Courtesy of Darryl Dewberry
58 | chairman, CEO, The Spectrum Cos.
Charlotte
In his 15th year as CEO of the company, the University of Georgia graduate has had a hand in some of Charlotte’s major developments such as Kimpton Tryon Park, the 25-story 300 South Tryon building that opened in 2017 and the Epicentre entertainment hub. He oversees the company’s 106-employee staff and $2 billion portfolio, which includes more than 30 projects and 4.4 million square feet under management in the Carolinas and Tennessee.
This year, the company will celebrate the opening of LendingTree’s headquarters in Charlotte’s South End neighborhood. Construction on the two, 11-story towers started in July as part of a $300 million mixed-use development that Dewberry says is “going to make a big pop in the skyline.”
Spectrum is “really bullish on South End,” Dewberry says. It will be a major focus for the company over the next several years, the developer says. By summer, it expects to break ground on a 300-unit apartment complex that includes retail space and will be within walking distance of downtown Charlotte. Other projects are planned for areas adjacent to a potential new Queen City light rail line that would run from Matthews through Charlotte’s downtown and to Belmont. “It will create great opportunities for 10, 12 and 15 years out.”
In the Triangle, Spectrum manages the 19-story Red Hat Tower that opened in downtown Raleigh in 2004. It has also developed smaller office buildings in Cary, and Dewberry expects Spectrum to be a bigger player in the region in the near future. “We’re also bullish on the urban core and near-core in Raleigh. … We’re going to be working pretty hard in 2020 to get something going.”
Dewberry says the secret to creating spaces where people want to work and live is about having the right team. “I think it really is about people. It’s about creating a culture where you can attract the best and brightest, where you can go create wonderful projects that make a difference for others, and have fun in the process. It’s that simple. It’s not rocket science.”
Spectrum was formed in 1982 by Jim Dulin, Bill McGuire and Bob Street. It raised $40 million in July for a fund used to acquire and develop properties in various markets. Among its highest profile projects is a 24-story building in downtown Nashville, which will become the headquarters of AllianceBernstein. The money-management firm is relocating from New York City.
“[Capital management] has been something that we’ve looked at for almost two decades as we evolved as a company. … We sort of had a reset of culture and changed our business model some to create value and grow our assets under management. But we’ve been able to pull that off, and we’re excited about that business model.”
— Harrison Miller