Howard Sokolowski


Howard Sokolowski, is a property developer, philanthropist and sport business owner from Toronto. He is the husband of Linda Frum and was the former co-owner of the Toronto Argonauts with David Cynamon from 2003 to 2010. His parents, Henry and Eva Sokolowski, were Holocaust survivors from Poland.

Biography

Sokolowski was born to a Jewish family and raised in Toronto and attended York University. Upon graduation he went into property development, eventually founding Tribute Communities. Over the next 25 years, the company went on to develop more than 30,000 homes. Later, Sokolowski founded another property development company, Metropia. At the moment, Howard Sokolowski serves as chairman and chief executive officer at Metropia Inc.
He is a benefactor of Mount Sinai Hospital, the Bishop Strachan School, the Art Gallery of Ontario, York University, Rouge Valley Health System, The Ontario Institute of Technology, and many other worthy institutions. Sokolowski has received awards from J.D. Powers and Associates, the Ontario Home Builders Association, and the Greater Toronto Home Builders Association including Project of the Year, Community of the Year and Builder of the Year.

Personal life

He is married to the Honourable Linda Frum, a writer and Conservative member of the Senate of Canada. They have 5 children, one grandchild and live in Toronto. Together they give to charity, such as a $5 million gift to Jewish community centres in Toronto, and a $5 million gift to Mount Sinai Hospital to name The Sokolowski/Frum Reception, Triage and Waiting Area. In 2011, Sokolowski was appointed to the Order of Ontario for 'his contributions to the arts, healthcare and education'.

Toronto Argonauts

On 5 November 2003, Sokolowski and David Cynamon purchased the Toronto Argonauts from the Canadian Football League for $2 million. Immediately, on assuming control of the club, they sought moving the team into a smaller stadium. The Rogers Centre has a capacity of over 50,000 and although attendance at games increased during their ownership, it rarely was over 25,000. This made the stadium cavernous and unappealing to supporters. Discussions were made to play games at either University of Toronto, York University or at BMO Field but all of them fell through.
On the field, the team won the 92nd Grey Cup in 2004 under the head coach Michael 'Pinball' Clemons, the first black coach to ever win the Grey Cup.
Nevertheless, despite on field success and increased ticket attendance, without a purpose-built stadium, the team lost money over the six years of Sokolowski's and Cynamon's ownership. It was eventually sold to David Braley on 9 February 2010.