Ken Fields is an American real estate developer, entrepreneur and environmentalist.
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Fields was born and raised in New York City where he attended the prestigious Collegiate School on Manhattans upper west side, later transferring to The Indian Mountain School and The Salisbury School, both boarding schools in Lakeville CT.[1] He is a graduate of Brown University.[2]
With a wide-ranging portfolio of projects, including office buildings and low-income housing, Fields is perhaps most well recognized as a hotel and hospitality investor and developer. In 2002 he purchased the Ankara Motel property on 23rd Street and Collins Avenue in the Collins Park neighborhood of South Beach. The motel was built in 1954 by the architecture firm of Reiff & Feldman and is one of the few remaining examples of googie style architecture in South Beach.[3] Fields redeveloped the property into Miami Beach's first Arts Hotel, inviting artists to design individual rooms (notably Shepard Fairey, Camella Ehlke of Triple Five Soul and Kenzo Minami) and renamed the property The Creek South Beach. The redevelopment and design concept was widely praised by the media, winning best hotel in Miami Beach from The Miami New Times.[4] Despite joint efforts by neighborhood associations, the City of Miami Beach and private developers, the area continues to have its ups and downs.[5]
Fields owns a 3,000-acre cattle ranch in Uruguay. Beef from the ranch was briefly imported and made available online in the United States under the Uruguay Steaks brand.[6] The company spokesperson and chef was Bravo TV’s Top Chef’s Lee Anne Wong.[7]
Fields has been an active participant in a number of environmental initiatives. He is a vocal advocate for renewable energy, and solar power in particular, quoted by the media discussing tax benefits and financial incentives as an industry expert in the The Miami Herald and Plum TV.[8][9] He has been a strong supporter of Ecomb (The Environmental Coalition of Miami and The Beaches) and their efforts to establish the Miami Beach Center For The Environment.[10] In 2010 he established the not-for-profit School Charging Program to donate electric vehicle charging stations to schools and other educational institutions.[11]