**Renowned Developer Donald Soffer Passes Away at 92**
Donald M. Soffer, the visionary real estate developer who founded the city of Aventura, passed away at the age of 92 at his home in Aventura, Florida.
Soffer’s work reshaped communities both in his native Pennsylvania and in South Florida. Through his company, Turnberry Properties, he played a major role in modernizing Pittsburgh’s postwar landscape with landmark developments such as South Hills Village and One Oxford Centre. Among his most notable early accomplishments was developing the Monroeville Mall, a 1.1 million-square-foot retail center that became a major commercial and cultural hub.
In the late 1960s, Soffer made a bold investment by purchasing 785 acres of swampland north of Miami. He transformed it into what is now Aventura, a master-planned luxury community. The area has since become home to nearly 25,000 residences and includes high-rise towers, private clubs, tennis courts, marinas, and entertainment venues. In 1983, a major milestone came when Soffer secured the country’s first Macy’s outside of New York, bolstering the profile of what would become the iconic Aventura Mall.
Today, Turnberry’s real estate portfolio totals more than $10 billion and includes $2 billion in hospitality projects, over 3.7 million square feet of retail space, and more than 1,700 multifamily units.
Soffer leaves behind a lasting legacy of transformative development and community-building.
