A desire to build and instill pride back into run down communities has been a catalyst for many of Michael A. Pollack’s real estate ventures throughout his 44-plus year career.
He is the founder and president of Michael A. Pollack Real Estate Investments, one of the largest independently owned and operated real estate companies in Arizona, specializing in refurbishing commercial and industrial properties in the Phoenix market for more than 25 years now.
Pollack’s goal is to make Arizona’s neighborhoods better one project at a time; always leaving things better than the way he found it.
His impressive work on more than 11 million square feet of commercial real estate projects represents a total value of more than $1 billion, but what he gives back to the communities that he lives and works in through various charities and nonprofit organizations is even more valuable and cannot be summarized by a dollar amount.
He actively works in different roles and capacities with hundreds of local and national charitable organizations ranging from the Hospice of the Valley, Goodwill, Salvation Army and Red Cross, to the arts and local high schools.
As a result, he has received numerous commendations, resolutions and proclamations from senators, congressional representatives, governors, mayors, city councils, county supervisors and commercial industry leaders for his achievements in renovation and community revitalization.
“I can’t change what was,” says Pollack, “but I’ll do my very best to influence what will be and I hope that will be in a positive direction.”
His passion for giving back derives from the struggles of his youth, in which he learned the value of hard work and to appreciate the smaller things in life, but also from the simple satisfaction of helping others.
Pollack believes “generations learn by example” like how he did from his parents Robert and Wanda Pollack. That’s why he and his wife Cheryl strive to instill the same desire to give back to the community into each of their children.
Pollack says, “I hope we have instilled in them that making a positive difference in the communities they live in helps to make this world a better place.”
Each one of Pollack’s children have given back to the community in some way through their own projects, including their late son Daniel Heath Pollack.
Daniel, a 31-year-old described as a giving and loving person, tragically lost his life in a hit and run accident in 2011, which spurred his father to start the Daniel Heath Pollack Memorial Foundation.
“I believe by giving to charities that he would have wanted to support if he was here, I am keeping his memory alive,” Pollack explains. Most recently, the Foundation donated $50,000 to build a playground for children in Daniel’s name.
At the end of the day, Pollack’s goal is always to leave a place better than how he found it whether it’s a renovation of a dying retail center through his business or donating his personal time and energy to the long list of different charities and nonprofit organizations that he’s active within.
