Private company

Webb and Knapp

Former real estate development firm

Webb and Knapp was an 20th century American real estate development firm.2 It ceased to exist in 1965.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 20, 2026.

Overview

1922Founded1
  • Industryreal estate development1
  • HeadquartersNew York City1

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Webb and Knapp was an 20th century American real estate development firm.2

The story

The company was founded in 1922 by Robert C. Knapp and W. Seward Webb.

William Zeckendorf joined the firm in 1938 and acquired it in 1949.

In 1965, the company filed for bankruptcy protection and Roosevelt Airfield was sold to Corporate Property Investors. The company's total assets of about US$21.5 million (equivalent to $159 million in 2025) were dwarfed by its total liabilities of about $60 million (equivalent to $454 million in 2025) and contingent tax liabilities of $29.4 million (equivalent to $223 million in 2025).

From Wikipedia’s article on Webb and Knapp, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Subsidiaries and ownership

Former owners and parents

  • William Zeckendorf 1949 to 1965

From Wikidata.1

Acquisitions

  1. 1953Acquired Charlie Chaplin Studios1

Timeline

  1. 1965Dissolved Dissolved1
  2. 1949Acquired Acquired by William Zeckendorf1
  3. 1922Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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