48 | AUGUST 20 • 2020
Soul
of blessed memory
law, Sara Mayes; numerous loving
cousins and friends; her cher-
ished dog, Yoshi.
She was the dear sister of the
late Phyllis and the late Renee
Glanz; loving daughter of the
late Samuel Glanz; loving grand-
daughter of the late Jerry and
the late Dora Glanz, and the late
Yetta Grunt.
Contributions may be made to
the Phyllis Glanz Research Fund,
c/o Department of Medicine
at University of Michigan. A
graveside service was held at
Machpelah Cemetery in Ferndale.
Arrangements by Hebrew
Memorial Chapel.
JAY GREENSPAN,
59, of Bloomfield
Hills, died Aug. 10,
2020.
He is survived by
his partner of 15
years, Karen Laub; daughters and
son-in-law, Stefani Greenspan,
Carly and Matthew Monheit;
stepchildren, Jami, Sydney and
Ryan Laub; mother, Dolores
Greenspan; mother-in-law and
father-in-law, Marilyn and Barry
Charlip; sister and brother-in-law,
Lori and Steve Smith; brothers-
in-law and sisters-in-law, David
and Maureen Charlip, Julie and
Larry Winkelman; former wife,
Jody Greenspan; many loving
nieces, nephews, other family
members and friends.
Mr. Greenspan was the son of
the late Harold Greenspan; broth-
er of the late Wendy Bundgaard.
Interment took place at
Machpelah Cemetery in Ferndale.
Contributions may be made to
the Karmanos Cancer Institute.
Arrangements by Dorfman
Chapel.
DR. MARTIN
HART, 81, of West
Bloomfield, died Aug.
9, 2020.
He is survived by
his wife, Sharon Hart;
children, Dr. Tae Hart, and Dr.
Trevor and Zal Hart; grandchil-
dren, Ariel and Ilan Hart; sister-
in-law and brother-in-law, Phyllis
and Dr. Ernest Ring.
V
isionary real estate
developer Joel Landy
was a Detroit booster
long before it was fashionable.
He was instrumental in revital-
izing Midtown and Downtown
Detroit, saving and renovating
many of the city’
s historic
buildings and turning them
into sought-after apartments
and commercial spaces. Joel
died Aug. 2, 2020. He was 68.
Joel grew up in Oak Park and
attended Cass Technical High
School in Detroit. After a brief
stint in Chicago, he returned
to Detroit and opened a busi-
ness repairing foreign cars. As
he began to make money, he
invested in real estate, focusing
on the area then known as the
Cass Corridor. Over the years,
he bought and renovated more
than 100 buildings others had
long given up on.
Joel enjoyed telling people
about the house he bought
for $4,500; a 23-room man-
sion filled with antiques and
a garage with two Packards
inside.
In 2009, he bought the
former Burton International
School and turned its audi-
torium into a 140-seat movie
theater that he named the Cass
City Cinema at the Burton
Theatre (now called Cinema
Detroit). As resourceful as he
was creative, he constructed
a sound system from com-
ponents he bought on eBay,
where he also found projectors,
seats and popcorn machines.
In addition to the theater, the
building was home to a nursery
school, artist studios and pro-
fessional offices.
Alan Lichtenstein, long-
time friend and executive
director for the Nederlander
Organization, remembers when
The Who’
s rock opera Tommy
was playing at Masonic Temple.
When sub-zero temperatures
rendered the theater uninhab-
itable, Lichtenstein called Joel,
who helped him scour the city
to find several used — and
broken — portable heaters. By
curtain time, Joel had repaired
every heater and the show
opened as planned.
“He was one of those guys
who could fix anything,
” said
Lichtenstein. “He was a ‘
crusty
genius’
who practically invented
Midtown. And he could build a
(Jaguar) XKE from the ground
up.
”
Joel was an eccentric who
cared nothing about fashion,
spending most days in jeans
and a signature black T-shirt.
He suffered from chronic pain
caused by Crohn’
s disease but
never complained or let it slow
him down. He seldom left his
beloved city and worked non-
stop, involving himself in every
aspect of his projects.
Joel was an avid collector.
He had a stash of ’
60s rock art
from the days he ran a print
shop that produced posters for
the former Grande Ballroom.
He amassed a legendary collec-
tion of model trains, including
a human-sized version that ran
around his compound on a
track he laid himself. He owned
dozens of classic cars and
dreamed of building a hands-
on museum where he could
share his treasured vehicles
with the public, according to
Senad Ahmic, a property man-
ager who worked with Joel.
“He was a great man,
” Ahmic
said. “Everyone who was
around him gained something
from him. He helped a lot of
people.
”
Last year Joel celebrated
the completion of his most
ambitious project, the reno-
vation of the historic James
Scott House on Peterboro in
Detroit. Through his business,
Cass Avenue Development,
he turned the 20,000-square-
foot castle-like mansion into
a building with 26 apartments
and one commercial space.
He spent years on the $6 mil-
lion renovation, fighting his
own health challenges and a
bureaucracy that would have
destroyed the building with a
wrecking ball.
“It was a herculean task,
”
Lichtenstein said, “but once
Joel put his mind to something,
he figured out a way to get it
done.
”
Joel is survived by longtime
partner, Linda Morris, and
many friends. In addition to a
graveside service arranged by
Hebrew Memorial Chapel, a
memorial service was held at
the former Burton school in
Detroit.
continued from page 47
Longtime
Detroit
Developer
Dies
RONELLE GRIER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
CAPITALIMPACT.ORG