I was born in Memphis in 1955 and grew up across the street from the Pink Palace Museum on Central. There were nine of us children — two older brothers and six younger sisters. We lived in a ranch-style house with three bedrooms and two and a half baths. Four sisters shared one bedroom; two brothers, a sister, and me shared the other bedroom. We all shared one bathroom, but it had a double vanity, so it felt "bigger."

There wasn't much of a neighborhood surrounding us. We overlooked the Memphis Country Club, but we were not members. To the north was Chickasaw Gardens, which was an upper-class neighborhood separated by Central Avenue. The Belt Line was west of us and Orange Mound was south, and there were only a few houses immediately around us.

We had the biggest family on our block, so we played plenty of games among ourselves. Pink Palace's front yard was grass, and that was a huge playground for us. Pink Palace had already become a museum at the time, but it didn't have the east-side annex.

My father, Bill, was the younger of two brothers. His father was in the laundry business, and his mom was a housewife. My dad caught polio when he was 13 years old, lost the use of his legs, and walked with crutches for the rest of his life. Dad and his brother Henry went to boarding school and Ivy League colleges, but because of his polio, Dad had been held back in school, and he was older than the other kids. In spite of it all, he graduated from Yale.

Dad and Henry both went to work in the family laundry business, but Henry left to go into politics, and Dad bought Henry's interest in the family business and expanded it.

Dad was a very bright, outspoken person. Good sense of humor. Engaging. But he had a horrendous temper, and he didn't usually use a lot of tact in dealing with conflict. He believed in bowling over and running through the opposition, and he ruffled plenty of feathers in his day. That temper carried over into the family. And although I knew he loved us the best he could, Dad was not to be trifled with.

My mother, Mimi, was the caregiver. She was a ceramicist and free spirit. Non-punctual. She was a bike rider, tennis player, yoga enthusiast, and health-food fanatic — and she was very well liked. She was always there with breakfast and dinner at set times — but it was always health food, and it didn't taste good. Our friends didn't like eating at our house because of that! She and Dad were an odd couple.

With nine kids, Mom couldn't single-handedly run a car pool, so there weren't a whole lot of after-school activities. At one time, we were attending seven different schools.

Dad was third generation in the family business, and he wanted his sons to go into the business, too. He made it very clear that he would support us if we went in that direction. If we wanted to be independent, fine — but don't expect any support from him in our independence.

Well, I wasn't always on that family-business trajectory. I graduated from Memphis University School in 1973, but I didn't have a sense for what I wanted to do. College — Southern Methodist University in Dallas — was just a continuation of high school for me. I was having a lot of fun, but I wasn't focused on life after school and using school as a stepping stone.

In college, I majored in history — chose history for no particular reason — and after I graduated in 1977, I came back to Memphis. My brother Lou and I opened a saloon, London Transport, at Park and Getwell with some college friends. We opened a second saloon in the Memphis State area on Southern. I was in work-avoidance mode, I think! My mother's free-spirited nature was definitely alive in me.

My dad's secretary encouraged Dad to hire me to lease his vacant properties. So in 1982, I started working for Dad by day and running the saloon with Lou by night.

After Lou got married in 1983, he came to work for Dad. There really wasn't enough work for the both of us, and I wasn't enjoying what I was doing because the portfolio of the properties we had was so awful. I wanted out, and Lou needed a spot, so I offered my position to Lou. He took it.

I decided I could benefit from some formal business training, so I went back to SMU and earned my MBA in 1985. I still didn't really know what I wanted to do in life.

Around that time, I found an oil broker dealer company I wanted to invest in with a couple of friends, and my father — true to his word — wouldn't lend any support. I asked my mother, and she let me mortgage her house so that I could invest. Well, I lost it all. The Tax Reform Act of 1986 destroyed this niche of business, and our company was a victim of that.

Out of cash, I came back to Memphis with my tail between my legs and mom’s house hocked.

Meanwhile, Lou and Dad had discovered how to make something out of his awful portfolio of properties, and Lou was doing a great job managing them. I said to Lou, "If you don't mind managing the properties, I can do acquisition and financing to buy more." That worked for him, so I came back to the family business in 1986.

Today, Loeb Properties Inc. is a commercial real estate company that specializes in real estate investment, development, brokerage, and management of retail, multifamily, office, single-family, and mixed-use properties. We have 30 full-time employees, and we currently own and manage a portfolio of more than 100 properties in the Memphis area.

Loeb Properties Inc. began … The Loeb company was founded in 1887 by my great-grandfather, Henry Loeb. It was originally a shirt-making business, haberdashery, and laundry service on South Main. While my father was at the helm, the company became Loeb Industries and branched out into other businesses, including restaurants, convenience stores, and outdoor advertising. That led to our involvement in a number of real estate investments, some not too good. Those real estate investments became Loeb Properties Inc., which is the primary focus of the Loeb business today.

Some of the first properties we bought … When I came to work for my father in 1986, the major oil companies were abandoning or reducing their service station sites, and we bought them and converted them into convenience stores and other retail spaces.

