$4.09 a square foot, promising not to raise the rent for 10 years. Over the next 20 years, his family's business put up more than 40 buildings in Crystal City.
"Now, at the time, none of us dreamed that these two buildings would be the entree to a 42-building complex," Mr. Smith said.
"He identified Crystal City before anyone else," said Benjamin R. Jacobs of JBG Companies. "His career is nothing short of astonishing."
"Bob Smith and the Charles E. Smith Companies -- along with Oliver Carr, the Cafritz family, the Gewirtz families -- set the framework of modern
Washington. If you go back in time to the '60s and '70s, they began the investing in what we now know as the modern downtown Washington," said Rich
Bradley, executive director of D.C.'s Downtown Business Improvement District.
Mr. Smith and Kogod also built apartment houses along Connecticut Avenue and other large developments in Washington, Baileys Crossroads and near
Dulles International Airport.
Kogod supervised the leasing and management, and Mr. Smith focused on construction, financing and the company's overall vision. The firm remained in
family hands until 1994, when public stock was first offered. Forbes magazine estimated the Smith family fortune at more than $560 million in 1995.
In 2001, the Charles E. Smith companies merged with Vornado, a New York real estate leasing firm. Mr. Smith became chairman of the joint company,
which owns more than 18 million square feet of commercial real estate in metropolitan Washington, according to its Web site.
"The person who is afraid to take risks and make mistakes will never achieve everything of which he or she is capable," Mr. Smith said during a 2008
commencement address at U-Md. "That is because failure is the marker that tells us when we have reached our limits. One of the five greatest mistakes
you can make in life is to be continually afraid you will make one."
Robert Hilton Smith was born July 21, 1928, in Brooklyn, N.Y., where his Russian-born father had settled as a child. The family moved to Washington in
1942, and Mr. Smith graduated from Anacostia High School in 1946, the same year his father formed the Charles E. Smith Construction Co. He joined
the firm after graduating from U-Md. in 1950
.
Mr. Smith gave nearly $100 million to U-Md., including $30 million each to the performing arts center and the business school.
"Bob Smith is the greatest philanthropic supporter of public education in the history of the state of Maryland," U-Md. President C.D. Mote Jr. said. Mr.
Smith often visited the campus to speak to business students and to keep an eye on the buildings that bore his name.
In 2004, Mr. Smith gave $15 million to establish the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies at the new visitors center at Monticello,
Thomas Jefferson's home, near Charlottesville. He also donated to historic sites such as James Madison's home, Montpelier, Mount Vernon, the Lincoln
Cottage in Washington and Gettysburg National Military Park.
Mr. Smith owned a 580-acre estate in Fauquier County's Upperville, which he bought in part from former Washington Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke.
He lived next to Paul Mellon, who tutored him in art collecting. The annual Upperville Colt and Horse Show, the oldest continuous horse show in the
country, is held on his property.
A son, Steven Smith, died in 2003.
Survivors include his wife of 57 years, Clarice Chasen Smith of Arlington and Upperville; two children, Michelle Smith of Washington and David Bruce
Smith of Bethesda; a sister, Arlene R. Kogod of Washington; and four grandchildren.
Mr. Smith said he and his wife collected European paintings for years before deciding to focus on sculptures. He promised the entire collection to the
National Gallery
.
"Life is a two-way street," he told a gallery publication in November. "Those of us fortunate enough to generate more funds than we need have a
responsibility to give back. I feel my responsibility is to America."
Staff writer Thomas Heath contributed to this report.
By Matt Schudel and T. Rees Shapiro
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Robert H. Smith, a real estate mogul and philanthropist who created the sprawling
government and commercial center of Crystal City in Arlington County, and who built his
family's company into the single largest property owner in the Washington region, died
Dec. 29 at Winchester Medical Center in Winchester, Va. He was 81 and had a stroke.
Mr. Smith took over his father's businesses, the Charles E. Smith companies, in 1967 and
ran them for many years with his brother-in-law, Robert P. Kogod. Together they
transformed the family-owned construction firm into a multifaceted real estate empire,
building office complexes and apartment houses and eventually becoming Washington's
largest commercial real estate landlords.
Having amassed a fortune in real estate, Mr. Smith devoted increased attention in recent
years to philanthropy, giving hundreds of millions of dollars to universities, museums and
historic landmarks. He was the single largest donor to his alma mater, the University of
Maryland, which named its business school after him in 1998. Another bequest led to the
university's naming its performing arts center for his wife, Clarice Smith.
Mr. Smith and his wife were noted art collectors who have given many important works to
the National Gallery of Art, and their collection of Italian bronze Renaissance sculptures is considered one of the finest in the world. For 10 years, Mr.
Smith was president of the National Gallery's board of trustees.
But it was as a visionary builder that Mr. Smith left his greatest mark on Washington. He first began working with his father as a teenager and went against
his advice when he saw possibilities lurking beyond the Potomac River in Arlington. When Mr. Smith first surveyed the area in 1961, it was a dilapidated,
somewhat desolate neighborhood far removed from the District's corridors of power.
