His high-rise office buildings and hotels were instrumental in changing the face of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, his base of operations.

He formed business relationships across religious, ethnic and social lines and played a major role in reforming politics in Philadelphia as well as at the national level.

[2] Greenfield was born Avrum Moishe Grunfeld to a Jewish family[3] in 1887 to trader Jacob Gruenfeld and wife Esther (née Serody) in Lozovata, a village in what is now south-central Ukraine.

[4] Albert left high school at age 14 to become a clerk for a prominent local real estate lawyer.

[9] The alliances created through his growing real estate business led to investments in motion picture theaters, building and loan associations, and mortgage financing.

After expanding to the New York City market, the firm was renamed Bankers Bond & Mortgage Company of America.

Originally a Republican, he switched parties with the advent of the New Deal in 1933 and remained a strong Democratic supporter until his death.

As chairman of Philadelphia's City Planning Commission under Mayor Richardson Dilworth (1956–58), he laid the foundation for the development of Society Hill as a unique upper-middle-class enclave capable of luring suburbanites back to downtown.

[16] In 1992, the Foundation endowed The Albert M. Greenfield Student Competition, The Philadelphia Orchestra, to recognize extraordinary young musical talent in the Greater Delaware Valley region.

He was praised for his work by the National Conference of Christians and Jews, the World Brotherhood Organization, the Urban League, and the Catholic Interracial Council.

In 2016, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission placed a marker honoring Greenfield near the corner of Walnut and Juniper Streets in Center City, Philadelphia, noting that Greenfield "supported equality for African Americans and received a papal award for promoting Catholic/Jewish harmony."