Homer Gudelsky | |
---|---|
Born | Homer Sidney Gudelsky March 26, 1911 |
Died | July 13, 1989 78) | (aged
Occupation(s) | Real estate developer and philanthropist |
Spouse | Martha |
Relatives | Rita Regino, Medda Gudelsky, Holly Stone and John Gudelsky |
Homer Sidney Gudelsky was a prominent real estate developer and philanthropist in the Baltimore-Washington area who helped develop major shopping malls including Tysons Corner Center and Westfield Wheaton, as well as much of the waterfront in West Ocean City, including the Sunset Marina, Martha's Landing, and the Ocean City Fishing Center. One of the wealthiest people in the region, Gudelsky made his fortune mining sand and gravel and constructing roads. A 1963 sale of land in Howard County to James Rouse allowed the Rouse Company to begin construction of the planned community of Columbia.
Gudelsky's father Abraham was a Polish-Jewish immigrant who had found success as a junk dealer in Baltimore. He had a wife named Martha; four children: Rita Regino, Medda Gudelsky, Holly Stone and John Gudelsky; and eight grandchildren. After 1974, Gudelsky moved to Boca Raton, Florida. Gudelsky died from leukemia in 1989 at age 78. [1]
During the 1970s and the 1980s, a bitter fight among the Gudelsky family was waged in the courts. Homer and his brother Isadore together had created the Contee Sand & Gravel Co., later renamed Percontee. Following Isadore's death in 1963, his widow Bertha accused Homer of improperly withholding Isadore's $4 million dollar Contee share for 5 years before distributing it to her. Bertha Gudelsky filed a lawsuit in 1973 alleging losses between 1963 and 1968. The case was brought to trial in Baltimore in November 1983. The case was dismissed in February 1984 after Bertha Gudelsky decided to drop the lawsuit. [2]
In 1964, with the help of Gudelsky, the B'nai Israel Congregation acquired land for educational center at the intersection of Georgia Avenue and Evans Drive in Wheaton, Maryland. In 1967, the center opened as the Paul Himmelfarb Hebrew School of Congregation B'nai Israel. [3]
The Homer and Martha Gudelsky Foundation, a philanthropy organization, was founded by Gudelsky in 1968. [4] $300,000 in donations from the foundation were gifted to the Coastal Hospice & Palliative Care in Berlin, Maryland, a hospice center serving the growing elderly population of Worcester County. [5]
The Gudelsky Building of the University of Maryland Medical Center is named in honor of Homer Gudelsky. [6]
Homer Gudelsky Park in West Ocean City, Maryland was named in honor of Gudelsky. The property was a gift to Worcester County Recreation & Parks. The beach is colloquially known as Stinky Beach by many locals. [7]
Columbia is a census-designated place in Howard County, Maryland, United States. It is a planned community consisting of 10 self-contained villages. The census-designated place had a population of 104,681 at the 2020 census, making it the second most populous community in Maryland after Baltimore. Columbia, located between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., is officially part of the Baltimore metropolitan area.
James Wilson Rouse was an American businessman and founder of The Rouse Company. Rouse was a pioneering American real estate developer, urban planner, civic activist, and later, free enterprise-based philanthropist. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award, for his lifetime achievements.
Jessup is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Howard and Anne Arundel counties, about 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 10,535.
The Inner Harbor is a historic seaport, tourist attraction, and landmark in Baltimore, Maryland. It was described by the Urban Land Institute in 2009 as "the model for post-industrial waterfront redevelopment around the world". The Inner Harbor is located at the mouth of Jones Falls, creating the wide and short northwest branch of the Patapsco River. The district includes any water west of a line drawn between the foot of President Street and the American Visionary Art Museum.
The Eastern Shore of Maryland is a part of the U.S. state of Maryland that lies mostly on the east side of the Chesapeake Bay. Nine counties are normally included in the region. The Eastern Shore is part of the larger Delmarva Peninsula that Maryland shares with Delaware and Virginia.
