YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
by Ann Bucy
SBJ Contributing Writer
When Mike Wilhoit started his company back in 1967, he had no idea that it would grow to be the size it is today.
He began with three employees, and now there are 167, with 575 people under contract for building multifamily apartment complexes in Missouri, Kansas, Kentucky, Texas, Oklahoma, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Tennessee, Ohio, South Carolina, Louisiana and Colorado.
Wilhoit's half brother, Vaughn Zimmerman, began working with him in 1985.
"When we first started, we just dealt with the management of properties on a small scale, and now it's expanded," he said.
"We currently have 7,000 units we own and manage with about 2,000 units under construction."
Wilhoit and his brother operate three different companies:
?Zimmerman-Wilhoit LLC is the company that buys land and develops it;
?Wilhoit Properties Incorporated is the property management and brokerage company; and
?Wilhoit Property Construction Incorporated handles construction.
"They're each separate legal entities and do distinct, different things," Wilhoit said. "We formed our own construction business so we could control the quality of what we're building."
His company has done a lot of work with housing for the elderly. Wilhoit is constructing an apartment building for senior citizens at the corner of Ridge-
view and Ingram Mill roads.
After watching the construction of a similar project in West Kansas, a town mayor approached them and asked to look at the property.
"He could see what we were building and that we were experienced," Wilhoit said.
"Today, Wilhoit and Zimmerman are working in four different communities in Kansas," said Jim Moore, Zimmerman-Wilhoit's director of public relations.
"The town mayor hired them, and so did others, because of their track record."
Wilhoit grew up in Iowa and graduated from Drury after majoring in business and economics.
Prior to starting the business, he work-ed in real estate in Springfield, and also in Miami and Chicago.
Zimmerman worked in real estate and construction in Illinois.
In 1981, Ken Schwab began work-
ing for the company as a property manager.
"My focus was property management for Mike's investments and his third-party investments," Schwab said.
He worked in that position until 1985, when he was licensed to sell real estate. "From 1986 on, I've been strictly in the sale and leasing of commercial and investment properties," Schwab said.
"I know the market of what people are looking for," he said.
"The shape of the building, components like air conditioning, the type of windows they all make a difference in whether or not a tenant will be happy," he added.
Schwab has overseen the development of the Blue Cross/Blue Shield Building and Empire Bank, both on South National, and many other projects from inception to completion.
Currently he's overseeing construction of the newly developed 13,000-square-foot Vision Clinic on South National.
In the last five years, he said, he has developed and leased more than 1 million square feet.
His job typically includes four steps:
1. Locate the property.
2. Sell the property to the owner.
3. Be involved in the concept of the building.
4. Locate tenants on behalf of the owner of the property.
According to Moore, the company plans to continue its growth.
"We're looking to continue developing in Missouri and the other states where we are now," Moore said.
"We want to continue to learn, identify and explore the states we are in now, along with the states where we hope to go. We build affordable family housing, and we'll go wherever there's a legitimate business opportunity."
Zimmerman-Wilhoit's office is located at 1730 E. Republic Road in the Southgate Center.
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