Sam Kornblau (Photo courtesy of Bliley’s)
The Richmond real estate scene lost another big name this week.
Sam Kornblau, affectionately known to many as The Chief, died Wednesday after a long career in development and construction that spanned back to the late 1940s. He was 91.
Through his companies, Grigg and Kornblau, Realty Industries Inc., and later SAMCO Development, Kornblau built a massive portfolio of thousands of properties including single-family homes, commercial properties and apartments throughout Richmond and eastern North Carolina.
Also immense was his influence on what today are some of the largest real estate companies operating in the region. And his name and financial influence are imprinted on local institutions, such as Virginia Commonwealth University, and more recently the Richmond Flying Squirrels.
Born in Church Hill, Kornblau built Realty Industries Inc., a Richmond-based REIT that he took public in 1971. The company in 1984 was sold to create United Dominion Realty – now known as UDR – which today is one of the largest apartment REITs in the country.
It was through leftover properties from that deal that he was able to give a jump-start to Eagle Construction, the then-fledgling company of his son, Bryan. That eventually spawned the Eagle Cos., an umbrella firm that includes homebuilding, commercial construction, real estate brokerage and a private equity arm. The Eagle Cos. was recently bought by local insurance giant Markel for an undisclosed sum.
Bryan Kornblau and Bud Ohly, who runs Eagle Construction, said The Chief was drawn to the real estate industry because of its inherent challenges.
“It was the degree of difficulty,” Bryan said.
He also liked being able to see the finished product, Ohly said.
“He liked accomplishing things,” Ohly said, “and he enjoyed driving by (his projects).”
The Chief became sort of famous for those drive-bys or “rides,” as everyone called them.
Determined to check on the status of a project, even on weekends, he would ask one of his kids or grandkids or even his accountant to “go for a ride.”
“What that meant was he was going to have company while visiting his job sites,” Bryan said.
Those rides for a long time were taken in station wagons. Kornblau always drove a station wagon, until automakers stopped making them, Bryan joked. Then he switched to Cadillacs – and always the same color Cadillac in the hope that people wouldn’t notice when he upgraded to a new model. Frugality was another of his traits, Bryan said.
“He was a conservative financier. He didn’t believe in getting over extended.”
In addition to real estate, Kornblau loved cigars, blackjack and baseball. One of his preferred settings for dealmaking was out at Parker Field, the baseball stadium that was home to the Virginians and later the Richmond Braves. (Today, it’s the site of The Diamond.)
“He told me he did more deals at Parker Field than he did on the golf course,” Bryan said. (Kornblau just months ago bought a stake in the Richmond Flying Squirrels.)
Mike Gracik, a partner at the Keiter accounting firm and Kornblau’s accountant for more than 30 years, said The Chief’s reach into the industry grew even after the UDR deal could have allowed him to retire.
“After that, a lot of folks came to him with various real estate projects they wanted to do but didn’t have the money,” Grascic said. “Sam kind of acted as a banker for a lot of those projects and helped a lot of developers get those projects financed and completed. He just loved being engaged in the deals and talking about deals.”
Among many projects, he helped fund the development of CrossRidge, a mixed-use development in Henrico County that brought together other big names like Carlton Wilton and Bob Atack. Atack died last week.
Kornblau had a unique connection to Carlton Wilton, founder of the Wilton Cos., and served on Wilton’s board. Both also groomed their sons into the next generation of the family business and have remained friends while also competitors over the years.
“Sam and Carlton were the legends of the industry,” said Rich Johnson, president of the Wilton Cos. As “young guys who were 20-somethings coming out of school, we looked to them as the elder statesmen.”
Family ties further illustrate The Chief’s connection into the industry. Paul Silver, chairman and CEO of Thalhimer, one of the biggest commercial real estate firms in Richmond, is married to Kornblau’s daughter, Zelda.
That has given Silver a distinctive perspective of Kornblau on both the business side and his personal life.
“He had friends (from the industry) that spanned over decades. In our business that says a lot about him,” Silver said.
True to form, even as heart failure weakened him, The Chief stayed involved in the business until the very end, never failing to ask Bryan and grandson Jeff Kornblau about the flow of sales at Eagle’s projects.
“He thought you could fix everything with work,” Bryan said. “No matter what was ailing you.”
A funeral service for Kornblau will be today at 2 p.m. at Congregation Or Atid at 10625 Patterson Ave. Bliley’s Funeral Home is handling the arrangements.
