Irvin J. Kahn (1916–1973) was an American attorney and real estate developer who played a major role in the expansion of the City of San Diego in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. He received frequent press coverage for his ongoing role in developing Clairemont, University City and Rancho Peñasquitos. He is also notable for having built one of the first skyscrapers in downtown San Diego. Early life Born in 1916, Kahn was the son of Abraham J. Kahn, a Russian Jewish immigrant who settled in San Diego in 1922. Abraham operated a bootlegging business during prohibition, which he transitioned into a successful liquor import business after the end of prohibition. Irvin had two younger brothers – Julius and Yale. Career Observing his father's frequent run-ins with the courts due to his bootlegging past, Irvin was inspired to pursue a career as a criminal defense attorney. Irvin Kahn began his professional career as a defense attorney representing a number of high-profile clients, including several local labor unions. He also worked as a lobbyist on city affairs, representing the Veterans Cab Company in their bid to increase the number of taxi permits issued by the City of San Diego. In 1952, Kahn, along with KFMB-TV founder Jack O. Gross, became one of the owners of the San Diego Padres, then a minor-league team in the Pacific Coast League. (The sale was delayed by several years due to concerns over his father's bookmaking activities and brother Yale's professional gambling.) Though he had been opportunistically acquiring land throughout the 1940s, Kahn's first major real estate development project was a 312 unit apartment complex in Point Loma, started in 1951 as part of a 9,000 unit military housing initiative in San Diego. Development Projects Beginning in the mid-1950s, Irvin Kahn began to receive frequent press coverage due to his high-profile development activities. Between 1952 and his death in 1973, Kahn initiated a series of large and small development projects that by some estimates involved 25% of all developable land in the City of San Diego. Kahn's first major project was the Clairemont Subdivision. The project was initiated by Carlos Tavares and Lou Burgener in 1950, but Kahn took a leadership role in the venture in 1955. He was responsible for the development of the Clairemont Shopping Center as well as hundreds of new housing units built in the late 1950s. He also launched development projects