https://coralgablesmagazine.com/david-william-the-first-skyscraper-in-the-center/ The Magazine for business, culture, entertainment, and dining in Coral Gables Wed, 28 Apr 2021 15:29:13 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.3 https://coralgablesmagazine.com/david-william-the-first-skyscraper-in-the-center/#comment-94 Mon, 07 Dec 2020 22:14:21 +0000 https://coralgablesmagazine.com/?p=14816#comment-94 As an original tenant, your excellent article about the David William brought back many fond memories of living there. My relationship with the “Jut-Jawed Mind” of Al Sakolsky began as a mortgage broker with the procurement of a mortgage to refinance an existing apartment complex he had purchased in Miami. What he did in Coral Gables to build a high-rise with a roof-top swimming pool, and energy producing natural gas turbine, plus extending under-ground parking garage to the property-line at the center of the street it fronted was, to say the least, incredible for the times. That he argued his own case, and won, the right to do so before the State Supreme Court is the kind of stuff no one would believe in a movie.
I moved there in March, 1965, and arranged the permanent financing a few months later. When applying for the mortgage all the units that became hotel rooms were considered efficiency apartments. Hotel was added to the name after the mortgage commitment was issued and accepted. Across the hall from my apartment was a unit that housed the star actors appearing at the Coconut Grove Playhouse.
While a tough businessman, Al had many sides that he allowed very few others to see. In September, 1965, Hurricane Betsy decided to park itself north of Miami for 12 hours and pound the Florida East Coast with torrential rain and 100+ miles per hour wind. My 12th floor apartment faced north with a balcony and living room that had floor to ceiling glass walls. The balcony flooded and water started to enter the living room. My future wife was there, and Al came to see how we were doing and helped move the furniture and roll up the carpet. He then stayed for a while and regaled us by quoting from memory several speeches made by President Lincoln. A couple of hours later the rain and wind were so vicious that water was leaking through the wall underneath the windowsill in the bedroom.
Another time, I delivered some papers to his home and evidently interrupted a personal pleasure of playing his grand piano. He resumed playing until satisfied, before turning to the business at hand. That he named the David William after his father also says a lot about a talented, complicated, man.

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