Douglas Kohl, Businessman, Developer, Dead at 51

NORTHAMPTON – Douglas Kohl, 51, a longtime developer in the region and an investor in numerous downtown Northampton properties, died yesterday of complications from recent liver surgery.

Richard Madowitz, Kohl’s co-owner of Thornes Marketplace on Main Street, confirmed the death in a brief phone conversation with this reporter and in an email this morning to the building’s store owners. Other close friends and colleagues also spoke with Northampton Media today.

“It is with a tremendous degree of sadness that I must report that Doug Kohl passed away last night,” Madowitz’s message to Thornes tenants read. He said Kohl, who recently had undergone liver surgery, died at the Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. Madowitz said that, before the surgery, Kohl had “insisted that we keep things going, as he very much wanted to see his long-term vision for the building fulfilled.”

Kohl, Madowitz and Rusell Jopson purchased Thorne’s for $6.4 million from the Thorne family in 2006 (See “Bazaar Happenings” from BusinessWest), and the latest corporate filing with the state shows only Madowitz and Kohl as partners in Thornes Marketplace LLC.

Kohl teamed up with Madowitz in several other limited partnerships, and the two were also partners in Northampton commercial real estate with with Holyoke businessman and music mogul Eric Suher. Kohl was a founding director of the Northampton Business Improvement District (NBID), which was created last year to spruce up and revitalize downtown.

“It’s very sad,” said NBID Executive Director Daniel Yacuzzo, who said the two men worked together on the NBID for four and a half years. He said he spoke to other NBID directors earlier today. “Everyone is in a sense of shock. (He) was a good person, a good father and husband, and a great community member.”

Yacuzzo said that, as a member and later chairman of the city’s Planning Board, he watched Kohl present various housing developments in a way that was head and shoulders above other developers, showing particular attention to zoning details and a sensitivity to the environment and open space preservation. “He came prepared to give as much as he received,” said Yacuzzo. “People will talk about Doug Kohl homes for a long time.”

“Doug was one of the few genuinely decent people I’ve ever met,” said real estate consultant James M. Stevens, who described a 20-year friendship and professional relationship.

“He was an integral part of every project he was involved in (and) everybody relied on his insight,” Stevens said. “He always tried to do the right thing. (And) if he had the choice of doing the honorable thing or something else, he did the honorable thing.”

In an email sent to Northampton Media today, Madowitz expressed his sorrow at losing a friend and colleague. He said Kohl was a smart businessperson “with the highest level of ethics and honesty (who) cared first about the quality of his projects and their impacts on people, and secondarily about the economics.. . .He will be sorely missed.”

Madowitz said Kohl’s construction company was known for attracting “top-notch employees” and for home-construction that was “aestheteically pleasing, highly efficient and exceptionally well-constructed.”

“On a personal basis, I enjoyed an exceptionally close relationship with Doug, and my thoughts and prayers go out to his wife Rachel and his son Joshua,” Madowitz wrote.

He said a public memorial service will be be announced next week. In his email to Thorne’s tenants, he said there would be a private burial service for family and close friends.

In an email to Northampton Media, Eric Suher echoed Madowitz’ praise for Kohl. “I am still in shock over his passing last night,” Suher wrote Thursday about his business partner since the early 1990s. He described Kohl as “extremely bright, highly ethical, very community minded and charitable. I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with Doug, and he will be missed.”

Suzanne Beck, executive director of the Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce, described Kohl as “a kind of quiet but forceful influence in Northampton” and his death as “a sad moment for the community,” she said. “He was really willing to put a lot of himself into a project that he believed in.”

Kohl was “one of the best developers we’ve ever had,” city Director of Planning and Development Wayne Feiden told Northampton Media. He said Kohl was a strong supporter of the Community Preservation Act who didn’t see developments “as just a way to make money.”

When Kohl took over a failing development off of Burts Pit Road, Feiden said, he turned it around in part by listening to people in the neighborhood. “He’s been really responsible working with the city and with the neighbors.”

Kohl was the owner of Kohl Construction and the president of Tofino Associates, Inc., both based in Hadley, and was involved in numerous housing projects here and in Amherst.

According to the Kohl Construction website, Kohl developed and built 23 homes in the Hop Brook Meadow development in Amherst, 10 homes in the East Woods development in Amherst, the Pathways Co-Housing in Northampton (which preserved 33 of 45 acres of open space), the 27-acre Rocky Hill Co-Housing in Northampton (with 19 acres of open space),  among many projects.

Martin Guerra, owner of La Veracruzana restaurant at 31 Main St., was visibly shaken upon learning the news this morning while eating breakfast at Jake’s.

“I’m really going to miss that guy,” said Guerra. “He was a friend, a person with a lot of integrity. (He) never looked at a project as just a way to make money.”

Guerra, who leased his restaurant space from Kohl for many years, said that Kohl was more than fair as a commercial landlord and even loaned him money at time. “Doug was patient and supportive during a period when I was going through some financial difficulties,” he said. “I will always remember that.”

“This is a profound loss for his friends, family and the City of Northampton,” Leeds resident Lisa Baskin said. “He cared deeply about this community, and was widely known for his fairness and generosity.”

Baskin, who served as Hampshire County co-coordinator for Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, said Kohl donated space in the basement of Thornes’ for the office. Records of contributions during that campaign show Kohl personally contributed $4,600 to the Obama campaign.

Among Kohl’s property investments are the Fitzwilly’s building and lots off Station Road in Amherst, Stevens said.

In recent years, Kohl had been pursuing plans for a 2o-unit townhouse project on 5.6 acres off North Street near the city’s downtown. The project triggered a lawsuit by some neighbors and opposition from the North Street Neighborhood Association. In 2007, Valley Advocate blogger Daryl LaFleur walked through woods where the project was planned and got an well-rounded view of Kohl and his project.

The Kohl Construction website offers a glimpse into the quality projects that Kohl undertook, from beginning to end.

“Our commitment to custom design, quality materials and fine craftmanship is your assurance that a Kohl Construction home will provide comfort, style and enduring value,” the website proclaims.

“Our job is to build your vision,” the site states. “Through the years we have developed strong relationships with skilled specialty tradespeople, and their work too is coordinated by the project manager. (And) after you move in, Kohl Construction is still available for support. Our relationship continues with a yearlong builder’s warranty and with our commitment to your satisfaction with your home.”