Developer Behind Fairfield Shopping Center, Merritt 7 Mourned

From Albert D. Phelps Inc.:

Albert D. Phelps Jr., once one of the largest landowners in Fairfield County, Connecticut and Westchester County, New York, died peacefully at his Florida home Sunday. He was 98.

Bert developed and managed millions of square feet of commercial space, including his trophy property, the Merritt 7 Corporate Park in Norwalk. Albert D. Phelps Inc. maintains offices at the Fairfield Shopping Center in Fairfield, which Bert built in 1955.

Bert also developed one of the first regional malls, now the Cortlandt Town Center in Peekskill, New York.

“Mr. Phelps was an entrepreneur, a visionary and generous to a fault,” company President, Steven M. Warren said.

Born in the Bronx in 1923, Bert served in Europe with distinction in Patton's Army. After World War II, he graduated from Babson College.

Bert's first love was sailing, building his 91-foot racing schooner, "Sonny," in 2018 at age 95. A lifetime member of the New York Yacht Club, Bert won many prestigious races over his career.

The Albert D. Phelps Jr. Charitable Foundation remains active and has benefited many worthy organizations for decades. A former trustee of Fairfield University, Mr. Phelps established the Merritt 7 Corporate Park student scholarship fund at the university. Bert also donated a number of his boats to AM Kids, a troubled youth charity in Florida, hoping to help improve the lives of the less fortunate.

Mr. Phelps is survived by his wife, Mona, and a stepson, Ben Gershel, and will be buried at his family plot at Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, New York.