Merritt Sher

1939 - 2018

Merritt Sher

June 21, 1939 – March 4, 2018

Philosopher of Place

Son of Sydney and Sylvia Sher

"Spreading ideas increases velocity, which creates prosperity," is one bit of wisdom passed along by Merritt Sher to readers of his business philosophy book, 10 Birds with One Stone. Respected as one of the country's most innovative and visionary real estate developers, he has been called "the philosopher of place." He was known for his uncanny ability to recognize the potential in undervalued communities such as Oakland's Jack London Square. Merritt's companies, Terranomics Development and later Metrovation, with partner Mark Seiler, created many projects around the country. He conceived of, developed, nurtured or consulted on retail landscapes and retailers including: Loehmann's 5 Points Plaza, Huntington Beach; Crossroads, Bellevue, Wash, with brother Ron Sher; Hotel Healdsburg, and h2hotel in Healdsburg with partners in Piazza Hospitality Paolo Petrone and daughter Circe Sher; Jack London Square, Oakland; The Corner, Falls Church, Va.; 280 Metro Center (the first "power center"), Colma; The Grove (one of the first lifestyle centers) and other developments in and around downtown Red Bank, N.J.; facilitating the sale of Banana Republic to The Gap, and invested in, inspired or helped grow Rainbow Records, Pacific Sunwear, Design Hotels and Swarm Gallery in Oakland.

His uncanny instincts helped recognize and move forward many businesses, including Bed Bath & Beyond who he advised to build jumbo stores. He also saw the potential in the fledgling La Petite Boulangerie, which later sold to Pepsi. In other words, little, regional businesses often became big businesses when Merritt was involved. A major part of his success involved his personal commitment to each place, person and deal he was involved in, becoming a cheerleader extraordinaire for his projects, ensuring their healthy path.

His own story began in New Jersey in the Summer of 1939. His father, Sydney, was a prosecuting attorney in Bergen County, New Jersey before his later career in real estate development in Southern California. Merritt was the oldest of three children. He had a younger brother Ron and a sister Abby who would be his business partners in future ventures.

Merritt studied at Menlo – became student body president and later went to San Francisco State and Hastings Law School, practicing law for not more than a year before he went into real estate. He always got by with his charm, charisma and instinct.

Then he met Pam his future wife. A dynamic duo formed almost instantly. Later Pam and Merritt collaborated on the design of Hotel Healdsburg together. Merritt and Pam had three children of their own: Justin, Circe and Lacey.

Pam goes on to say, "He was such a good family man. He was the greatest champion of all of us. Merritt was the rock in our family. We had a number of crises and through it all he was calm, stoic, and a problem solver".

Merritt almost never had an unkind word to say about anyone and never shied away from talking to anyone who approached him on any topic at any time; always kind, always finding a way to relate to each person and really listen."

In lieu of flowers donations may be made to Russian Riverkeeper in Merritt Sher's name.