Webb and Knapp

Webb and Knapp
IndustryReal estate development
Founded1922; 104 years ago (1922)
FounderRobert C. Knapp
W. Seward Webb
Defunctafter 1965

Webb and Knapp was an 20th century American real estate development firm.

Overview

The company is most famous for redeveloping the Roosevelt Airfield, which was the launching site of the transatlantic flights of Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart. It was also the firm at which famed architect I. M. Pei first worked from 1948 to 1956.[citation needed]

History

The company was founded in 1922 by Robert C. Knapp and W. Seward Webb.[citation needed]

William Zeckendorf joined the firm in 1938 and acquired it in 1949.

In 1965, the company filed for bankruptcy protection and Roosevelt Airfield was sold to Corporate Property Investors. The company's total assets of about US$21.5 million (equivalent to $163 million in 2025) were dwarfed by its total liabilities of about $60 million (equivalent to $467 million in 2025) and contingent tax liabilities of $29.4 million (equivalent to $229 million in 2025).

Notable projects

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Mr. Knickerbocker's Face Lifting". Time. October 14, 1946. Archived from the original on March 8, 2017. Retrieved February 2, 2018.(subscription required)
  2. ↑ Hughes, C.J. (2024-01-18). "The Zeckendorfs | Real estate families of New York". Crain's New York Business. Retrieved 2025-06-26.
  3. ↑ Barmash, Isadore (June 5, 1977). "Roosevelt Field: A Shopping Giant at a Crossroads". The New York Times. Retrieved September 17, 2017.
  4. ↑ Bedingfield, Robert E. (February 13, 1970). "Liquidation Asked For Webb & Knapp". The New York Times. Retrieved September 17, 2017.
  5. ↑ Supreme Court, United States (1971). United States Reports: Cases Adjudged in the Supreme Court. Banks & Bros., Law Publishers. p. 419.