Yesterday was the monthly Commercial Real Estate Woman (CREW) Hampton Roads luncheon, held at the Town Center City Club, located within the Armada Hoffler building in Virginia Beach. Buddy Gadams, the President of Marathon Development, spoke about revitalizing Norfolk by redeveloping its historical buildings.
Lisa Murphy, President of CREW Hampton Roads pictured on right with Buddy Gadams, speaker and President of Marathon Development. Photo by Vivian Turok.
After the Granby Tower condo project fell through in 2007, and the legal battles ensued, he took $1 million and invested in downtown Norfolk apartment development. He now owns a 75 percent interest in more than 1,000 units around downtown, through 12 projects, with a value of more than $200 million. He uses historic tax credits to redevelop some of Norfolk’s oldest buildings, including The Wainwright and the former Union Mission building. Buddy believes the key factors to his success are perseverance and team building. He acknowledged the value of business groups like CREW Hampton Roads because exposure to like-minded professionals can assist in almost every aspect of any project.
CREW is a cherished asset to several employees at Divaris. The organization is comprised of women from various commercial real estate disciplines and influences the success of the industry by advancing the achievements of women. CREW focuses on four key initiatives: business development, leadership development, industry research and career outreach. Companywide, DRE has five members including Vivian Turok and Krista Costa of the Virginia Beach office, Brett McNamee and Debbie Wake of the Richmond office and Mollye Schneeberg of the Washington D.C. office. For more information on the organization, visit www.crewnetwork.org.
Blog contribution by Krista Costa. Click here to view her profile.
