W. Brent Lumpkin

A Conversation With Commercial Real Estate Developer, W. Brent Lumpkin

By Scott E. Raymond

When I meet commercial real estate investor, developer and broker W. Brent Lumpkin at his downtown Lake Charles office for this interview, he enthusiastically greets me, offers me a bottle of water, then quickly proceeds to show me a large map on a wall in his conference room which details the various commercial properties on both sides of the Calcasieu River that he and his partners own.

Through his partnerships with several local businessmen, Lumpkin has reached new heights in the Lake Charles-Southwest Louisiana commercial real estate market. He appears to love what he’s doing and the direction things are going.

Today, Lumpkin is successfully taking advantage of the “boom” that is occurring in Southwest Louisiana, and the real estate portfolio he shows me by way of the map is impressive.

But for Lumpkin, 68, it wasn’t always so easy. Lumpkin first had to be a young apprentice in the very competitive commercial real estate development world he was so determined to enter, and he will be the first to tell you that the long road to the success he now enjoys was paved with some difficult learning lessons.

Strong Family Roots And Work Ethic

Lumpkin’s earliest recollections are of being a child in Lake Charles in the 1950s. His parents, Bryan and Nona Lumpkin, started an insurance agency — following in the footsteps of Lumpkin’s grandfather, who was in the insurance business — while his dad continued working at one of the petro-chemical plants. Lumpkin says he vaguely recalls that when he was 5, his dad had a black lunch box he took with him to work every day. He also remembers going with his mother to drop him off at and pick him up at school.

In the next year of his life, Lumpkin says, the Lumpkin Insurance Agency was started in the family’s home. “I remember a Remington typewriter sitting on our dining room table,” Lumpkin says, “and that was the beginning of the Lumpkin Insurance Agency.”

Lumpkin says the Lumpkin Insurance Agency eventually made enough revenue that both his parents could work full-time in their insurance business.

“I was fortunate,” says Lumpkin.  “I (grew up with) two older brothers, and we got to grow up with not only a great mom and dad, but also with two great entrepreneurs.  They loved business; they loved people.

“We were actually able to watch them build a business, and, over the years, (they) purchased other insurance agencies, and we learned a lot from that. It taught us: once you start something, you finish it; and, not only the joys, but also the challenges that go along with it in the process with any business.”

Lumpkin says he and his brothers got involved in sports and his parents stayed very involved in their sons’ school athletic careers while at the same time running the family business. At their residence, while the three sons were at Lake Charles High School, Lumpkin’s dad built his sons a regulation basketball court and a weight room.

“Through high school,” says Lumpkin, “the daily weight room — workouts — was where we congregated. My Lake Charles High School friends — most all of them were very involved in athletics. What we learned through sports was fantastic: we had wonderful coaches who not only inspired us, but also did everything in their power to make us understand that we weren’t going to quit; we weren’t going to give up or we weren’t going to cut a practice short because we wanted (to do something else). And they taught us how to stay focused, work hard, and achieve results.”

Lumpkin continues discussing some of the things his parents did to instill a work ethic in their sons. “My dad would take a piece of paper — we were going to have a game that day, whether it was football; whether it was track — and [he] would tape a note to our bathroom mirror of how many yards [he] would want us to achieve in a game or how far we were going to throw the discus in that track meet. [My parents] continually supported us, but they pushed and they pushed hard, and it was a great lesson for us.

“My parents had a strong work ethic. We not only learned it, but we saw it in action. In other words, we were able to live it. Once you set a goal, you just achieved it unless there was a really good reason not to.

“We were very fortunate growing up in a business family. Our parents supported us. They never wanted to see us taking shortcuts; they wanted us to learn life lessons.

“They were very straightforward about some things, and one of them was: don’t ever think that you are any better than anyone else or they any better than you. What you have to remember: treat them like you want people to treat you. And they were very adamant about that. It was a lifelong lesson.”

Lumpkin reaches in his pocket, pulls out a wooden token the size of a large coin, and talks about when he met Ivory Dorsey “who became a motivational speaker all over the country.  She gave me a bag of these (wooden tokens) and (through that meeting, I developed) my philosophy. Sometimes, when you’re tired, you’ve got to persevere, and you’ve got to keep going, and you do whatever it takes to complete the tasks.”

At this juncture of our interview, Lumpkin receives a phone call from one of his property’s tenants. He takes care of business on the phone then continues the interview, talking about some things he has learned over the years from working with different American ethnic groups in the commercial real estate business. “When I was in the eighth grade, we had a Cuban refugee who lived with us for three years. It was a wonderful opportunity not only for him, but also for our family. He made us appreciate what a great country we lived in.

