{{Short description|American hotelier}} {{Infobox person | image = | caption = | birth_name = Benjamin Novick | birth_date = February 24, 1907 | birth_place = New York, United States | death_date = April 5, 1985 (aged 78) | death_place = Miami, Florida, United States | death_cause = | education = | spouse = Bella Novack (divorced)<br> Bernice Mildred Stempel | occupation = Hotelier | children =Ronald Marc Novack<br>Ben Novack Jr. | parents = Sadie and Hyman Novick | family = }}
'''Ben Novack''' (1907–1985) was an American hotelier who developed the Fontainebleau Miami Beach Hotel.
==Biography== Novack was born to a Jewish family,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0LnLvrFonwYC&q=novack&pg=PA10|first=Marcia Jo |last=Zerivitz|title=Jews of Greater Miami|year=2009 |publisher=Jewish Museum of Florida|isbn=9780738567198}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://momentmag.com/2014-jewish-routes/|first=|last=|authorlink=|title=Jewish Routes: South Florida|pages= |magazine=Moment Magazine|date=2014|quote=Hotels such as Miami Beach’s Fontainebleau, designed by Russian Jewish architect Morris Lapidus and built by Jewish hoteliers Ben Novack and Harry Mufson, have for decades catered to a Jewish clientele, providing kosher-for-Passover accommodations. }}</ref> the son of Sadie and Hyman Novick.<ref name=Glatt>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/princeofparadise0000glat|url-access=registration|quote=novack.|first= John |last=Glatt|title=The Prince of Paradise: The True Story of a Hotel Heir, His Seductive Wife, and a Ruthless Murder|year=2013|publisher=St. Martin's Publishing Group|isbn=9781250035721 }}</ref> He had three older siblings: Miriam (born 1903), Joseph (born 1904), and Lillian (born 1905).<ref name=Glatt /> His father was an immigrant from Russia who worked as a clothing cutter before opening his own clothing store; after the store failed, the family moved to the Catskill Mountains where he operated a hotel in the Borscht Belt.<ref name=Glatt /> After his father's death, he operated the hotel with his brother but disagreements led him to move to New York City where he Americanized his name to Novack and ran a haberdashery; the store also failed after he had a falling out with his partner.<ref name=Glatt />
In 1940, Novack and his wife moved to Miami Beach with $1,800 they had from liquidating his clothing stores assets.<ref name=Glatt /> At the time, Miami Beach was thriving despite the Great Depression thanks to it having become the winter playground of the rich.<ref name=Glatt /> He raised additional funds and purchased the 111-room Monroe Towers Hotel which turned into a lucrative investment once World War II started and the U.S. government used Miami as a training ground for 100,000 soldiers that required basic living space.<ref name=Glatt /> With his earnings, he bought out his partners and went on to purchase four more hotels including the Cornell and the Atlantis.<ref name=Glatt /> In 1949, he partnered with Harry Mufson and opened the Sans Souci Hotel designed by Morris Lapidus.<ref name=Glatt />
In 1952, Novack and Mufson purchased the Harvey Firestone mansion for $2.3 million; the partnership soon collapsed after Novack deceived Mufson and set about to have himself as the sole owner on the deed.<ref name=Glatt /> Novack raised additional funds from a diverse range of investors including Ben Jaffe<ref>{{Cite news|first= |last= |authorlink= |title=Fontainebleau Hotel Corp., Appellant, v. Florence Lustig Crossman, A/k/a Florence Lustig, Trading and Doing Business As Florence Lustig, Appellee, 286 F.2d 926 (5th Cir. 1961) |date=February 3, 1961 |url=https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/286/926/53609/ |accessdate=July 20, 2023}}</ref> and mobsters Sam Giancana and Joseph Fischetti; he again used Morris Lapidus as the architect.<ref name=Glatt /> In 1954, the 1,250-room Fontainebleau Miami Beach Hotel opened.<ref name=Glatt /> Steve Wynn (who would marry Novack's great-niece) commented that the Fontainebleau created the concept of the hotel as a show.<ref name=Glatt /> His estranged partner, Mufson, would go on to build the Eden Roc Miami Beach Hotel immediately to the north of the Fontainebleau also using Lapidus as architect.