Jona Goldrich, a Culver City-based real estate developer died at the age of 88. Goldrich, founder of Goldrich Kest, was a Holocaust survivor who escaped the Nazi invasion of Poland with his younger brother. His older brother and both parents perished during the invasion.
When Goldrich arrived in Los Angeles several years later, he had $50 in his pocket which, during the ensuing years, parlayed into one of California’s most successful privately-owned real estate companies.
Under the leadership of Goldrich and his partner Sol Kest, the company built a portfolio that includes 120 apartment buildings with 13,500 units, five marinas with 2,107 slips, 24 senior living facilities with 4,216 beds, seven commercial buildings with 847,327 square feet of space, 16 retail properties totaling 1,656,121 square feet, 26 industrial properties with 8,046,038 square feet, nine mixed use rental/commercial properties with 110,597 square feet and two for-sale housing developments.
In addition, among the apartment buildings in his portfolio were 70 properties that accommodated low-income families where in addition to serving as landlord, he offered free after-school and summer programs for its young residents.
As a young boy in his native Poland, Goldrich learned the importance of education and charitable giving as he would watch his parents invite those less fortunate into their home for Sabbath dinner every Friday night and distribute Challah (bread) to the hungry.
Goldrich continued this tradition of helping the less fortunate by creating the Goldrich Family Foundation which furthers efforts to cure disease, support local schools and international universities, promote social justice, and support Holocaust remembrance and awareness.
One of Goldrich’s most important contributions was the creation of the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust in Pan Pacific Park. It was created so that future generations could learn about the atrocities committed by the Nazis with the hope that they are never repeated. His daughter, Melinda Goldrich is a board member and Andrea Goldrich Cayton is Vice-President http://www.lamoth.org/the-museum/staff–officers/
The company will continue to be run by the heirs of Goldrich Kest including Barry Cayton, Jona’s son-in-law, and Sol’s son, Ezra Kest, M.D.
