A Salute To Homebuilding Legend Bernie Glieberman: RIP

Bernie Glieberman is a big reason homebuilding, its virtually unmatched nobility of purpose, and its bottomless well of people who can't be stopped from achieving extraordinary things "had me at 'hello.'"

We learned yesterday of Bernie's passing Monday, August 26, age 84.

If you spent time with Bernie, which I got to do starting about 20 years ago, you instantly knew that family meant everything to him.

A memorial notice reads, family members include:

Beloved husband of 59 years of Sandee Glieberman. Cherished father of Lonie Glieberman and Tracey (Jeff) Katzen. Proud grandfather of Jared, Brett, and Cami Katzen. Loving brother of the late Barbara (the late Harvey) Carney. Devoted son of the late Louis and the late Gertrude Glieberman."

You also instantly knew that access to safe, healthy, decent homes and communities – in Bernie's mind, heart, and soul – was a double-helix of hard-driving business ambition and an equally irrepressible North Star of mission.

One-to-one – in dozens of leadership conference settings that Bernie participated in, aiming to quench an unslakable thirst to learn and his boundless curiosity about what hadn't yet been discovered – he could hardly contain himself. In a crowd, he'd lean in and erupt in new ideas, in predictions based on his reading of economic and local and regional housing activity data, and in ever-higher levels of resolve to be and do what it is he did so well.

Here's a few passages from a piece I wrote in mid-2016, after one of those one-on-one catch-ups with Bernie Glieberman.

Bernie Glieberman was all grown up at a young age, which maybe makes sense of the fact that at nearly 60 years later, he's lost none of his youthful passion for what he does. Which is make homes and communities for people.

Glieberman's calling came early and it came hard. His father – a builder developer in the Detroit area – died when Bernard turned 17. With a bit of accounting and business coursework focus in high school under his belt, Bernie stepped up into the family real estate concern in 1957, and by the time he was 21, made partner in a real estate company.

Bernie's blend of involuntary maturity, boundless youthful zeal, and a canny feel for what makes people in real estate tick catapulted him to open the doors of his own, Novi, Mich.-based, home building and development firm, Crosswinds Communities, which specialized in earlier iterations of modular and factory-built as well as conventional stick-built homes in infill tracts, but eventually made itself equally at home in master planned community and suburban subdivisions. Ten years ago this month, when Bernie was 66, his enterprise's operations spanned seven states, and closed on 2,200 homes on revenues of $529 million in 2005, ranking it No. 42 on the Builder 100. A mere two years later, Crosswind's name was nowhere to be found on the Builder 100 list, a casualty of the most brutal housing depression anyone alive can still remember.

Glieberman, of course, did not let that stop him. Here's a guy, after all, who of a Saturday has a regular weekly commitment with a couple of friends and colleagues to hop in one of their cars and troll hundreds of miles in all directions of the greater Detroit metropolitan area--to scout land parcels. Here's a guy who only needs to type the letters "ad" into a Google search field before the term "adaptive reuse and lofts" springs into view.

Bernie Glieberman fancied himself getting back into single-family for sale home building one day, when the throes of the Great Recession gave way to a normal, cyclical rebound in housing. He's not so sure now, and for the time being anyway, the Crosswinds name remains in mothballs.

Just as his maturity was "involuntary," so too was the all-in focus on working to expand everyday working people's access to homes and communities they could attain and love. Here's another quote from the memorial tribute to Bernie:

Bernie Glieberman, a visionary in urban development, left behind a legacy that profoundly reshaped the real estate landscape. Taking over his family's real estate holdings at just 17, Bernie quickly became a leader in the industry. By 21, he was a partner in a real estate firm, and by 31, he bought out his partner's shares, solidifying his place as a pioneer. Known for his work on brownfield sites and creating the first New Urbanism traditional community, Bernie was always on the cutting edge of development. Over his distinguished career, he developed more than 30,000 housing units and was among the first to build HUD 235 homes. His dedication to the City of Detroit and his passion for real estate, inherited from his father and grandfather, were unparalleled.

Bernie was also a longtime member of the Harvard Joint Center for Housing, a past president of the Homebuilders Association, and a former Board Chair of the Michigan State Housing Development Authority. His contributions to the field earned him numerous illustrious awards throughout his lifetime.

A tireless worker and visionary CEO, Bernie's impact on urban development will be felt for generations to come. His passing marks the end of an era, but his achievements will continue to inspire those who follow in his footsteps."

I don't think I'd be alone in recognizing Bernie Glieberman as one of the "hardest working men in" the residential real estate business. But what his seven decades of project innovation, leadership, and impact in market-rate and affordable housing attest to most is something every leader and rising star in the business community might do well to aspire to and emulate during a particularly uncertain and volatile economic and housing-cycle stretch: Adaptability.

If he couldn't make expanded access to decent homes and neighborhoods work in a conventional way, he'd find another way to do it. We wrote:

While single-family, for-sale housing development may not make the repertoire, this Bernie's most definitely still feeling the Bern. Listen to him tell you about The Gateway, a senior-living community for low income residents in Fremont, Mich. The bones of the place consist of an iconic 1910 high school building, where many of its current residents went themselves to chemistry classes, shop, and formed an unbreakable bond with their own sense of self, self-esteem, and accomplishment.

For Glieberman, The Gateway is clearly not just a project. Nor is the deal Home Renewal Systems, the organization led by his daughter Tracey Katzen, is about to start in Michigan's Upper Peninsula in Marquette, just a project. It's a building that started life as Holy Family Orphanage in 1914, and operated as such until 1965. It essentially has been abandoned since 1981."

Bernie Glieberman made it his business – just has he made it his mission – to adapt that building, and dozens of others, into living, breathing, attainable communities for people. And his impact among those he touched, rescued, inspired, and motivated is – just like any of homebuilding and residential development's real-live legends – incalculable.

Mike Kalis, CEO at Great Lakes Investments, celebrated him this way on LinkedIn:

It is with a heavy heart that I share the passing of Bernie Glieberman, one of Michigan's best developers and a good friend. A man of great wisdom and innovation, Bernie's legacy will forever inspire us. Over 80 years old, Bernie stayed on the "bleeding edge" of innovation, always one step ahead.

Bernie's unique approach to building left an indelible mark on Michigan. His innovative home designs prioritized the working class, offering something truly special. His advice to "do what others are not doing" resonates deeply.

I'll miss your phone calls where you asked questions about topics I'm sure you knew more then anyone, but always wanted to learn.

His impact extended to Detroit, where he navigated complex transactions and developed homes ahead of his time. Despite challenges, Bernie's energy and positivity never wavered. An entrepreneur and mentor, he leaves a void in our industry.

Rest in peace, Bernie. Your wisdom, kindness, and passion for learning will be dearly missed. May you find eternal peace in the ultimate home in the sky."