Description: In 1986, the New York Times called William Zeckendorf Jr. "Manhattan's most active real-estate developer," a judgment borne out by Zeckendorf's fascinating memoir.
The second generation of a legendary family of developers, "Bill" Zeckendorf was a developer with a social conscience, not only putting up buildings but opening neglected parts of the city and transforming whole communities. Among the projects Zeckendorf chronicles in detail--and with rich documentary illustrations--are the Columbia, which set off a building boom on the Upper West Side; the four-acre Worldwide Plaza, a landmark in West Midtown; Queens West, the first residential project on the waterfront in Queens; the enormous Ronald Reagan Office Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C.; and numerous projects in Santa Fe, his beloved second home.Brief description: Real estate developer William Zeckendorf Jr. was known for challenging projects--enormous mixed-use developments but also hotels, office buildings, apartment towers, and cultural facilities--that improved the lives and streetscapes of their communities. Born in 1929, Zeckendorf founded Zeckendorf Company in 1972 and went on to build a string of successful projects in New York; Washington, D.C.; and Santa Fe. He died at his home in Santa Fe in 2014.