Biography of C. Frederick Wehba
C. Frederick Wehba has built a lifetime of success on three important principles: Family values centered in the strength of his Christian faith, charitable generosity, and hard work.
He was born and grew up in Crowell, Texas, attending both elementary and high schools there. His father, Fred M. Wehba, was a Lebanese immigrant who owned a grocery store in the small town and later ran a chain of grocery stores in Oklahoma with his two sons Frederick and John.
He started working in his father's store at age 10, and at age 16 started managing several stores, continuing this work through high school and his studies at North Texas State College (now North Texas University).
"My father taught me the retail business, and he also taught me to love my country," Mr. Wehba said. "He had immigrated from Lebanon at age 19 and never went back. He thought America was the greatest place on earth. He would get teary-eyed just watching a school crossing guard walk kids across the street. He would say, 'What a great country. They even have someone to help you cross the street.'"
Mr. Wehba spent most of his spare time working in his father's grocery during high school. But he also loved music and participated in the school band and choir. His young instructor was none other than noted woodwind artist Earl Hesse, whose first job was teaching music at Crowell High School.
Dr. Hesse went on to an illustrious jazz career, appearing with Ella Fitzgerald, Buddy Rich, Al Hirt, Pattie Page and many others. He also taught woodwinds at Henderson State University in Arkansas for 27 years.
"He was a tremendous influence on me and one of the reasons I went to North Texas State, which had and still has one of the premiere jazz programs in the United States," Mr. Wehba said.
After college, Mr. Wehba moved from Texas to Oklahoma City in 1969 and began purchasing small supermarkets where he was able to increase sales using his long experience in his father's stores. He would then sell the successful stores for a handsome profit, often times at as much as five times the value of the initial investment.
Mr. Wehba's career in commercial real estate began during his seven years in Oklahoma City, where he built a 120,000-square-foot shopping center. At age 26, he designed and built a 53,000-square-foot Superstore, which received the "Store of the Year 1976" award from Progressive Grocer Magazine.
By 1977, Mr. Wehba was living in Denver and serving as President and General Manager of a twenty-store supermarket chain. His interest in real estate investment led him to Dallas, where he continued buying and selling properties. During this time, he also operated a manufacturing company, which he sold for a profit within three years.
In 1983, he began to devote full time to real estate and has since bought, sold and/or financed more than $3 billion worth of property including land for development, office buildings, shopping centers, warehouse projects and sale/leaseback opportunities that all represented long-term, value generating and risk conscious investments.
In 1989, Mr. Wehba moved his business interests and his family to Los Angeles, and in 1993 he founded what is today known as BentleyForbes along with his wife Susan, oldest son C. Frederick Wehba II and other family members, including his sister, Ms. Eleanor Cates.
BentleyForbes invests in multi-tenant commercial properties, with a focus on acquiring signature, trophy assets which have a high residual real estate value due to their locations in major markets and top submarkets nationally. The company is also highly regarded for its expertise in the acquisition and management of single-tenant, sale-leaseback and net lease properties.
Class-A properties currently owned by BentleyForbes include the largest Four Seasons in the world, the Dallas Four Seasons Golf Resort and Club, Chicago's Prudential Plaza and Washington D.C's Watergate complex.
BentleyForbes Property Site Links
- Bank of America Plaza (Atlanta, GA)
- The Watergate Building (Washington D.C.)
- The Prudential Plaza (Chicago, IL)
- Preston Commons (Dallas, TX)
- Sterling Plaza (Dallas, TX)
- Park Center (Plano, TX)
- Four Seasons Hotel and Resort (Las Colinas, TX)
- Las Olas Centre (Fort Lauderdale, FL)