In 1960, Mel and Herb Simon founded an Indianapolis real estateinvestment company that would eventually become the No. 1 mall owner in the United States. The brothers became co-owners of the Indiana Pacers in 1983 and their company developed the Circle Centre Mall, which opened in Downtown Indianapolis in 1995.
Mel, Herb and Fred Simon, the sons of Max Simon, a New York City tailor, and wife Mae, were born in Brooklyn and raised in the Bronx.
Mel excelled in school and graduated from the Bronx High School of Science. He earned an accounting degree in 1949 from City College in New York. Mel came to Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis in 1953 while in the Army, and decided to stay. He worked as a leasing agent for Albert J. Frankel in the 1950s. He studied real estate in college and thought there was great potential in that field.
After a few years with Frankel, and having handled leasing at the Eastgate Shopping Center, Mel decided he wanted to make the decisions. In 1959, he formed his own real estate investment company, Melvin Simon & Associates, with his youngest brother Herb, who had also worked briefly for Frankel. The business incorporated in 1960, with Mel owning two-thirds of the business and Herb the rest. Their brother Fred came to Indianapolis to work for the company, but resigned in 1983 to pursue other interests. Their parents moved from New York to Indianapolis in 1961.
Melvin Simon & Associates began by developing strip centers anchored by groceries and drugstores. The company’s first shopping center was Southgate Plaza in Bloomington. Within five years the Simons were developing enclosed malls. By 1967, the company owned and operated more than 3 million square feet of retail property. It continued to expand throughout the country, adding more than 1 million square feet of property every year. By the 1980s the company opened three enclosed malls every year.
In the 1970s, Mel tried his hand at movie-making. His production company lost millions of dollars in an endeavor he later called a “big mistake.” The Simons, however, retain some of the celebrity friendships they made during that time.
An outside interest that has proven more lasting is ownership of the Indiana Pacers. In 1983, the Pacers were struggling and then-mayor Bill Hudnut feared an out-of-town buyer would relocate the team. At the urging of Hudnut, Mel and Herb Simon bought the the team to keep it in Indianapolis. The Simon are also known for their lavish parties, which benefit charitable and political causes.
In 1990, David Simon, Mel’s oldest son, joined the company as chief financial officer. David became CEO in 1995. The company went public in 1993, folding most of its properties into Simon Property Group and raising nearly $1 billion – at the time the largest real estate stock offering ever.
Following a $3 billion merger with DeBartolo Realty Corp. in 1996, the company became Simon DeBartolo Group – the nation’s dominant shopping center owner. In 1998, the company reverted to Simon Property Group and is now the No. 1 mall owner in the United States. Also in 1998, Simon bought the Fashion Mall at Keystone at the Crossing, taking control of six of the seven regional shopping malls in Indianapolis. The company’s projects include the Mall of America, outside Minneapolis, completed in 1992, and Circle Centre Mall in Indianapolis, which opened in 1995.
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