Meet the 2023 Legends of Real Estate

By Annslie Fossett September 25, 2023 0 Comment

Highlighting the movers and shakers in the real estate industry, the Atlanta Real Estate Forum Radio podcast provides listeners with bite-sized episodes featuring acclaimed guests to share industry tips and tricks, trends in the housing market, upcoming events and more!

The Legends of Real Estate series offers listeners our most anticipated episode each month, showcasing iconic, history-making developers, builders and leaders in the industry. Explore this year’s Legends of Real Estate episodes down below:

Pam Sessions: A Pioneer for New Urbanism in Atlanta

President of Hedgewood Homes, Pam Sessions, joins Radio to discuss her professional experience in homebuilding, design and construction.

Sessions is known as one of the first pioneers of new urbanism in Atlanta due to her vision for creating eco-friendly, walkable communities, including Vickery Village and Downtown Woodstock.

With Sessions holding a degree in fine arts, it should come as no surprise that Hedgewood Homes is a design-driven company with a heavy focus on developing neighborhoods that benefit families’ lifestyles. Taking inspiration from Florida’s Seaside community, Sessions and her team provide homeowners with environments that promote freedom and spontaneity.

Sessions said, “When we took our two children to Seaside, the light bulb went off – it was remembering how we grew up. We had so much freedom that brought responsibility and enabled us to grow into adults.”

To learn more about Pam Sessions and Hedgewood Homes, listen to the full interview here!

Peggy Slappey Properties: The Joy Meter

Broker Peggy Slappy with Peggy Slappey Properties, Inc. sits down with Radio Host Carol Morgan to touch on her decades of real estate and political experience serving the Northeast Georgia and metro Atlanta areas.

Known for her vibrant fashions and joyous demeanor, Slappey took on the role of purveyor of hope and light during the devasting time of the Great Recession. The tumultuous period caused fellow real estate companies and builders to lose significant projects and supporters of the industry, including paralegals and trade workers, to lose their homes.

Surviving five recessions, Slappey is highly involved in the political realm – nationally and locally. Witnessing firsthand the effects and consequences of decisions made by leading politicians, Slappey believes that it is our responsibility, as real estate professionals, to educate congress members on the impact their choices have on homeownership and private property rights.

Slappey said, “When I first started real estate, one of the first things Weston and Isakson said to me was, ‘If real estate is livelihood, politics better be your business.’”

You can listen to the full interview here for additional information on Peggy Slappey and Peggy Slappey Properties!

Richport Properties: Decades in Home Building Industry

Rick Porter, president of Richport Properties and director of the Master of Real Estate Development program at the Georgia Institute of Technology, joins Radio to share his experience in the homebuilding industry, working during the Great Recession and his role in education.

Spending the first seven years of his career diving deeper into the design-build within residential construction, Porter was able to offer custom design and construction, which set him up for decades of success. Prioritizing personal and professional relationships with constructors, vendors and municipalities, Porter created an atmosphere that harmoniously combined good business practices, excellent communication and innovative development ideas.

As an alumnus of the Georgia Institute of Technology, Porter has been the director of the Master of Real Estate Development program for the college for six years – a program he was instrumental in starting. Approximately 70 graduates from the program are now working in the Atlanta real estate market!

Porter said, “Academia is not the solution for every profession, but the next significant stealth for the profession of real estate development is to have a place in academia.”

To learn more about Rick Porter, Richport Properties and the Master of Real Estate Development program, listen to the full interview here!

Carl Riden: Home Grown Relationship Builder

Founder of Redmont Homes, Carl Riden joins Radio to touch on his decades of experiences, working in the Great Recession and his time in the homebuilding industry.

Riden began his career in the real estate industry working with a local apartment developer, which led him to start his own business in 1977, Carl Riden Homes. While his building career was growing in success, Riden faced many challenges in the early 1980s, including competition and the Great Recession.

After decades of building beautiful homes, Riden sold Carl Riden Homes to his business partner, Mike Smith, who transitioned the company to Harcrest Homes. Riden later started his second homebuilding venture, Redmont Homes.

