June 14, 2001
Katharine Kelley and Walter Brown join Charles Brewer to develop appealing, walkable, environmentally friendly urban places.
Atlanta, GA-June 14, 2001-- Green Street Properties, LLC, is commencing operation as a real estate development company dedicated to creating great places for people to live, work, and play. Green Street's work will focus initially on the Atlanta metropolitan region, but may include work in other cities as well. The company will concentrate on how its projects relate to their surroundings to create beautiful, walkable, exciting urban environments. The company is committed to the principles of new urbanism and smart growth, and its projects will certainly be part of diverse, walkable, mixed use neighborhoods. Green Street is also committed to employing environmentally sound practices in design, construction, and building operation.
Ideal early projects for the company would be located in areas with positive pedestrian activity, and would be three to four story structures with retail located on the ground floor and residential and/or office space above. The company anticipates that in some cases it will participate in joint venture projects with other developers.
The Company's principals bring significant experience and passion in developing great places for people. Katharine Kelley has over 10 years of experience in the real estate development business, primarily with Post Apartment Development and The Landmarks Group/Faison. Katharine was Senior Vice President and one of three regional development officers at Post, and she acted as one of the catalysts for that company's movement into "new urbanist" development. She led the team that developed the widely heralded Riverside by Post and Post Parkside projects in Atlanta. Most recently, she honed her entrepreneurial skills as a co-founder and President of Internet company Blue Rock Avenue, located in Atlanta. Katharine is an Atlanta native, a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of North Carolina, and she received a Master of Science in Real Estate Development from Columbia and an MBA from Harvard. Katharine also served for several years on the City of Atlanta Zoning Review Board.
Walter Brown comes to Green Street from Southface Energy Institute, an influential Atlanta based non-profit organization dedicated to energy efficiency, environmentally conscious building practices, and sustainable urban development. Walter spent the last three years as the Senior Program Manager at Southface, where he has been a key player in program development, business and government partnership development, and fund raising. Prior to that, Walter worked for the State of Georgia for over ten years, where he was responsible for the rehabilitation of over 5,000 homes for low to moderate-income residents. Another Atlanta native, Walter earned a BS in Community Development from Georgia State, and he has pursued extensive studies in architecture, urban studies, and business at Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia. Walter serves on the Board of Directors of the Freedom Park Conservancy, the Board of Directors of the Community Housing Resource Center, and he serves as the Secretary of the Atlanta Regional Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council.
Charles Brewer is an experienced entrepreneur, most notably as the founder and CEO of MindSpring Enterprises. MindSpring grew to be one of the largest Internet service providers in the country, and consistently won praise for having the highest quality of service and highest customer satisfaction in the industry. Charles is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Amherst College, and received his MBA from Stanford. He serves as Chairman of Midtown Transportation Solutions, and serves on the Board of Directors of Humana, Inc., the Board of Directors of the Midtown (Atlanta) Alliance, the Board of Directors of The Commerce Club, the Board of Directors of the Georgia Department of Industry, Trade, and Tourism, and the Board of Councilors of the Carter Center.
Colleen Sims, Charles' assistant since MindSpring days, rounds out the initial Green Street team. The company is interested in adding a person with a strong background in real estate finance to the team in the near term.
Green Street will adopt and aspire to live up to the statement of Core Values and Beliefs that Charles created and used at MindSpring. This philosophy is based on respect for the individual, honesty, and integrity.
"I want to help build memorable, beautiful, vibrant urban places", said Charles. "I find the conventional suburban development pattern that we have followed in this country for the last 50 years to be very unappealing. I want to live in a great urban environment. I want to walk out of my door and really be somewhere. I don't want to have to drive a car every single time I do anything. I want to live in a place that is loveable and unique. Great towns and cities are like that. The principles that apply to creating these kinds of places are clear and have been practiced for centuries. More recently, they have been well articulated by the leaders of the new urbanism movement and others. Diversity, walkability, and a mix of uses are among the keys."
"In 1994 I felt that there must be lots of people who would love to use the Internet if only someone could deliver it to them in a way that would let them have a positive experience", he continued. "But no one was doing it. There was lots of demand, but very little supply, or at least very little quality supply. MindSpring was a response to that. I feel exactly the same way about good urban places now. I am convinced that there are many people out there looking for this kind of environment. But there is a drastic supply shortage. With Green Street Properties, we hope to do something about this."
"We are excited not only to create great architecture, but also to create streetscapes that encourage walking, and enable neighbors to know each other," said Katharine Kelley. "I am eager to take elements from some of this country's great urban neighborhoods - places like Lincoln Park in Chicago, the Upper West Side in New York, even the beautiful squares of Savannah - and incorporate those elements into our developments in a way that builds on Atlanta's own unique history and climate. I will consider us successful if our properties, like those great neighborhoods, stand the test of time."
Walter Brown adds, "My experience tells me that green building practices are becoming an essential part of design and construction in America. At this point I believe the best way for me to help prove the case for green buildings is to work directly on their design and construction as a developer. At Green Street Properties, we believe that by adopting environmentally friendly building practices now, we can create a superior product that will appeal to our market and provide a legacy of value. I want to make the city such a wonderful place to live that no one would ever want to live in a conventional suburban development."
"I'm very excited, and very lucky, to have Katharine and Walter joining me to launch this company." said Charles Brewer. "They are great people, and our values fit is very strong. We share a powerful common vision of what we want to accomplish. And they know their stuff. They have great reputations in their fields and strong relationships with other leaders in urban real estate and sustainable development. Their expertise provides a solid foundation for our efforts to create places that are great for people, and great for the natural environment as well."
