Albert M. Greenfield III, real estate developer and grandson of Mr. Philadelphia, dies at 65

Albert M. Greenfield III, 65, of Villanova, a real estate developer and corporate bond trader, and the son and grandson of prominent Philadelphia real estate financiers, died Sunday, Feb. 7, of complications from Alzheimer’s disease at Chestnut Hill Hospital.

The grandson of Albert M. Greenfield, a Philadelphia real estate magnate and philanthropist known as Mr. Philadelphia, and the son of Albert M. Greenfield Jr., a real estate company chairman and civic leader, Mr. Greenfield made it his life’s work to carry on his family legacy of local real estate development and philanthropy.

After he and others reacquired his grandfather’s company, Albert M. Greenfield & Co. Inc., from other owners in 1990, Mr. Greenfield took on many real estate development projects, some of them controversial. He became an early promoter of Chestnut Street as a pedestrian-friendly commercial zone, and went on to develop and renovate properties in Center City, Manayunk, and other parts of the city and region.

“He had the ability to see what could be,” said his wife, Wendy Greenfield.

Mr. Greenfield served as a board member for the Albert M. Greenfield Foundation, and was instrumental in several initiatives and grants, including the development of Dilworth Park in Center City, the establishment of the Arden Children’s Theatre, and the sale of the Sugarloaf estate, the former home of his grandfather. He was also a board member of the Arden Theatre and Prince Theater.

“The Dilworth-Greenfield team represented one of the great public-private partnerships in American history,” Mr. Greenfield said in 2014 of the Dilworth Park expansion.

“He was the most driven individual I have ever met,” said his son Jason. “He put in 110% of everything, and he lived his whole life that way.”

Born in Philadelphia on Jan. 17, 1956, Mr. Greenfield grew up with his parents, Albert and Barbara, a brother, and two sisters on a 200-acre farm in Glenmoore, Chester County. He was a three-sport star athlete at William Penn Charter School and graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

In a move that rarely takes place, he went directly from Penn to the Harvard Business School, from which he graduated in 1980 with a master’s degree in business administration. He worked as an investment banker, and in New York from 1980-90 as a corporate bond trader and executive at Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and Union Bank of Switzerland.

After reacquiring his grandfather’s company, then called Helmsley-Greenfield Inc., he changed the name back to the original. He relocated to Villanova in 1997 and lived with his wife and three sons, Jason, Aaron, and Matthew. He had met Wendy Marcus when they were undergraduates at Penn — he played baseball and football; she played squash — and they spent more than 40 years together.

“He was the most dynamic person I’ve met,” his wife said. “He was larger than life, and made the world Technicolor. Inside and outside, he was sweet and kind.”

“He was pure love, a hopeless romantic,” Jason Greenfield said. “He was a devoted father, and went to every event we ever had.”

Mr. Greenfield loved dogs and baseball. He was a catcher and a good hitter, coached his sons and others in Little League, and cut the field’s grass himself on game days. His lifelong nickname, Moose, came from his stocky frame and his time at a summer camp of that name in Vermont.

He liked to debate and argue points just for the fun of it. He had season tickets to the Phillies, Eagles, and 76ers, and a pall hung over his whole week when the Eagles lost on Sunday.

Diagnosed with Alzheimer’s several years ago, Mr. Greenfield worked hard to stay fit and as healthy as possible so he could see his children get married and have kids of their own. And he did.

“It was a heroic effort,” his wife said.

In addition to his wife and sons, Mr. Greenfield is survived by four grandchildren, two sisters, and other relatives. A brother died earlier.

Services were Sunday, Feb. 14.

Donations in his name may be made to the Richie Ashburn-Harry Kalas Foundation, P.O. Box 1564, Blue Bell, Pa., 19422.