“People who immigrate to this country, they will not say this to us, but sometimes they see Americans who are complacent, and some people are just indifferent. They come from such a totally different economic environment — sometimes near starving. They come to this country, and they don’t know anybody — some can barely speak the language — and they go into businesses where there is a low economic entry; where many people are unwilling to work. Most immigrants see a country with so much opportunity to improve their economic standing and quality of life.

“The Vietnamese, over the years, took over the nail shop business in this country. Several of the people from India I know have become hotel owners and have become successful hoteliers. There are many (ethnic) families here, and I have become friends with many of them. We just got into the hotel business in the last couple of years, and I am now actually learning from them.

“The tenant that just called me on the telephone… his English isn’t great (but) his work ethic is unbelievable.  (He is a) hard worker.”

Learning to Sell And Learning The Real Estate Business

After high school, Lumpkin attended LSU, studying business, but his heart wasn’t in it. “Why am I sitting here?  I’m going to end up working for myself,” he remembers thinking at the time.

“I was having too much fun at LSU and not taking care of what I was there for, and my father said after a year, ‘OK, you’re going to come home for six months and you are going to get a job. Then we can talk about going back to school.’”

Lumpkin came back home to Lake Charles and that transition became the pivotal point in his ultimately choosing commercial real estate as his career. Through the help of several good friends, he learned the art of marketing. First, he sold radio advertising for six months. He then got a real estate license and sold residential real estate for a year. He was in his early 20s.

Through these business experiences, he learned what he really wanted to do: sell commercial real estate and become a developer and owner of real estate. In 1973, he got his brokers licenses and established Lumpkin Properties.

Photo Courtesy of Lumpkin Properties

Says Lumpkin: “There weren’t a lot of people here to teach me, so I went to work for a builder: a man who had moved to Lake Charles from Connecticut. And he had his own airplane, and that’s when I learned to fly. He had on-going commercial real estate and multi-family developments in Lake Charles, Lafayette, Houma, Baton Rouge and New Orleans. All of a sudden I was learning from a man who was really smart and had success in working with real estate investments trusts. (This was) back in the early ‘70s.

“I learned a lot about commercial real estate and finance. I also learned the development process, building apartment complexes and commercial buildings, and that’s when I got my (pilot’s) license. We would fly back and forth to his various developments during the week. I spent a year working with him, and I built my first apartments within a year of going out on my own.

“Then I started attending commercial real estate classes all over the country. I had the opportunity to be around some really successful people, and some helped me. And I just soaked up (mentally) whatever I could like a sponge. I’ve got a lot of those same friends still today. I was a real estate broker then and was in the brokerage business until about 25 years ago.

“Like many, in my early career I didn’t have much money when I started. (I would buy a small house with a friend); we would go in there and put up the wallpaper and paint it and fix it up and sell it. And if we could make five thousand dollars profit — this was back in the ‘70s — we were thrilled. I did that to survive in the early years, but still wanted to develop commercial real estate. Thank goodness I wasn’t married with a family to support back then!

“I realized I needed some steady income … So I decided to build a restaurant called The Patti Wagon. I (told myself), ‘I’m going to take off (from real estate) for a year and work in (the restaurant) business, and then I’ll come back to my real estate business.’ After one year, I had somebody running the restaurant … I wasn’t watching the books, and I learned a lesson there; another life lesson.

“I realized I couldn’t do both; I couldn’t be in real estate and do what I wanted to do there and (run a restaurant). I needed to stay focused. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life working inside, so I stayed with real estate and developed my career.

“Real estate fees got better as the markets grew and there was more opportunity. But ultimately I wanted to be on the ownership side — not just flipping properties, but developing and buying and building an investment real estate portfolio. I made that transition about 25 years ago.”

Lumpkin says he then got into a commercial real estate partnership that was challenging.

“It was out of state and that was the first time I had done that. We thought we would be in that partnership for about 3 years, but it ended up being about 17. Although we made a profit, a hurricane made us end up selling the nine-story building that we had on the Mississippi gulf coast. After that, when (it was) suggested — (another) partnership, I said, ‘I don’t know.’”

The Game Changer

In the course of this interview, Lumpkin explains the many aspects of building a successful career in commercial real estate. Aside from the education, information and understanding of the particular market, another important ingredient, he says, is business relationships.

