Irving M. Felt; Developer and Philanthropist

Irving Mitchell Felt, 84, a developer, executive and philanthropist who was the guiding force behind the latest incarnation of Madison Square Garden, died Thursday at his Los Angeles home.

The former chairman of the board of Republic Corp. and onetime head of the National Conference of Christians and Jews also had been active politically on both coasts. He had been a major fund-raiser for the late Sen. Jacob Javits of New York and campaign chairman in 1990 for Republican congressional candidate Jim Salomon in his race against veteran San Fernando Valley Rep. Anthony Beilenson.

But it was his direction of the creation of the New Madison Square Garden Sports and Entertainment Center in New York City that brought his widest public attention.

It was conceived by Felt in the 1960s as part of a $500-million redevelopment project on the eight-acre site of the Pennsylvania Station in New York City.

It included the garden, an amphitheater and a 29-story office building.

The corporation also acquired the touring Holiday on Ice shows, the New York Rangers hockey team and the New York Knicks basketball team.

Felt also served on the boards of Columbia Pictures Inc., Sterling National Bank of New York, W & J Sloane, and the Mayflower Hotel in Washington and the Plaza Hotel in New York.

Privately, he was a director of the Metropolitan Opera, a founder of the Los Angeles Music Center, founding patron of Lincoln Center in New York and a trustee of the Joffrey Ballet. He was honored by Christian and Jewish organizations and by the city of New York when then-Mayor Robert Wagner gave him the city’s Bronze Medallion for his services.

Hebrew University of Jerusalem named a Felt Centre of Legal Studies in honor of his family.

Survivors include his wife, Serene, two sons, Jonathan and Randolph, a sister, Ruby Leader and four grandchildren.