Ed St. John; Denise Buchman, Executive Director, Hunt Valley Business Forum; John Ginsburg
A standing room-only crowd gathered at the Timonium showroom of Floors Etc. for a “fireside chat” featuring Edward St. John, Founder and Chairman of St. John Properties, Inc., and John Ginsburg, Chief Executive Officer, and Co-Owner of Floors Etc., sponsored by the Hunt Valley Business Forum. The group serves as the collective voice for Hunt Valley-area businesses, with a mission to promote growth and development through networking, educational programs, and relevant communications.
St. John traced his career, beginning with early aspirations to fly experimental airplanes for the U.S. Air Force, to forming what is now considered among the largest and most successful privately held commercial real estate companies in the country. Founded in 1971, the Baltimore-based firm has developed more than 24 million square feet of flex/R&D, office, retail, and warehouse space, has investments in over 3,000 residential units, and serves more than 2,600 clients across 12 states.
John Ginsburg; Steve Sibel, Caves Valley Partners; Michael Greenebaum, Greenebaum Enterprises; Adele Richer Greenebaum, ARK Design; Ed St. John.
While a student at the University of Maryland, College Park, St. John joined the campus Air Force ROTC and asked what degree he needed to pursue to become a test pilot. That drove his decision to major in electrical engineering, but his flying career was derailed when his mother implored him to “stop this flying foolishness” and, instead, take over the family business, which included five 10,000 square foot industrial buildings in the Baltimore area.
“I loved learning how people operated their businesses, and also received satisfaction providing the space needed by companies to grow and offer employment opportunities,” St. John said. He soon partnered with Leroy Merritt to develop multifamily communities and industrial buildings throughout the greater Maryland region before venturing out on his own in 1971 to start MIE Properties, the predecessor to St. John Properties.
Bill Libercci and Brett Bowman, NorthMarq Capital; Missy Schwartz, Knott Mechanical; Laurence Seidel Scheinker Legacy Wealth Advisors; Brett Foelber, St. John Properties
Following conversations with tenants and market research, St. John created a new prototype consisting of a “part office/part industrial” single-story building separated into bays which can be fully customized to support the needs of a diverse array of end-users needs, including professional office, light manufacturing, distribution centers and everything in between. According to St. John, the front of the buildings were heavily landscaped to replicate the inviting appearance expected of a person’s home.
The concept of the flex/research & development (R&D) building quickly caught on, and St. John began replicating it time and time again throughout Maryland, before expanding into other states. The development of multi-story buildings and mixed-used business communities featuring retail components followed soon after.
St. John Properties now develops more than one million square feet of space annually, with the majority built on a speculative basis, a philosophy which anticipates the future commercial real estate needs of its current and future tenants. When considering new areas to expand into, the company places “business-friendly states” at a premium, as well as locations which currently do not offer St. John Properties’ signature flex/R&D product type.
“We have enjoyed a tremendous relationship with Ed and his team for more than 20 years, and this was the perfect opportunity to showcase Ed’s many accomplishments in the commercial real estate industry, as well as provide a forum for our customers to hear and learn from him,” Ginsburg said. “Similar to St. John Properties and other businesses, Floors Etc. values our relationships and it was a huge honor to share some time with Ed as he reflected on his remarkable career.”
“The Cocktails and Construction series has proven to be among our most popular event programming,” explained Denise Buchman, Hunt Valley Business Forum’s Executive Director, “as our members are given unfiltered access to and insights from impactful and iconic business leaders in our community.”
For more information about The Hunt Valley Business Forum, as well as a list of upcoming events, please visit www.hvbf.org.