It was one of these relationships that Lumpkin had built over the years that proved, above all else, to be the game changer that would propel him to a whole new playing field in the world of commercial real estate.

Initially, Lumpkin brokered a property to get his client — a good friend he considered “a mentor” — a total of 25 acres; the frontage was on I-210 and along Nelson Road.

“I brokered the large tract and building,” says Lumpkin, “the building on the corner and the 25 acres around it. That was in 1983.”

In 1995, his real estate client and friend called him, offering to sell him the property that Lumpkin had brokered for him years before. Lumpkin thought about passing on the deal because he didn’t feel he was ready to buy the property. But with his friend’s encouragement, he did.

“So we worked out an agreement, which was real easy because I had sold him the property in the first place, and we agreed to it. I’m very thankful for the opportunity he gave me. This was a very high-profile piece of property. It was 25 acres, and it had its challenges.

“Only a third of the property was commercial; the rest was residential. And it wasn’t located in the city (limits) of Lake Charles, and didn’t have water services. This meant it had to be annexed into the city and rezoned commercial.

“It fronted Nelson Road, which at the time was a two-lane road. The wetlands had to be permitted with the Corps of Engineers. There was a lot that had to happen in order for an end user to locate on the property.”

Lumpkin realized early on that this property would need the attention that only a partnership could bring. As Lumpkin had the property under contract to purchase in 1997, a partnership  was formed with the family partnership of CEH, which is managed by Jim Boyer, and the other interest by Lumpkin. The new joint partnership of Southland Capital was created, and Lumpkin began the work of the development process to make the commercial real estate property available. He began marketing the property to tenant interests.

Fast-forward to the development today. The popular location includes a Walmart Supercenter, Texas Roadhouse, Chick-fil-A, the Lumpkin Plaza Shopping Center and a variety of business-to-consumer businesses.

Lumpkin recognized from the beginning that the property location had tremendous potential, and says he and his partners are proud of their development.

“We took our profit,” Lumpkin says, “and our partnership purchased an 85,000-square-foot industrial park.  Two months later, Southland Capital purchased another five industrial buildings.”

Lumpkin’s Southland Capital partnership has also invested in other industrial properties on the west side of the river where rapid industrial expansion is taking place.

“When I was in Biloxi, I didn’t know the first thing about casinos,” he says. “I developed relationships with the casino industry, and since then we’ve leased a lot of buildings and property to casinos over the years. It’s been very good relationships for us.”

Along with two partners in another partnership, Lumpkin recently built two new adjacent Marriott hotels in Lake Charles, the Courtyard by Marriott, and the TownePlace Suites, located off Nelson Road and in close proximity to two casino resorts. The Courtyard by Marriott opened in August 2016 and the TownePlace Suites by Marriott opened on June 13, 2017.

“I don’t mind saying that we have worked hard and are good at what we do. But the biggest part of that truth is really that the Lord has blessed us,” says Lumpkin. “There has been a lot of opportunity in this community and the community has been very good to us.”

The Economic Boom And Serving The Community

Our conversation shifts to his thoughts about the historic economic boom underway in Southwest Louisiana and the community service work Lumpkin has been involved with.

Says Lumpkin: “All these large industrial numbers you read about and the boom are tied to financing, just like a real estate project. But a lot of the industrial projects are going to happen. If we get just 50 percent of the rest of (the projects announced) we’ve done extremely well. For Southwest Louisiana, we are number one in industrial expansion and in growth in the country. In past years in Louisiana, if you had $3 or $4 billion a year in industrial expansion in the whole state, that was phenomenal. So we’ve been blessed with the amount of opportunity created. But it’s also created a lot of challenges. There are growth and infrastructure issues. With growth come challenges.  With a boom come a lot bigger challenges.”

Lumpkin is a founding board member of the Alliance for Positive Growth, a relatively new organization he says is involved with having a “good working relationship with (local) government” that will assist in the group’s efforts for positive growth in the area.

“(Local government has) been very receptive,” says Lumpkin. “It’s a great group (and) there’s been a great response from the community and the membership. The Alliance for Positive Growth is growing.”

Lumpkin, who is a strong believer in giving back to the community, has been a board member of the Community Foundation of Southwest Louisiana for several years. He chaired the effort to add the first pedestrian bike lane on the proposed new Contraband Bayou Bridge that would connect Nelson Rd. over the bayou to Sallier St. He says he is proud of the many efforts by the members of the Community Foundation of Southwest Louisiana.

“It all kind of came together.”

