Salomón Cohen Levy

Biography

Salomón Cohen was born in Jerusalem, from a Jewish Sephardi family which resided in the Spanish protectorate in Morocco, Salomón came to Caracas at the age of three, when his father was looking for a better future in Latin America. He studied at Liceo Andrés Bello, and in 1951 he obtained a degree in civil engineering at Central University of Venezuela. He started his career as an engineer at the Ministry of Public Works and Housing during the mandate of Marcos Pérez Jiménez, in 1953. He left his post at the ministry and was appointed as manager at Banco Obrero.

Salomón Cohen is a member of the Israelite Association of Venezuela.

Business ventures and investments

In 1953 he founded Constructora Sambil, and became a real estate businessman. His first major project was the Lido shopping mall located in El Rosal, Caracas, with a mix of offices and hotel rooms, it gave birth to the Lidotel chain. In 1998 it expands into a growing developing business, the building and administration of shoping malls, opening the Centro Sambil located in Chacao. Later on more Shopping malls openings followed at other cities both in Venezuela and in the Dominican Republic.
In the year 2012 his company purchased the Spanish shopping mall Avenida M-40, the mall closed his doors in 2010 due to the effects of the economic crisis of 2008, Sambil is renovating it and plan to re-open it as an outlet center in the summer of 2015. It will be renamed Sambil Outlet Madrid.

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