Steve Soboroff (born August 31, 1948) is a businessman, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Weingart Foundation (www.weingartfnd.org) and past Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of
Playa Vista.
Mr. Soboroff is the Chairperson of the Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University. He is also a Senior Fellow and member of the Advisory Board at UCLA's School of Public Affairs , a member of the Board of Councillors at the USC School of Planning and Public Policy and served as Senior Advisor to Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan. In 2009, he was the Commencement Speaker at USC (School of Policy, Planning, and Development).
From 1995-2000 he was President of the Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Commission and ran unsuccessfully for Mayor of Los Angeles in 2001 with Riordan's endorsement.
The Committee of 18, which he led, was formally authorized to advise the Maccabiah Games on naming rights, sponsorships and television rights. This led to the 2009 Maccabiah Games being televised to over 120 million homes worldwide. He was inducted into the (Southern California) Jewish Sports Hall of Fame on January 30, 2010.
Soboroff is a moderate Republican, his family is Jewish, and he resides in Pacific Palisades, California with his wife Patti and their five children Jacob, Miles, Molly, Hannah, and Leah.
Public Life
Soboroff was President, then Chairman Emeritus of
Big Brothers of Greater Los Angeles and has been involved with the program for over four decades. Roger Goodell, current Commissioner of the NFL, worked with Soboroff to bring fatherless boys, from the Big Brothers waiting lists, to the Super Bowl. Following the merger with Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles, Soboroff became a board member emeritus of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles. As a college student, Soboroff volunteered for Big Brothers and became part of one of the first interracial matches in the program's history. On October 17, 2009 the Mayor of the City of Los Angeles dedicated the "Soboroff Sports Field" at EXPO Center, the site of the 1932 Olympic Games which was transformed into the largest community center in the City of Los Angeles (managed by the Department of Recreation and Parks).
Soboroff's City Hall career was highlighted in the Simon & Schuster book by Taegan D. Goddard and Christopher Riback, YOU WON - NOW WHAT? How Americans Can Make Democracy Work From City Hall to the White House (1998).
While working as the chairman of the City's Harbor Commission, then as Senior Advisor to the Mayor, Soboroff helped spearhead the Alameda Corridor project and the Staples Center arena (Los Angeles Times "Six Who Made it Happen"). As Chairman of the Citizen's Oversight Committee for the $2.4 billion Proposition BB LAUSD School bond, Soboroff, advised by the environmental group TreePeople, oversaw a "greening" project that replaced thousands of acres of asphalt with grass and trees in Los Angeles public schools.
2001 Race for Mayor
Soboroff entered the
2001 mayoral primary election, and received Riordan's endorsement. In the primary, Soboroff received the most votes among Republicans, Jews, Westsiders and residents of the San Fernando Valley. He finished third overall, coming within 3% of eventual winner
James K. Hahn. Hahn and former California State Assembly Speaker
Antonio Villaraigosa advanced to the runoff.
In 2005, many of the traffic-fighting proposals Soboroff introduced during his 2001 campaign, as well as his plan to break up the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), were reintroduced by other candidates in that year's mayoral contest. Later in 2005, newly-elected Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, with whom Soboroff competed for the Mayor's job in 2001, implemented Soboroff's proposal to ban all road construction during rush hour. Villaraigosa's 2005 and 2009 campaign manager, Ace Smith, played same role for Soboroff in 2001.
Education
In the 1990s, Soboroff was honored in Los Angeles as
Harvard Business School's "Business Statesman of the Year." He mentors students annually from
UCLA and the
University of Southern California, and has lectured on topics from
real estate to electoral
politics at
Stanford University,
UC Berkeley,
Loyola Marymount University and the
Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs at
Cleveland State University,
Ohio. The Shopping Center Game seminar, offered at UCLA and UCBerkeley between 1975 and 2000, was created by Soboroff and attended by over 12,000 enrollees during that 25 year period.
He holds Bachelor and Masters Degrees from the Dept. of Finance, Insurance and Real Estate at the University of Arizona.
Playa Vista
In October 2001, six months after finishing out of contention in the Los Angeles mayoral race, Soboroff joined Playa Vista as the company's President.
Playa Vista is located on between Marina del Rey, Westchester and Playa del Rey; the property is located just below the , bluff-top Loyola Marymount University campus. The new community provides housing, commercial office space, neighborhood shopping, parks and habitat protection. The project's developers say Playa Vista is committed to sustainable development. Playa Vista has been recognized by the White House as one of five P.A.T.H. (Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing) communities in the United States.
Soboroff oversaw all aspects of the project near the ocean on Los Angeles’ Westside, which was formerly Howard Hughes private airport. He retains his ownership position in Playa Vista and will be involved until completion. Playa Vista was described by the Los Angeles Times as “L.A.’s Urban Model”.
According to the Los Angeles Times, "[o]ver the last decade, government agencies and courts have ruled repeatedly in Playa Vista's favor [...] Engineers, builders and consultants for the project have joined the city of Los Angeles in saying the safety measures are the most elaborate the city has ever required [...]
Quotes about Steve Soboroff
• "Steve Soboroff's handprints are all over the most important civic projects in town." Robin Abcarian, Los Angeles Times 13 December, 1998.
• [Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard] Riordan, who encouraged Soboroff to run for mayor as his successor, was unstinting in his praise. "Steve Soboroff challenges Eli Broad for the title of greatest Angeleno," Riordan said, comparing Soboroff to the philanthropist. "Both of them have done fantastic things for our city." Riordan credited Soboroff with getting the $2-billion Alameda Corridor built, making Staples Center a reality and beautifying Venice. While negotiating with railroads to share the corridor, Soboroff came to know billionaire Philip Anschutz, the largest shareholder in Union Pacific Railroad. Soboroff urged Anschutz to build a sports and entertainment arena downtown that became Staples Center. In spite of all of Soboroff's business accomplishments, Riordan quipped, "He's a lousy golfer and has no taste for good wine." Vincent, Roger. "Steve Soboroff moving on from Playa Vista; He played a lead role in getting the project built" Los Angeles Times. 21 April, 2010
Works cited
Los Angeles Times. Staples Center : "Six Who Made It Happen". (articles.latimes.com/1999/oct/10/magazine)
Vincent, Roger. "Steve Soboroff moving on from Playa Vista; He played a lead role in getting the project built" Los Angeles Times. 21 April, 2010
External links
UCLA Library Online Campaign Literature Archive: Steve Soboroff for Mayor of Los Angeles
CNN.com - L.A. voters pick new mayor in heated election - April 10, 2001
Category:1948 births
Category:Living people
Category:American businesspeople
Category:University of Arizona alumni
Category:Businesspeople in real estate
Category:California Republicans
Category:Harvard Business School people
Category:Loyola Marymount University
Category:University of California, Los Angeles
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