When I ask Lumpkin if there is some advice he would give a person wanting to break into the commercial real estate business today, he says the following:

“I will say this. Commercial real estate and development involves multiple and various skills. Whether it’s marketing and developing properties, managing properties, shopping centers, industrial properties or hotels — it’s all about real estate.

“In the process, it ultimately all has to come together, but the journey to get there takes perseverance, hard work, and weathering the economic cycles.

“All the people that have gotten to this point (of success) and have worked all their lives to do this, I promise you, it’s been an exciting, yet very challenging, path. Things didn’t always go the way they anticipated or thought it would no matter how hard they worked. The person that has the most information, the person that’s most informed, can make the best decision. But even when you make that decision, it gives you a better chance (when) you’re more educated in a venture that you are getting involved with.

“In development, (being informed and educated) doesn’t guarantee (success). That’s part of the challenge with development. There’s risk involved, and where there’s more risk, there should be more reward. Consequently, sometimes someone looks at someone and says they’ve done very well and it looks like it has been pretty easy. Well, it probably hasn’t been easy for very many people at all. It just looks easier today to other people, but it’s truly a multitude of challenges.

“You and I talked earlier about the old adage about real estate: it really is about location, location, location. I’m a very strong believer in that, and if you look at our properties, that’s always been our primary consideration.

“Ultimately, (doing business) is all about people.”

Lumpkin and I conclude our conversation in his office with his talking about the business relationship factor that is such an important part of real estate. Lumpkin says he has been fortunate to be around successful people that he has enjoyed developing business relationships with and that have turned into long-term friendships.

“Ultimately, (doing business) is all about people. You take (the economics) and all that information in as a developer and then (you question yourself): will this be a good and successful development in my community and will the financial commitment be a good return for the risk that is taken?

“We’ve bought new projects as well, and built hotels.

“But before you make a final determination to move forward or not, you’ve all the market information and then, ultimately, based on that information, it’s an informed and educated decision. Do I move forward with this or not? And the bigger the project … We’ve had to work with our banks and we’ve had a great local bank here that we have a long-term relationship (with) and has worked with us.

“We look at our bank actually as a partner. It has been a good and successful 20 years of projects. And so, we’ve been very fortunate. It’s a great place to be doing business in — Calcasieu Parish (with) what’s going on. And yes, it is fun.”

I ask Lumpkin, who is married with a blended family, if he is looking at slowing down anytime in the near future.

“As far as the future and slowing down, I keep looking at that. I have six children and three stepchildren, and we’ve got a total of 12 grandchildren. Jane and I, who have been best friends since early high school, are getting ready to take them all on a vacation to the beach, and there’s 30 of us. It’s going to be fun!”

The interview is about to conclude when Lumpkin surprises me by inviting me to go with him to visit his new Marriott Courtyard by Marriott. We jump into his SUV and travel to the new hotel, which opened in August of 2016.

As we get ready to leave, Lumpkin tells me that one of his sons is now in the commercial real estate business. “He’s on the brokerage side,” he says proudly, “and he’s getting more involved! (Lumpkin smiles.) I am very proud of all my children. Family, family, family!”

Lumpkin tosses me two 8 by 10 photos of his Courtyard by Marriott: one, before the opening and the other after the hotel opened. I can see he is really charged to show me the property.

We drive to the hotel — a quick drive from his office — then exit the vehicle. Almost immediately I come to understand what he means when he tells me, “It is all about people.” He points out to me the parked hotel van near the hotel entrance and says he occasionally plays the role of driver on weekends so he can talk to the out of town guests and have a better understanding of how the guests like his hotel and what they think of Lake Charles and its casinos and the surrounding area.

He uses this same philosophy when he tells me when we are inside the lobby that he sometimes works in The Bistro to engage with customers.

Lumpkin greets all the employees as we walk by them — I see this in action as we walk around the front desk, the lobby and The Bistro areas.  At one time or another, he says, he does many of the tasks the hotel employees do, so he is always engaged in what’s happening on all levels.

Lumpkin says he and his partners in the hotels are excited about the two properties.

“(Our partnerships) are working on a couple of other projects,” he says enthusiastically. “All these projects together are going to exceed $100 million (in investments).”

We meet the manager, I take a few photos inside, and then we head back outside at the entrance, where he talks further about the attributes of the properties. “We were just fortunate to be able to acquire (this) land (where the new hotels are). We started working on that (project) in 2006.

“In commercial real estate development, it’s usually a long thought-out process,” Lumpkin says, “but it’s very exciting, and it’s a lot more fun when you’ve got the right projects!

“We have been fortunate.”