Irwin Molasky

Irwin Molasky was born to a Jewish family[1] circa 1927. His father ran an Ohio newspaper distribution business and managed several apartments.[2] Molasky went to a military high school and attended college and worked during summers as a teenager.[2] He attended Ohio State University and transferred to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), but did not graduate from either institution.[2] Instead, he worked his way up in construction.[2]

Molasky moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1951.[2] Soon after arriving he bought property and built an 18-room motel, The Pyramids.[3] With Moe Dalitz, Allard Roen and Merv Adelson, he founded Paradise Development, a real estate development company in the 1950s.[4] Together, they founded the Sunrise Hospital, the Boulevard Mall and the Las Vegas Country Club.[4] Later, they also developed the La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, California.[4]

Meanwhile, Molasky became the Chairman of The Molasky Group of Companies, a real estate development company.[5][6][7] He has built the first master-planned community, Paradise Palms and the first high-rise office building in Las Vegas, the 17-story Bank of American Plaza; and the Nathan Adelson Hospice.[2][5][6] Additionally, he helped find the right location for the McCarran International Airport and assisted with the land purchase for the Las Vegas Convention Center.[6] Moreover, he built the Internal Revenue Service Headquarters in Las Vegas,[8][9] the Social Security Administration building in Las Vegas, the Casa Grande Re-entry Facility for the State of Nevada Department of Corrections, and the Clark County Detention Facility.[7][10] Molasky also purchased the Regency Towers high-rise condominium tower after it went into foreclosure in the 1970s.[11] Molasky and Steve Wynn later built the Park Towers high-rise condominiums, completed in 2001.[12] In 2007, his company completed the Molasky Corporate Center in downtown Las Vegas. It is a green building used for office space, and is the only building by Molasky to use his name.[13]

With Merv Adelson and Lee Rich, he was a co-founder of Lorimar Productions, a conglomerate of television, broadcasting, and print companies.[6] He also served on its board of directors.[6]

Molasky admitted in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that he used the company as a "tax shelter."[14]

Molasky owns racehorses with trainer Bruce Headley.[2] One of his horses was Kona Gold.[2]

Molasky was a key figure in the development of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas through a donation of 45 acres (18 ha) prime of land at Flamingo Road and Maryland Parkway.[5][6] He also served as the Founding Chairman of the UNLV Foundation, the fundraising arm of the university.[15]

Molasky serves on the board of directors of Project REAL, a non-profit organization which teaches "principles of democracy, law and the responsibilities of citizenship" to schoolchildren in Las Vegas.[16]

The Molasky Junior High School in Las Vegas is named in his honor.[17]

Molasky was married to Pepi (Bookbinder) Molasky.[2] He then married Susan (Frey) Molasky.[2] He has three sons and a daughter, all of whom work at The Molasky Group of Companies:

• Steven Molasky.[7]
• Andrew Molasky.[7]
• Alan Molasky.[7]
• Beth Molasky.[7]