After graduating from law school, Guttman accepted a position with Federal Realty Investment Trust. He became COO of the Maryland-based real estate investment trust in 1978 as well as a managing trustee in 1979. In 1980, he was also appointed the president of the company. During Guttman’s tenure, the company expanded beyond the Mid-Atlantic states. In the 1980s, Guttman and Federal Realty also developed Bethesda Row, a shopping district in Bethesda, Maryland with an emphasis on restaurants, as well as Pentagon Row, a mix of retail and residential space in Pentagon City, Virginia. In 2001, Guttman was appointed the chairman of the board while still serving as CEO of the company. Santana Row is perhaps the largest project Guttman has undertaken. The mixed-use development in San Jose, California represented a significant investment of the company's equity. Due in part to criticism of his handling of this project, in March 2002, Guttman announced his plans to resign upon completion of Santana Row. On August 19, 2002, a fire at Santana Row damaged over a hundred residential properties, delaying the opening of the project. According to officials, "it was the costliest in San Jose's history." Guttman had moved to the city to oversee the completion of the project. He was on hand to call emergency services and witness the destruction the fire wrought. Guttman retired from his career at Federal Realty in early 2003 having served twenty-two years as CEO of the company. Despite the problems faced by project, Santana Row was a successful project with high yields for Federal Realty and good revenue for the retail tenants.
Later career in the art industry
Guttman’s interest in the arts began while he was living in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C., where he first began collecting French and English furniture which he admired while visiting the local shops near his home. Although he acquired a few pieces of artwork and furniture during that time, he only began to grow his art collection in earnest in the latter part of his career as a developer and after retirement from Federal Realty. Sometime in the late 1990s or early 2000s, Guttman and his wife Kathy Guttman became interested in what is considered France’s version of Arte Povera, an Italian term for the post-World War II contemporary art movement that reused debris and scraps as its medium for art. They began collecting the works of the early originators of this movement such as André-Pierre Arnal and others. According to The Wall Street Journal, "the Guttmans' collection of work ranks among the world's best." In 2006, realizing that his large art collection was in need of a proper storage space and learning that such a space was hard to find, Guttman built a fine art storage facility in Bronx, New York. The storage space was housed on the top two floors of a building owned by the Storage Deluxe Management Corporation, a company he founded. As of 2014, he and his wife's collection is estimated to contain more than five hundred pieces. In January 2013, Guttman founded Uovo Fine Art Storage, which began construction on a 280,000-square-foot art storage facility in Queens, New York. The new climate-controlled building was being built to also allow access to very large artworks up to forty feet. As of October 2015, Guttman serves as chairman of Uovo. As of late 2011, Guttman also served on the board of the Miami Art Museum, now known as Pérez Art Museum Miami. The museum, which is partly supported by public funds, began construction on a new facility paid in part by a large cash donation from Jorge M. Pérez. In recognition of this contribution, the museum was to be renamed Jorge M. Pérez Art Museum of Miami-Dade County. Guttman and three other board members resigned in protest of the name change. Guttman also serves on the board of the American Friends of the Centre Pompidou Foundation. He first joined the organization in 2007. In July 2012, he was appointed the chairman of the organization after the resignation of Robert Rubin, the previous chairman. In May 2016, Gérard Araud, the French ambassador to the United States, presented to Guttman the honor of Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur, the civilian Legion of Honour award. In the private award ceremony at the French ambassador's residence in Washington, D.C., Araud stated that they "continue to benefit from Mr. Guttman’s relentless commitment to strengthening the bridge of ideas and talent between the U.S. and France. I applaud his efforts and congratulate him on an honor well deserved."
Personal life
Steven and Kathy Guttman live in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. They own four houses that house some of their more than 1,000 objects of art and design, including homes in Paris, France and Miami. In 2017, they donated $2 million to the University of Pittsburgh Football program, the single largest donation to the program’s Championship Fund. The donation was specifically earmarked for his alma mater’s football program.
