STEVE SOBOROFF
Steve
Soboroff is president of Playa Vista, one of the nation’s most significant
multi-use land projects. The real estate executive and former president of the
Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Commission oversees all aspects of the Playa
Vista project now under construction on Los Angeles’ westside. The sustainable
development will provide critically needed affordable housing, commercial office
space and neighborhood shopping, while adding parks, preserving the environment
and restoring hundreds of acres of wetlands.
As
president, Soboroff is working to deliver an innovative project that respects
the environment, meets community needs and establishes parks and environmental
protections. He is also building partnerships with labor and the
region’s leading economic development organizations to provide jobs to diverse
communities throughout Los Angeles.
Soboroff
has a strong track record for creating, improving and protecting open space and
parkland for city residents. He served as president of the Recreation and
Parks Commission from 1995 to 2001, reinvigorating the city’s park system to
better meet the recreational needs of the people of Los Angeles. In
addition, he helped spearhead the Alameda Corridor Project and the Staples
Center, and received 21 percent of the vote in the 2001 mayoral primary in Los
Angeles.
Soboroff,
who was Chairman Emeritus of Big Brothers, and is currently on the board of
governors of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles, has long been
known as a business leader and public servant who brings people together to get
positive results. He received the “Los Angeles Beautiful” Award for
restoration of commercial buildings on Montana Avenue. Prior to serving as
President of the Recreation and Parks Commission, he was a member of the
city’s Harbor Commission. Steve currently is a Trustee of the Weingart
Foundation and a Director of the First Federal Bank.
A
successful real estate executive who was recently honored as Harvard Business
School’s “Business Statesman of the Year,” Soboroff holds Bachelor and
Masters Degrees in Dept. of Finance, Insurance and Real Estate from the
University of Arizona. He resides in Pacific Palisades, California with
his wife Patti and their five children.