<ref name=Glatt /> In 1977, the Fontainebleau filed for Federal bankruptcy protection.<ref name=NYTObitSr>{{Cite web|title=Ben Novack Sr.,78 Is Dead; Founder of Fontainebleau |work=New York Times|date=April 7, 1985 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/04/07/us/ben-novack-sr.78-is-dead-founder-of-fontainebleau.html }}</ref> In 1978, Stephen Muss bought the Fontainebleau for $27 million.<ref name=SoFloBusJournalBorn>[http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2002/03/11/smallb1.html?page=all South Florida Business Journal: "Born to build - Muss, Soffer progeny develop joint project : Fontainebleau II" by Stephen Van Drake] March 11, 2002</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=DGn8UMzI--8C&q=muss&pg=PA116 ''We Are Many: Reflections On American Jewish History And Identity'' By Edward S Shapiro] retrieved April 13, 2013</ref><ref name=FoolsParadise>[https://archive.org/details/foolsparadisepla00gain/page/103 <!-- quote=muss . --> ''Fool's Paradise: Players, Poseurs, and the Culture of Excess in South Beach'' By Steven Gaines] pages 100 -110</ref> In 2005, Muss sold the Fontainebleau to Donald Soffer's, Turnberry Associates<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20130527115510/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2005-01-21/business/0501201134_1_turnberry-associates-ben-novack-tower Sun-Sentinel: "Turnberry Buys Fontainebleau - $150 Million Targeted For Upgrades" by Tom Stieghorst] January 21, 2005</ref> for $165 million.<ref name=FoolsParadise />
==Personal life== Novack married twice. His first wife was Bella Novack; they adopted a son, Ronald Marc Novack, before divorcing in 1951.<ref name=Glatt /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Brown |first=Julia |title=Homeless drifter turns out to be heir to Novack fortune - Ronald Novack, 62, is adopted son of hotel magnate's first wife |publisher=Miami Herald|date=January 29, 2010 |url= http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2010-01-29/news/fl-novack-brothers-20100129_1_sole-heir-ronald-novack-ben |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100219221056/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2010-01-29/news/fl-novack-brothers-20100129_1_sole-heir-ronald-novack-ben |url-status= dead |archive-date= February 19, 2010 |quote=He was the adopted son of Bella and the late Ben Novack Sr., who built and ran a number of hotels in Miami Beach, including the storied Fontainebleau resort. His father and mother went through a bitter divorce. Ben Novack Sr. was having an affair with a model, Bernice, whom he later married, and together they had a son, Ben Novack Jr., in 1959.}}</ref> In 1952, he married Bernice Mildred Stempel, a model born to a Jewish father and Roman Catholic mother of Irish descent.<ref name=Glatt /> In 1956, Bernice had a son, Ben Novack Jr.<ref name=Glatt /> Novack died of heart and lung failure on April 5, 1985.<ref name=NYTObitSr /> His great-niece, Andrea Hissom, is married to Steve Wynn.<ref>{{Cite web|title= Wynn switching restaurant's name |publisher=Las Vegas Review-Journal|date=October 28, 2012 |url=https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/wynn-switching-restaurants-name/ |quote=Her great uncle, Ben Novack, and grandfather, Joe Novack, built the Fontainebleau hotel on Miami Beach, which opened in 1954.}}</ref> Ben and Joseph Novack were brothers, Joseph was Andrea's grandfather, making Ben Sr her granduncle.
In 2009, his wife Bernice and his son, Ben Novack Jr. were murdered three months apart. Narcy Novack (née Narcisa Véliz Pacheco; born 1947), Ben Jr.'s estranged wife, was convicted of orchestrating the murders and, after a highly publicized trial, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.<ref name="Narcy Novack, brother guilty of plotting murders">{{cite news|title=Narcy Novack, brother guilty of plotting murders|url=http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/20/2859191/verdict-is-in-at-narcy-novack.html}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Novack, Ben}} Category:1907 births Category:1985 deaths Category:20th-century American Jews Category:American hoteliers Category:American businesspeople in the real estate industry