Marvy Finger, 'king of apartments' in Houston, dies at 86

Marvy A. Finger, the prominent real estate developer who helped to transform Houston’s skyline with forward-thinking apartment projects, died Saturday at the age of 86. Over the course of his 64-year career, Finger helped to foment the advent of apartment living in downtown Houston as he built an empire of more than 28,000 residential units in Texas, California, Colorado, Georgia and Illinois. Finger, the CEO of Finger Cos., was a mentor to many in the apartment industry in Houston, creating a legacy that extended beyond the boundaries of his own firm. Known for his exacting standards but down-to-earth demeanor, Finger had a reputation for spotting the best locations for apartments and an instinct for overseeing well-thought-out designs.

“Marvy expected perfection in himself and those he worked with,” said Stan Creech, a friend and land broker who represented Finger on several land deals over the decades. “He was a forward-looking visionary who changed the landscape of the multifamily development industry.” Born in Houston on December 18, 1935, Finger had long assumed he would follow in his father’s footsteps in the furniture industry. But after graduating with a degree in civil engineering and a minor business administration from the University of Texas at Austin in 1957, he got a job working for a small homebuilder. When the builder fell ill unexpectedly, Finger was asked to complete a 32-unit apartment complex, Finger previously said in earlier media interviews. Finger, who knew nothing about building apartments at the time, took on the task with the exuberance of a 20-something, running a project that would help lay the groundwork for his career in residential development. A mortgage banker who financed one of his early projects, the late Ben G. McGuire – an influential figure in the industry at the time – took a liking to Finger.