Kings Contrivance is a village in the planned community of Columbia, Maryland, United States and is home to approximately 11,000 residents. It is Columbia's southernmost village, and was the eighth of Columbia's ten villages to be developed. Kings Contrivance consists of the neighborhoods of Macgill's Common, Huntington and Dickinson, and includes single-family homes, townhouses, apartments and a Village Center.
Maryland Route 528 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. Known for most of its length as Coastal Highway, the state highway runs 9.04 miles (14.55 km) from the southern terminus of its companion route, unsigned Maryland Route 378, in downtown Ocean City north to the Delaware state line at the northern edge of the resort town, where the highway continues as Delaware Route 1. MD 528 and MD 378 are the primary north–south streets of Ocean City, where they provide access to countless hotels, condos, restaurants, shops, and other businesses catering to tourists. These highways experience heavy seasonal traffic and provide access to hurricane evacuation routes, which include U.S. Route 50, MD 90, and DE 54. Both Baltimore Avenue and Philadelphia Avenue date back to the founding of Ocean City in the late 19th century. MD 378 was assigned to Baltimore Avenue in 1927 and MD 528 was assigned to Philadelphia Avenue in 1933. MD 528 was extended north of 15th Street to the Delaware state line in 1939. Both highways were rebuilt and widened in the 1950s. MD 528 was expanded to a six-lane divided highway north of the one-way pair in the late 1980s.
Strathmore is a cultural and artistic venue and institution in North Bethesda, Maryland, United States. Strathmore was founded in 1981 and consists of two venues: the Mansion and the Music Center.
Tysons Galleria is a three-level super-regional mall owned by Brookfield Properties located at 2001 International Drive in Tysons, Virginia. It is the second-largest mall in Tysons, and one of the largest in the Washington metropolitan area.
Harper's Choice is one of the ten villages that comprise Columbia, Maryland, United States. It lies in the northwest part of Columbia and consists of the neighborhoods of Longfellow, Swansfield, and Hobbit's Glen and had a December 1998 population of 8,695.
Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC) is a U.S. hospital located in the Baltimore suburb of Towson, Maryland. It was opened in 1965. GBMC serves more than 20,455 inpatient cases and approximately 52,000 emergency department visits annually. GBMC's main campus includes three medical office buildings—Physicians Pavilion East, Physicians Pavilion West, and Physicians Pavilion North I. In addition to its main campus located in Towson, GBMC has several facilities located throughout the community including in Hereford, Hunt Manor, Hunt Valley, Owings Mills, Perry Hall, Lutherville, Phoenix, and Timonium.
Westfield Wheaton, formerly known as Wheaton Plaza, is a 1.7 million square-foot, two-level indoor shopping mall in Wheaton, Maryland, north of Washington, D.C. It is owned by Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield and Its anchor stores include Macy’s, Target, JCPenney, Dick's Sporting Goods, and Costco.
Dorsey Hall is a historic home in Columbia, Maryland, United States. It is a six-by-one-bay, 2+1⁄2-story stucco structure with a gable roof covered with asphalt shingles. It is a well-preserved and detailed example of the vernacular dwellings of the early 19th century in Howard County and associated with the Dorsey family, one of the "first families" of the county.
Coastal Hospice and Palliative Care is a non-profit health care organization founded in 1980. It is located in Salisbury, Maryland, and serves Dorchester, Wicomico, Somerset and Worcester counties.
The history of Russians in Baltimore dates back to the mid-19th century. The Russian community is a growing population and constitutes a major source of new immigrants to the city. Historically the Russian community was centered in East Baltimore, but most Russians now live in Northwest Baltimore's Arlington neighborhood and in Baltimore's suburb of Pikesville.
Temple B'Nai Israel is a Reform Jewish synagogue, located at 7199 Tristan Drive, in Easton, Maryland, in the United States. It is the only synagogue on Maryland's upper Eastern Shore. It is also known as the Satell Center for Jewish Life on the Eastern Shore.