Sam Kornblau (Photo courtesy of Bliley’s)
The Richmond real estate scene lost another big name this week.
Sam Kornblau, affectionately known to many as The Chief, died Wednesday after a long career in development and construction that spanned back to the late 1940s. He was 91.
Through his companies, Grigg and Kornblau, Realty Industries Inc., and later SAMCO Development, Kornblau built a massive portfolio of thousands of properties including single-family homes, commercial properties and apartments throughout Richmond and eastern North Carolina.
Also immense was his influence on what today are some of the largest real estate companies operating in the region. And his name and financial influence are imprinted on local institutions, such as Virginia Commonwealth University, and more recently the Richmond Flying Squirrels.
Born in Church Hill, Kornblau built Realty Industries Inc., a Richmond-based REIT that he took public in 1971. The company in 1984 was sold to create United Dominion Realty – now known as UDR – which today is one of the largest apartment REITs in the country.
It was through leftover properties from that deal that he was able to give a jump-start to Eagle Construction, the then-fledgling company of his son, Bryan. That eventually spawned the Eagle Cos., an umbrella firm that includes homebuilding, commercial construction, real estate brokerage and a private equity arm. The Eagle Cos. was recently bought by local insurance giant Markel for an undisclosed sum.
Bryan Kornblau and Bud Ohly, who runs Eagle Construction, said The Chief was drawn to the real estate industry because of its inherent challenges.
“It was the degree of difficulty,” Bryan said.
He also liked being able to see the finished product, Ohly said.
“He liked accomplishing things,” Ohly said, “and he enjoyed driving by (his projects).”
The Chief became sort of famous for those drive-bys or “rides,” as everyone called them.
Determined to check on the status of a project, even on weekends, he would ask one of his kids or grandkids or even his accountant to “go for a ride.”
“What that meant was he was going to have company while visiting his job sites,” Bryan said.
Those rides for a long time were taken in station wagons. Kornblau always drove a station wagon, until automakers stopped making them, Bryan joked. Then he switched to Cadillacs – and always the same color Cadillac in the hope that people wouldn’t notice when he upgraded to a new model. Frugality was another of his traits, Bryan said.
“He was a conservative financier. He didn’t believe in getting over extended.”
In addition to real estate, Kornblau loved cigars, blackjack and baseball. One of his preferred settings for dealmaking was out at Parker Field, the baseball stadium that was home to the Virginians and later the Richmond Braves. (Today, it’s the site of The Diamond.)
“He told me he did more deals at Parker Field than he did on the golf course,” Bryan said. (Kornblau just months ago bought a stake in the Richmond Flying Squirrels.)
Mike Gracik, a partner at the Keiter accounting firm and Kornblau’s accountant for more than 30 years, said The Chief’s reach into the industry grew even after the UDR deal could have allowed him to retire.
“After that, a lot of folks came to him with various real estate projects they wanted to do but didn’t have the money,” Grascic said. “Sam kind of acted as a banker for a lot of those projects and helped a lot of developers get those projects financed and completed. He just loved being engaged in the deals and talking about deals.”
Among many projects, he helped fund the development of CrossRidge, a mixed-use development in Henrico County that brought together other big names like Carlton Wilton and Bob Atack. Atack died last week.
Kornblau had a unique connection to Carlton Wilton, founder of the Wilton Cos., and served on Wilton’s board. Both also groomed their sons into the next generation of the family business and have remained friends while also competitors over the years.
“Sam and Carlton were the legends of the industry,” said Rich Johnson, president of the Wilton Cos. As “young guys who were 20-somethings coming out of school, we looked to them as the elder statesmen.”
Family ties further illustrate The Chief’s connection into the industry. Paul Silver, chairman and CEO of Thalhimer, one of the biggest commercial real estate firms in Richmond, is married to Kornblau’s daughter, Zelda.
That has given Silver a distinctive perspective of Kornblau on both the business side and his personal life.
“He had friends (from the industry) that spanned over decades. In our business that says a lot about him,” Silver said.
True to form, even as heart failure weakened him, The Chief stayed involved in the business until the very end, never failing to ask Bryan and grandson Jeff Kornblau about the flow of sales at Eagle’s projects.
“He thought you could fix everything with work,” Bryan said. “No matter what was ailing you.”
A funeral service for Kornblau will be today at 2 p.m. at Congregation Or Atid at 10625 Patterson Ave. Bliley’s Funeral Home is handling the arrangements.