Developer Steve Solms, a colorful life at center court

STEVE SOLMS had a spasm of anxiety when the full realization of what he was about to do struck him.

It was the start of the 76ers' 1976 season and basketball fans knew that the team was standing on the brink of history.

Julius Erving, the legendary "Dr. J," had joined the Sixers and this was his introduction to Philly.

Steve Solms and some buddies had chipped in to buy the good doctor a medical bag, with his name in gold letters. The idea was to send it to him after the game.

But, on impulse, Steve decided to hand-deliver it at center court.

"With the announcement of the starting lineups, the emotion was overwhelming," he later wrote. "When Julius was introduced, I just strode onto the court, doctor's bag in hand.

"Halfway out there, I panicked. I thought, 'This guy is going to think I'm a loon. He doesn't know me. What have I done?' "

As it turned out, Erving, after an initial shock, smiled and held the bag aloft to the cheers of the fans.

Steve Solms was the Sixers' No. 1 fan since he acquired his first season ticket in 1969, a fixture in his center-court seat at all home games.

But Steve Solms was more than a sports fan. He was the premiere developer of historic buildings in the city and suburbs and elsewhere in the country.

He transformed entire neighborhoods with his vision and drive. He took decrepit and worn-out structures and made them into places where people could live in an urban setting in luxurious comfort.

Stephen E. Solms, who in the 1980s was hailed as "downtown's hottest developer," died of a heart attack Sunday at his summer home in Maine. He was 71.

"He single-handedly gave Philadelphia new life when he started transforming run-down buildings in Old City into modern apartment building in the '70s and '80s," said Fred Lavner, who worked with Steve's development company for 12 years.

"Over a 10-year span, he developed 68 buildings across the country and created a new industry in multifamily development.

"While he'll be known for his larger-than-life personality and unassuming style of dress, and, of course, the 40-plus years he spent on the first row cheering on his beloved 76ers, he was a genius at business, and one of the most considerate and giving humans on the planet."

"Steve Solms epitomized the heart and soul of the Philadelphia sports fan," said Ed Snider, chairman of Comcast-Spectacor, owner of the Sixers.

"His passion was unmatched anywhere in sports. It will be hard not seeing Steve's enthusiasm and dedication for the Sixers at his usual center court seat where he was a mainstay for so many years. In addition to being such a great fan, he was also my friend."

Phil Jasner, who has covered the 76ers for many years for the Daily News, said, "Steve Solms was truly one of a kind. He was so unique that not even Damon Runyan could have invented him.

"He'd celebrate after wins, agonize after losses. He openly suffered through last season, trying to figure out what then-coach Eddie Jordan was trying to accomplish.

"I know he was looking forward to a rebirth this season," Jasner said, "but I never saw anyone so happy just being at the games. He couldn't live without them. It was in his DNA."

Older Philadelphians will remember when Old City was a barren and empty neighborhood. Steve Solms and his Historic Landmarks for Living transformed it into the chic neighborhood it is today.

Other of his major developments include the old Packard Building and the Philadelphia Athletic Club, once owned by Jack Kelly, on Broad Street, and the former Wills Eye Hospital, on Spring Garden Street.

He rebuilt and reopened the Touraine apartment building on Spruce Street, once a posh address for the city's carriage trade, in the 1980s. He took crumbling old warehouses, factories, mills and railroad stations and made them into livable spaces.

"Steve's zest for life and the enthusiasm he had for all manner of fun was infectious to young and old alike," said his daughter, Elizabeth.

"He was an electric person who lived each moment for the happiness and joy it could bring. He genuinely believed in the good of every person he came across."

Steve was born in Philadelphia to Esther and David Solms, and grew up in West Oak Lane and Elkins Park. He graduated from Cheltenham High School, tried a couple of colleges, served in the Army, but had little patience for formal learning or discipline.

He bragged that he read only one book in childhood - "Bowser the Hound." One of his problems with learning was that he had dyslexia.

As a kid, he was so fond of Camp Powhatan, a summer camp for boys in Otisfield, Maine, that he later bought property and a cabin near the camp.

After a number of jobs, he launched his own real-estate company at age 30. Shortly afterward, he married Ellen Beck, of Yeadon, a Brandeis University honors graduate who later became executive director of Avenue of the Arts Inc.

It was after a tour of some of the city's derelict buildings that Steve decided that historic renovation was to be his career, and he started Historic Landmarks for Living.

Besides his wife and daughter, he is survived by a son, Moses (named after former Sixers star Moses Malone), and a brother, Kenny, a writer and producer in Hollywood.

Services: Memorial service 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Wilma Theater, 265 S. Broad St., followed by a reception in the Packard Motor Car Building, 317 N. Broad St.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Seeds of Peace, www.seedsofpeace.org.