ULI Detroit to Honor Sidney Forbes with Lifetime Achievement Award

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DETROIT– The Detroit District Council of the Urban Land Institute (ULI Detroit) today announced that Sidney Forbes has been selected as the 2012 recipient of its Lifetime Achievement Award.  The founder of The Forbes Company is being recognized for his contributions to real estate development and the quality of life in the metropolitan community.

The award will be presented at a dinner on Thursday, May 17 at the Book Cadillac in downtown Detroit. Attendance is expected to exceed more than 500 and will feature a who’s who of local business and real estate executives.  Past honorees have included noted real estate developers: A. Alfred Taubman (2005), Wayne Doran (2006), the late Robert C. Larson (2007) and Jerome Schostak (2008).  In 2010, ULI Detroit honored Edsel B. Ford II and Peter Karmanos Jr. with its Placemaker Award.

Forbes founded The Forbes Company more than 40 years ago, helping to create landmark properties that have redefined the parameters of commercial development. Its portfolio includes:

  • The Somerset Collection in Troy, Mich., a 1.5 million square foot fashion shopping destination that connects two shopping malls by a 700-foot moving skywalk;
  • The Mall at Millenia in Orlando, Fla., an the internationally acclaimed property which has drawn world interest for its dramatic architecture and world class retailers;
  • The Gardens Mall in Palm Beach, Fla., a newly redeveloped 1.4 million square foot shopping center designed to entice the distinctive consumer, seasonal visitors and the growing population of Palm Beach County;
  • Waterside Shops in Naples, Fla., which The Forbes Company acquired in 2003 and redeveloped.

Forbes also has a long history of philanthropy in this community, supporting the arts, medical research and education.  His interests have included the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Cranbrook Schools, Beaumont Hospital, Karmanos Cancer Institute and Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit.

“When you look at all that Sidney Forbes has accomplished in his career, it is no wonder why he is so influential in the metropolitan Detroit real estate community,” said ULI Detroit Lifetime Achievement Award Committee Co-Chairman Bob Taubman.  “His hard work and creative ingenuity has provided a tremendous example for every present and future professional in this industry.”