BUSINESS
I C.J. SEGERSTROM & SONS I SOUTH COAST PLAZA I ARCHITECTURE & DEVELOPMENT I
One of his first tasks was leasing warehouses the family owned, and he succeeded where a professional broker could not. It proved to be a defining moment of change for the family, when the future value of the land (and Henry’s innovative leadership role in developing its value) began to become clear.
Beginning in the 1960s, Henry Segerstrom began to envision a retail destination that could rival any in the United States. His vision was realized as South Coast Plaza, which would become the highest grossing planned retail center in the U.S., with total annual revenue
exceeding $1.5 billion by 2012. It also has had a significant role in developing Orange County into a modern and urbane metropolitan region.
Segerstrom served on the boards of many California corporations, including Southern California Edison, Union Bank, Security Pacific, Bank of America and Safeco. In 2008, he was awarded the Arbuckle Award by the Stanford Graduate School of Business, one of its most prestigious alumni awards, for both managerial excellence and for addressing the changing needs of society.
BUSINESS LEADERSHIP
As managing partner of C. J. Segerstrom and Sons, a family-owned commercial real estate and retail management company established in 1898, Henry T. Segerstrom spearheaded the family’s commercial development of Orange County, building South Coast Plaza, one of the largest and most profitable enclosed retail centers in the United States, Opening in 1967 in what was then a quiet agricultural community, South Coast Plaza today draws more than 18 million visitors each year and has evolved to become an international destination for fashion and luxury shopping. Envisioning the mixing of resources that would surround South Coast Plaza, Henry T. Segerstrom not only transitioned his grandfather’s company from farming into retail and commercial real estate but worked steadily to unite commerce with the arts and to integrate the arts into Segerstrom commercial developments.
“Good judgment, I think, was something that was characteristic of the members of the [Segerstrom] family. We were always conservative, but realized that the least conservative decision one could make would be to do nothing. And we never wanted to just sit on our laurels or just sit on our land…We wanted to grow with the county.”
– Henry T. Segerstrom
BUSINESS POSITIONS
Managing Partner – C.J. Segerstrom & Sons
Managing Partner – Town Center Associates
Managing Partner – South Coast Plaza Associates
Managing Partner – Mesa Verde Associates
Managing Partner – Harbor Associates
Managing Partner – Nordso Partnership
Managing Partner – Secon Properties (Joint Venture with CIGNA)
Chairman, Executive Committee – One Town Center Drive Associates (Joint Venture with Prudential Insurance Company of America)
Chairman, Executive Committee – Two Town Center Drive Associates (Joint Venture with Prudential Insurance Company of America)
Managing Partner – Town Center Associates
Managing Partner – South Coast Plaza Associates
Managing Partner – Mesa Verde Associates
Managing Partner – Harbor Associates
Managing Partner – Nordso Partnership
Managing Partner – Secon Properties (Joint Venture with CIGNA)
Chairman, Executive Committee – One Town Center Drive Associates (Joint Venture with Prudential Insurance Company of America)
Chairman, Executive Committee – Two Town Center Drive Associates (Joint Venture with Prudential Insurance Company of America)
