left to right: Will Wilson, Jim Wilson Jr., Jim Wilson III

Family-owned, Montgomery, Alabama-based Jim Wilson & Associates is “changing with the industry.” The company, known for its successful mall developments like Riverchase Galleria in Birmingham, Alabama, and Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge, is venturing into the lifestyle trend with projects in Alabama and Tennessee.

Jim Wilson & Associates is developing EastChase, a 330-acre mixed-use development in Montgomery with joint venture partner ALFA Insurance. The Shoppes at EastChase, the development’s lifestyle component, opened in November 2002, and the company is building on its success.

“[The Shoppes at EastChase] has been very successful,” according to Will Wilson, vice president of development. “The people here have taken to it. The Main Street aspect seems to be working well here. With the second phase coming on so fast, it shows that the people have responded well. The need was definitely here and we’re bringing new tenants to the town that we’ve never seen before. Ann Taylor, Abercrombie, Williams-Sonoma — we didn’t have those in Montgomery.”

Gap is one of 47 retailers already open at the EastChase development, which Jim Wilson & Associates is developing in Montgomery, Alabama.

Adding on to the Shoppes at EastChase, Jim Wilson & Associates is currently constructing a 200,000-square-foot Dillard’s department store. Adjacent to the Shoppes at EastChase is EastChase Plaza, which will be 350,000 square feet; the first Target in Montgomery is opening at the center in October. Also opening at EastChase Plaza are Ross Dress For Less, PetsMart, Cost Plus World Market, Pier 1 Imports and a department store yet to be announced.

“We are also building the roads for an 80-acre office park, which is zoned for 1.5 million square feet of office space,” says Will Wilson. “The first office tower will be right at 100,000 square feet.”

Other projects at EastChase include a 116-room Hampton Inn Suites, which is under construction, and 150 high-end apartments, which are scheduled to go under construction at the end of the year.

Jim Wilson & Associates has a second big retail project underway in Tennessee. The company has formed a joint venture with Atlanta-based Cousins Properties to build The Avenue Carriage Crossing in Collierville, a suburb of Memphis.

“The company has focused mainly on enclosed malls,” notes Will Wilson. “EastChase was our first real step into an open-air center and Collierville will be our second step. We’re changing with the industry.”

Jim Wilson & Associates and Cousins Properties are developing The Avenue Carriage Crossing in Collierville, Tennessee.

The first phase of the Collierville project will consist of 825,000 square feet of retail space. Parisian and Dillard’s have signed as anchors. “We are currently leasing the lifestyle component, which we call The Avenue,” says Will Wilson.

Construction on the project will begin in early 2004; the first phase is slated for completion in fall 2005. The companies are planning a future 350,000-square-foot big box phase at the development, and Jim Wilson & Associates is planning to develop adjacent office space.

Brasfield & Gorrie is serving as contractor on both the EastChase and The Avenue at Carriage Crossing projects. Jerry McWilliams of CMH Architects is serving as lead architect for both projects.

“Ours is a family business,” says Jim Wilson Jr., president and CEO, “[run by] myself, my two sons [Jim Wilson III and Will Wilson] and my two daughters [Elizabeth Hunter and Winston Wilson].”

Jim Wilson Jr. founded Montgomery-based Jim Wilson & Associates in 1975. In 1995, the company established Wilson Holdings. Jim Wilson & Associates is the development and retail management group; Wilson Holdings manages the company’s equity, including its retail interests and its tire company, hotel and country club.

“The company is flexible,” agrees Jim Wilson Jr. Operating in the Southeast and in Texas, Jim Wilson & Associates currently owns two office properties (The Galleria Tower in Birmingham and Sterling Centre in Montgomery), a four-star hotel in Birmingham and Wynlakes Golf and Country Club in Montgomery. The company also owns the Big 10 Tire Company, which has 95 tire stores in Georgia, Florida and Alabama. Jim Wilson & Associates has approximately 40 employees, but more than 2,000 people work under the corporate umbrella.

According to Jim Wilson III, president of Wilson Holdings, “We are growing in every aspect of our company. With EastChase under construction and with all we have going on at Collierville, we are heavy in the development business. The tire company is growing every day; we are buying new locations and buying new stores.”

The majority of the company’s equity is in retail. It owns Riverchase Galleria in Birmingham, which is approximately 1.8 million square feet; The Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge, which is 1.3 million square feet; and Phase I of the EastChase development in Montgomery, which is 450,000 square feet.

“By far the most successful project we have is the Riverchase Galleria,” says Jim Wilson Jr. The development, which opened in 1986, has a 329-room Winfrey Hotel, a 275,000-square-foot office tower, six department stores and 405,000 square feet of gross leasable area, and — so Jim Wilson Jr. claims — the biggest skylight in the world.

The company is also a third-party property manager for properties, including Edgewater Mall in Biloxi, Mississippi.

Occasionally, the company purchases or develops properties to sell. Recently, Jim Wilson & Associates sold the Santa Rosa Mall near Fort Walton Beach, Florida. Jim Wilson & Associates built the mall in 1976 and sold it in 1983 to CalPERS, but continued to manage the mall for CalPERS until 2000. CalPERS put the center up for sale in 2000 and Jim Wilson & Associates bought it. “We did an $8 million restoration. With the market as good as it is, we thought it was in our best interest to sell it,” says Jim Wilson Jr.

The company has purchased and refurbished other malls in the past, including Montgomery Mall. “When we see [a transaction] that makes some sense, we’ll do it,” says Jim Wilson Jr.

He adds, “The objective is to run these ventures and our malls as profitably as we can and to venture out into the opportunities that we see — residential real estate, retail real estate or an operating company. The goal of the company is whatever we do, be the best in that field. We take a lot of pride in the developments that we have. I think the retailers that do business with us realize they are going to get that when they sign a lease with us.”

©2003 France Publications, Inc. Duplication or reproduction of this article not permitted without authorization from France Publications, Inc. For information on reprints of this article contact Barbara Sherer at (630) 554-6054.