Scott Wolstein, who was co-owner and vice president of the Cleveland Force, has passed away.
Wolstein, a real estate developer and CEO of The Wolstein Group since 1979, died May 26. He was 69.
He passed away after a six-month battle with ith stage 4 mucosal melanoma, diagnosed in November 2021.
Wolstein and his late father, Bart Wolstein, a developer, created Developers Diversified Realty in 1992.
In 1979, Wolstein convinced his father to buy the Cleveland Force in the Major Indoor Soccer League. The first year they owned the team, its revenue was $55,000, but 10 years later they sold the team for $3.8 million, according to Cleveland Magazine. During an era in which indoor and outdoor soccer teams lost money by the millions, the Force reportedly managed to make a profit.
Wolstein was a vice president with the Force, which never won an MISL title. It did finish first in the Eastern Division during the 1985-86 and 1986-87 seasons and reached the final in 1987-88, losing to the San Diego Sockers.
Born on June 24, 1952, Wolstein had been the CEO of the Wolstein Group since 1979 and also was the leader of several other real estate firms. Wolstein graduated with a business degree in 1974 from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and earned a law degree from the University of Michigan.
When he stepped down from Developers Diversified Realty in 2011, the company owned and managed about 570 shopping centers and development sites in the United States, Brazil and Puerto Rico, according to the Cleveland Plain-Dealer.
Wolstein is survived by his four children, Harrison, Ilana, Shelby, and Merrick, his mother, Iris, his sister, Cheryl (Eugene) Faigus, and his partner, Jillian. Scott was predeceased by his father, Bert, in 2004.
Due to COVID-19 issues, the funeral service and shiva has been postponed.
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