"It was a conglomeration of places that sold junk, used tires, a drive-in movie theater, a run-down ice skating rink, second-hand materials -- it was very
unattractive," he told The Washington Post in 1996. "I did see that there was an airport, there was the Pentagon, and that driving to D.C. was a pretty
short distance."
Negotiating a 99-year lease with a brick company, Mr. Smith launched the construction of two apartment buildings. He put a crystal chandelier in the lobby
of the first building, which he named Crystal House. A one-bedroom apartment rented for $145 a month, including all utilities.
The next few buildings the Smith family developed in the area all contained the name Crystal: Crystal Gateway, Crystal Towers, Crystal Square, Crystal
Plaza. Many were on Crystal Drive, where Mr. Smith lived in a penthouse apartment.
In 1964, the first office building went up in Crystal City, and Mr. Smith conceived of a plan to lure government offices by offering bargain lease rates of
$4.09 a square foot, promising not to raise the rent for 10 years. Over the next 20 years, his family's business put up more than 40 buildings in Crystal City.
"Now, at the time, none of us dreamed that these two buildings would be the entree to a 42-building complex," Mr. Smith said.
"He identified Crystal City before anyone else," said Benjamin R. Jacobs of JBG Companies. "His career is nothing short of astonishing."
"Bob Smith and the Charles E. Smith Companies -- along with Oliver Carr, the Cafritz family, the Gewirtz families -- set the framework of modern
Washington. If you go back in time to the '60s and '70s, they began the investing in what we now know as the modern downtown Washington," said Rich
Bradley, executive director of D.C.'s Downtown Business Improvement District.
Mr. Smith and Kogod also built apartment houses along Connecticut Avenue and other large developments in Washington, Baileys Crossroads and near
Dulles International Airport.
Kogod supervised the leasing and management, and Mr. Smith focused on construction, financing and the company's overall vision. The firm remained in
family hands until 1994, when public stock was first offered. Forbes magazine estimated the Smith family fortune at more than $560 million in 1995.
In 2001, the Charles E. Smith companies merged with Vornado, a New York real estate leasing firm. Mr. Smith became chairman of the joint company,
which owns more than 18 million square feet of commercial real estate in metropolitan Washington, according to its Web site.
"The person who is afraid to take risks and make mistakes will never achieve everything of which he or she is capable," Mr. Smith said during a 2008
commencement address at U-Md. "That is because failure is the marker that tells us when we have reached our limits. One of the five greatest mistakes
you can make in life is to be continually afraid you will make one."
Robert Hilton Smith was born July 21, 1928, in Brooklyn, N.Y., where his Russian-born father had settled as a child. The family moved to Washington in
1942, and Mr. Smith graduated from Anacostia High School in 1946, the same year his father formed the Charles E. Smith Construction Co. He joined
the firm after graduating from U-Md. in 1950
.
Mr. Smith gave nearly $100 million to U-Md., including $30 million each to the performing arts center and the business school.
"Bob Smith is the greatest philanthropic supporter of public education in the history of the state of Maryland," U-Md. President C.D. Mote Jr. said. Mr.
Smith often visited the campus to speak to business students and to keep an eye on the buildings that bore his name.
In 2004, Mr. Smith gave $15 million to establish the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies at the new visitors center at Monticello,
Thomas Jefferson's home, near Charlottesville. He also donated to historic sites such as James Madison's home, Montpelier, Mount Vernon, the Lincoln
Cottage in Washington and Gettysburg National Military Park.
Mr. Smith owned a 580-acre estate in Fauquier County's Upperville, which he bought in part from former Washington Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke.
He lived next to Paul Mellon, who tutored him in art collecting. The annual Upperville Colt and Horse Show, the oldest continuous horse show in the
country, is held on his property.
A son, Steven Smith, died in 2003.
Survivors include his wife of 57 years, Clarice Chasen Smith of Arlington and Upperville; two children, Michelle Smith of Washington and David Bruce
Smith of Bethesda; a sister, Arlene R. Kogod of Washington; and four grandchildren.
Mr. Smith said he and his wife collected European paintings for years before deciding to focus on sculptures. He promised the entire collection to the
National Gallery
.
"Life is a two-way street," he told a gallery publication in November. "Those of us fortunate enough to generate more funds than we need have a
responsibility to give back. I feel my responsibility is to America."
Staff writer Thomas Heath contributed to this report.
U-Md. President C.D. Mote Jr. and Robert Smith look
at a sculpture that Smith gave to the Smithsonian.
(Rebecca D'angelo)
Robert H. Smith was a noted art collector and
philanthropist. (Gerald Martineau - The Washington
Post)
at a sculpture that Smith gave to the Smithsonian.
(Rebecca D'angelo)
Robert H. Smith was a noted art collector and
philanthropist. (Gerald Martineau - The Washington
Post)