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98

What city are you from?
I was raised in Danville, VA and my father was in the coal & natural gas business.

What was your career progression?
I worked for my father for two years out of school then went to the University of Virginia to get my MBA. I was hired out of the MBA program by Fred Klein. Interestingly enough I never visited Charlotte before accepting the job – Fred drove up to see me. My first job was leasing Charlotte Plaza, a newly built building with limited pre-leasing going in. I was asked to lead the Industrial Division a year later after one of the partners left and have just progressed from there.

What spurred your interest in real estate?
It offered performance-based compensation. Also, development allowed me to be a little bit like a big kid with Lincoln Logs.

What events or people have had the biggest influence on your career?
Fred Klein has had the biggest influence– he’s been a mentor, partner, and friend. Fred gave me lots of opportunity & responsibility early on. Another big contributor to my success was simply landing in Charlotte.

What would you be if you weren’t in real estate?
I’d be hungry! Actually, I probably would have been in another kind of transaction business like investments or private equity.

What was going on during your stint as CRCBR President?
As an offshoot of the National Association of Realtors (NAR), we were asking ourselves, “How can we be like their multiple listing service (MLS)”? An inefficient market was benefiting certain parties (like us) at the time, but it was the right move to make. My two major goals as President were to 1) establish Kinnexus (a predecessor, 3rd party version of CPE), and 2) find an Executive Director. The year was 1998 – a great time to be in real estate. Job growth was good and leasing demand was strong.

What would you leave in a time capsule for future CRCBR generations to see?
It would be the computer disk of the first CPE system, which was not very small.

How has Charlotte changed since the early years?
We didn’t think of it as a region at the time. Now we are a true region. You don’t have the Hugh McColl’s anymore. You can’t have a small group of people influencing a region like they could a city. The political power is more diffuse. Over the years, the airport has been the number one engine of growth, led by Jerry Orr. We’ve learned this - the reality is that flying direct (even expensively) is in greater demand than flying cheap indirect.

What’s your favorite restaurant that’s no longer around?
Velari – it was located where Terra is now. I used to eat there 2-3 times a week.

What’s your favorite restaurant now?
Deejai – Thai Restaurant by Manor Theater.

What are your favorite developments in Charlotte?
I know I’m biased but I’d have to say Duke Energy Center & The Green.



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