Wizards' Owner Abe Pollin Dead at 85

Abe Pollin, the longtime owner of the Washington Wizards, has died. He was 85.

Pollin and his wife, Irene, have owned the franchise for 46 years— making them the longest-tenured owners in the NBA. Pollin served as the chairman of Washington Sports & Entertainment, and the couple oversees not only the Wizards, but also Washington/Baltimore Ticketmaster and Musicentre Productions as well as the Verizon Center and The George Mason University Patriot Center.

The Pollins built The Capital Centre in 1973 in Landover, Maryland, and it became home to their Baltimore Bullets— now known as the Washington Wizards. They also applied for an NHL expansion franchise. Years later, both the Wizards and the Washington Capitals moved to the Verizon Center, which the Pollins built with $200 million of their own money and opened in 1997. The opening of that facility led to the revitalization of downtown D.C.'s Chinatown neighborhood.

With Pollin's death, a group led by longtime AOL executive Ted Leonsis is poised to take ownership of Washington Sports & Entertainment. Leonsis previously bought two of Pollin's teams—the Capitals in 1999 and the WNBA's Mystics in 2005. He also secured the right of first refusal to buy the rest of the Washington Sports and Entertainment Holdings when Pollin retired or died.

James Dinegar is the president and CEO of the Greater Washington Board Of Trade. He joined us to talk about Abe Pollin. (WATCH VIDEO)

No details were given on Pollin's death, but he suffered from progressive supranuclear palsy, a rare brain disorder that impairs movement and balance. He had heart bypass surgery in 2005 and also broke his pelvis two years later.

According to the Washington Wizards website, Abe Pollin serves as the Chairman of the Advisory Council, is Honorable Chairman of the Salvation Army’s Leadership Committee for Centers of Hope and Co-Chair of the Community Capital Campaign for N Street Village in the District. He is also the co-sponsor of the “I Have a Dream Foundation” and he personally guaranteed a college education for 55 students.

The team's site says recent philanthropic endeavors of the Pollins have included the re-launch of the Abe’s Table program to feed the underserved in the D.C. community and financial sponsorship of Gilbert Arenas’ Gilbert Scores for Schools program, through which the Pollins donated $100 for every point that Arenas scored in select Wizards games during the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons to a different Washington area school each game.

In August 2008, the Pollins donated $1,000,000 to the Society for Progressive Supranuclear Palsy to establish a fund to support research in corticobasal degeneration, and to find the cause and cure for the rare neurological disease. Mr. Pollin was diagnosed with the disease several years ago.

Abe Pollin graduated from The George Washington University in 1945, and then worked for his family's construction company for 12 years. In 1957, the Pollins launched their own construction company and then built several large apartment houses and office buildings—one of which had the first-ever rooftop pool in D.C.

The Pollins have two sons and two granddaughters.


Pollin's Impact Felt in the Community

Abe Pollin told friends, "The city's been good to me. I want to be good to the city." And he was.

Pollin believed in Chinatown when most people were afraid to walk the streets. Tony Cheng had a police substation in his restaurant back in 1994 when Polllin decided to bring the Capitals and then the Washington Bullets downtown.

"He made that decision, then the city could not keep his end of the bargain. He then stepped up to the plate and said, 'I will pay for the construction of what was then the MCI Center.'

Pollin pitched in $190 million. The payoff for the city was much more.

"Fifteen, twenty years ago, there was nothing here." said Cheng. "After he came here, the whole Chinatown changed. Chinatown's like New York Times Square now."

The area around the Verizon Center is popping. It's one of the most thriving areas of the city, and people love it.

The city honors him with a street named after him. All along Abe Pollin Way, people are pausing to remember. Pollin revitalized the area around the Verizon Center, which he also worked to build. Business is booming. Stores restaurants and museums are filled. It's an arts and entertainment mecca.

At Jaleo Restaurant, it's a full house nightly. Owners say one man made it this way. Most remember when no one but Pollin would come here.

Down the street at Vida Fitness, it's a sad day, but it's also a day to celebrate Pollin's contribution to the city. Vida got one of the last coveted spots inside the Verizon Center.

David Von Storch, owner of Vida Fitness, says Pollin was a rare find in the business world. Now his fitness venture is thriving. The loss is personal.

Penn Quarter and Chinatown have become a destination in the city for nightlife, businesses and restaurants. Most agree that the best way to honor the great