Today, Loeb Properties' portfolio includes … Park Place, Trinity Commons, Chickasaw Crossing, Primacy Place, Forest Hill Shops, Sanderlin Place, Overton Square, and, most recently, Executive Square and the Highland Strip in the University District.

My first large-scale project as Loeb president … was a multi-property purchase from Unical in 1987, which I thought was a big deal. When 7-Eleven sold to Mapco, we bought the excess, and that was a huge project for us, in which we acquired about 30 property interests. Then we bought a 384-unit apartment property — we had never been in the apartment business before! We ended up acquiring and renovating 2,000 apartment units in three and a half years.

Property classification codes … help investors, lenders, and brokers communicate among themselves about the type and quality of a property. Each class represents a different level of risk and return. Class A properties are the highest quality in their market and area; typically, they are new properties in prime locations. Class C properties are typically old, in need of renovations and poorly located. When Brother Lou and I began, our portfolio was mainly Class C and D properties.

We decided to tackle Overton Square because … We thought it was a heads-we-win-tails-we-don't-lose proposition. We were confident that we could build it into something that would be an asset to the community. We had pursued the purchase of Overton Square since the mid '90s and finally acquired it from the Fisher family in 2012.

Personally, Overton Square appealed to us because … When Lou and I were in the saloon business in the Memphis State area, Overton Square was considered the "major league" for bars, restaurants, and nightlife. That was the first watering-hole district in the city, and owning a restaurant or bar there was considered the "big time." And like so many Memphians, we have fond, sentimental attachments to Overton Square.

Our biggest initial challenge with Overton Square … We had to determine whether Overton Square was going to be a private or a public-private development. That process of getting the city to make a decision on whether to build the multi-level parking garage was laborious, long, and complicated. Dealing with governments anywhere is, by design, a tedious process. But we fell in love with the project — something you're not supposed to do in the real estate business — and we decided that we were going to redevelop the square whether the city built the garage or not.

Overton Square survived the dark years thanks to … a number of people and organizations. Jackie Nichols, founder of Playhouse on the Square, is the original pioneer of that area and continues to do amazing things to grow and improve it. June West at Memphis Heritage fought hard for Overton Square for years. Preservationist Gordon Alexander formed Save Overton Square and eventually convinced a grocery-store developer not to demolish the square. A number of groups not only wanted to see Overton Square come back, but also fought hard to make sure it didn't cease to exist before someone could bring it back.

The key to our success with Overton Square … A lot of people had sentimental attachments to the area, and we knew that the Overton Square brand had tremendous value. That brand value and good will was a lot bigger than we first thought. So many people wanted to see it succeed. We then went out and listened to the community — neighbors, nonprofits, stakeholders, retail, and commercial organizations. We held a series of public and private meetings to just listen. What did people want? And then we filtered all of the information and came up with what we thought were the components that we could deliver in an economical and sustainable way.

We selected the square's components by … It was important that the components we delivered be profitable, or the revitalization wouldn't succeed in the long run. For Overton Square to be sustainable, its components had to be economically sound. For those components that did not fall within those parameters, we explained why they were not feasible. People appreciated being heard, and they took ownership in the project because we were delivering their ideas. Done right, there's an alchemy that occurs of 1+1=3, and this energy surrounding the square's rebirth infuses itself. The momentum just builds and builds.

The Loeb family invests in Memphis because … This is our home. Our family has played an active role in the growth of Memphis for four generations, and we're committed to giving back to our city; it's just the right thing to do.

The importance of public art in our projects … Brother Lou started painting murals on buildings — Central and East Parkway, Madison and Cooper — 25-plus years ago. He's very artistic, like our mother was. He always took two or three renovation projects a year and embellished a building, just to make it look better. Art is an important component in all of our projects, and I'm proud of our doing that.

Current developments in Midtown that impress me … Overton Park Conservancy and the work it's doing to make our central park the best it can be. Crosstown Concourse is the most ambitious development ever in Memphis, which will dramatically change that neighborhood. Broad Avenue district has come alive. Cooper-Young continues to grow and expand — Midtown has all of these parts coming together that make Midtown a more attractive market to live in and to open a business in.

Memphis Mayor Henry Loeb III … was my uncle — my father's brother. He served two terms as city mayor: 1960–1963 and 1968–1971. He was mayor when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.

I find great satisfaction in … our company providing leadership and financial support to a number of local and nonprofit agencies in Memphis, including Youth Villages, St. Mary's Episcopal School, Memphis University School, and Memphis College of Art.

My father taught me … work ethic, consistency, and discipline. He believed in doing what you wanted.

Most people don't realize that … My eight siblings and I were used for advertising promotions when we were growing up. Every Thursday was "photo day." We'd come from home from school and have our pictures taken for that week's particular business message. Dad thought that mothers were the decision-makers on where to do business, and what better way to get a mother's attention than with children?

My final 2 cents ... Memphis is several years into the biggest renaissance in my lifetime. From Downtown to the Medical District, Midtown and University District, there are seeds of new life, growth, and development that will create opportunity for anyone who wants to join in.