Riden said, “Be enthusiastic and work your way up!”

You can listen to the full interview here for additional information on Carl Riden!

Dan O’Dwyer: From Playhouses to Subdivisions

Dan O’Dwyer, the founder of O’Dwyer Homes, shares with Radio his decades of valuable experience in the homebuilding industry, working during the Great Recession and his involvement in the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association.

Known as the kid in his childhood neighborhood that built the most excellent playhouses, O’Dwyer has always had a passion for construction. Working in several areas in the construction industry, the legend is a jack of all trades with experience in remodeling, carpentry, framing, sales, building and production!

After working with many top builders and finding himself out of a job towards the end of the Great Recession, O’Dwyer started O’Dwyer Homes in 1992 with a little money and financing for three homes. From the 1990s to the early 2000s, O’Dwyer and his team rapidly sold subdivision after subdivision – selling over 200 homes annually.

O’Dwyer said, “I remember carpenters working on my folk’s home when I was 12 years old and telling them, ‘I want to do what you do.’”

To learn more about Dan O’Dwyer and O’Dwyer Homes, listen to the full interview here!

Waterford Homes: Decades in the Industry

President of Waterford Homes, David Clough joins Radio to discuss his decades in the industry, working through the Great Recession and his heavy involvement in the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association and the Home Builders Association of Georgia.

Starting with just five lots in Dekalb County to developing several residential projects across the metro Atlanta area, Clough and his team at Waterford Homes are a force to be reckoned with!

Construction in the 1990s within Atlanta consisted of an ample number of small builders and developers, local bankers and public companies – making competition strong but connected. Clough was among one of the first in the industry to join a builder’s group which provided an inclusive community for builders and developers to network with others in the field.

Clough said, “Put in your proverbial 10,000 hours and work hard!”

You can listen to the full interview here for additional information on David Clough and Waterford Homes!

Bob Chapin: Four Decades in Builder Finance

Bob Chapin, senior vice president of SouthState Bank, joins Radio to chat about his years in the industry, what sparked his interest in banking and his involvement in the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association and Home Builders Association of Georgia.

Right out of college, Chapin joined the training program at Peachtree Bank amid a recession with interest rates between 18 and 19%. While Chapin was involved in the training program, the Head of Real Estate for the bank asked for a volunteer to become the interim Construction Inspector and Chapin eagerly took on the job. Since then, Chapin has fallen in love with the real estate realm of banking and has never looked back!

Experiencing four recessions, Chapin has developed a good eye and intuition when it comes to future economic changes. The banking president shared four quotes with the audience that he lives by:

“The housing market never goes to zero.”
“When the worst of my competition is doing well, it’s time to pull back.”
“The housing market is cyclical.”
“Don’t confuse a good market with genius.”

Chapin said, “After visiting lots and financing loans, you drive through the developments to see kids playing in yards and residents walking their dogs, and you know you’ve had a small part in providing the American dream.”

You can listen to the full interview here for additional information on Bob Chapin and SouthState Bank!

Jim Chapman: A Legend of Architecture

Jim Chapman, principal of Chapman Design Studio, shares with Radio his years of experience in the industry and the relationships he’s formed while designing 300 golf clubhouses and related structures.

Becoming an architect was an early and easy decision for Chapman. While other kids were playing with blocks, Chapman and his older brother were building huts and cabins in the woods. Chapman naturally went on the earn an architecture degree at the Georgia Institute of Technology and start his career in the architectural world as an apprentice at an Atlanta firm, Stevens & Wilkinson.

In 1969, Chapman and Sid Barrett formed the architecture firm Barrett and Associates. After getting hired to work on high-profile projects, Chapman realized he wanted to go out on his own to form Chapman Coyle Chapman – the precursor of Chapman Design Studio. Chapman Coyle Chapman is still in booming business today, working on quality projects or private schools and designing resorts and hospitality facilities across Europe and South America.