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