ATL Developments with Geoff Smith: An Interview with Egbert Perry, The Integral Group LLC
Host Geoff Smith speaks with Egbert Perry, Chairman and CEO of The Integral Group LLC, on the the distinction between commercial real estate development and community development, the moral imperative of improving housing affordability, the Assembly Yards project, and much more.
Egbert Perry, The Integral Group, LLC
Egbert L. J. Perry, a native of Antigua and Barbuda, is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Integral Group LLC, a company he co-founded in 1993 with a mission to “create value in cities and (re)build the fabric of communities.” Since then, Integral has become a premier provider of sustainable real estate and community solutions in mature and emerging markets across the United States and, more recently, internationally. The Company is vertically integrated with subsidiaries in the community development, commercial real estate, investment management, property management, and program management fields.
A community development, commercial real estate and construction professional since 1979, Egbert has developed and/or built most project types, including residential, office, retail, institutional and mixed-use projects. For 13 years from early 1980 to late 1992, he helped to grow an Atlanta-based real estate and construction company into the nation’s 3rd largest African-American owned business, with annual revenues of about $200 million.
Integral’s mission was first put on display in 1996 when Centennial Place, a collaboration that also involved another firm and the Atlanta Housing Authority, was created. This forward thinking project was the nation’s first urban mixed-use community, integrating mixed-income housing, early childhood development, K-12 education reform, recreation, health & wellness facilities, and human services. This holistic revitalization approach to community development has since been emulated in Atlanta and scores of cities across the country.
Over almost a quarter century, Integral has implemented scores of public-private partnerships that promote “responsible” community development and commercial real estate. It is well-respected for its expertise in affordable, workforce, luxury, and mixed-income housing solutions, often as components of master planned, mixed-use and Transit Oriented Developments (“TOD’s”).
Today, Integral is a diversified, 300-person organization with projects in the mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Southwest and Western regions of the United States. The Company is headquartered in Atlanta, with offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas and Denver. Integral and Egbert have received numerous awards, and are regarded nationally as innovators in the field of urban development and revitalization. Egbert’s policy positions are often sought on issues of housing, community economic development, regional planning and development, public-private partnerships and K-12 education reform.
An honors graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Egbert received both Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Civil Engineering from the University’s Towne School, and a Master of Business Administration degree with majors in Finance and Accounting from its Wharton School. In 1990, he was elected as the eleventh graduate in the University’s then 250-year history to be named to the “Gallery of Distinguished Engineering Alumni” of the University’s Engineering School.
Past Board assignments include Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta International School and United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta.
Geoff Smith, Host of “ATL Developments with Geoff Smith”
“ATL Developments with Geoff Smith” covers all things economic development in the Atlanta Metro area. From everything inside the Beltline to Avalon and beyond, Geoff Smith interviews the movers and shakers making the ATL one of the best places to live, work and play. An archive of past episodes can be found here.
Geoff Smith is a mortgage banker with Assurance Financial working with Real Estate agents and homebuyers to help them get happily to their closing table. Geoff is an authority on the latest economic development trends shaping the Atlanta Metro area. His interviews reveal an inside perspective at how things get done in the ATL.
Geoff is an active member of his community serving on the Board of Directors of the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce, as well as holding the position of chairman for the Chamber’s Education Committee. He is also Secretary of the Roswell Youth Baseball Association and coaches his sons in football, baseball and basketball. Geoff enjoys golf, camping and traveling with his wife and two sons. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia.
“ATL Developments with Geoff Smith” is broadcast from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX®, located inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta. Renasant Bank has humble roots, starting in 1904 as a $100,000 bank in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has grown to become one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions with approximately $12.9 billion in assets and more than 190 banking, lending, wealth management and financial services offices in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. All of Renasant’s success stems from each of their banker’s commitment to investing in their communities as a way of better understanding the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, they understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.
