GREENWICH, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Urstadt Biddle Properties Inc. (NYSE: UBA and UBP) announced that on March 3, 2020, Charles J. Urstadt, the Company’s former Chairman and Director, died from complications arising from a recent stroke. Mr. Urstadt was 91 years old. When he retired from the Company’s Board of Directors on December 18, 2019, Charles J. Urstadt had served more than 30 years as a director of Urstadt Biddle Properties Inc., having joined its predecessor Hubbard Real Estate Investments as a director in 1975. From 1986 to December 2018, he served as Chairman of the Board of Directors, and as Chief Executive Officer from 1989 through 2013, when Willing L. Biddle succeeded him as President and Chief Executive Officer. Under his guidance, the Company became a leading owner of neighborhood community shopping centers in the suburban New York City region.
In addition to his achievements in the private sector, Charles J. Urstadt’s legacy includes his public service as former chairman of the Battery Park City Authority and commissioner of the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal, as well as his two years of service during the mid-1950s as a lieutenant in the United States Navy. Mr. Urstadt melded a background in real estate, law and a love of politics when he joined the administration of New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, who tapped him to lead efforts to build large-scale public housing in 1967.
In his spare time, Charles J. Urstadt was an accomplished amateur athlete. In his younger years, he competed for and won multiples titles with the Bronx High School of Science and Dartmouth College swim teams. He returned to the sport later in life, winning the FINA World Masters Championships in the breaststroke for men aged 70 or above, the age-group world title in the 50-meter breast stroke in Munich in 2000 and the age-group world title for the same event in Perth in 2008, setting a still standing world championship meet record in the Perth event.
With Charles D. Urstadt, Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Willing L. Biddle, President and Chief Executive Officer, already at the helm, the Company stands on solid ground and recognizes the immeasurable contributions of Charles J. Urstadt. He will be sorely missed by employees, friends and family.
Urstadt Biddle Properties Inc. is a self-administered equity real estate investment trust that owns or has equity interests in 81 properties containing approximately 5.3 million square feet of space. Listed on the New York Stock Exchange since 1970, it provides investors with a means of participating in ownership of income-producing properties. It has paid 200 consecutive quarters of uninterrupted dividends to its shareholders since its inception and has raised total dividends to its shareholders for the last 26 consecutive years.
Certain statements contained herein may constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among other things, risks associated with the timing of and costs associated with property improvements, financing commitments and general competitive factors.
