Aloma Mullins has been a commercial real estate agent with Schultz Foster Addison Real Estate, Inc. for two years.
WHERE WAS SHE BEFORE?
She leased office space for Prudential Life Insurance for 25 years.
HOW DID SHE END UP AT SFA?
When Prudential transferred its leasing work to Newark, N.J., she switched to the compliance department for four years. She wanted to get back into commercial real estate, so she joined SFA. “This is what I have always wanted to do. I had always said that when I left Prudential, I was going into commercial real estate because there is a lot of opportunity.”
SPECIALITY
Office leasing.
WHERE DOES SHE LEASE SPACE?
All over Jacksonville, but some of the notable buildings she leases downtown include the Elks Club building, Schultz building, 112 W. Adams St. and space in The Landing.
TEAM ENVIRONMENT?
“In this company, we really have a team environment. When someone gets a listing, they put someone else’s name on it so that we are all working the different listings.”
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO OTHER WOMEN INTERESTED IN GETTING INTO COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE?
“To have a lot of self-confidence; get familiar with all of the properties that your company is associated with. Be aggressive, because you have to be aggressive or those guys will run right over you. Be professional and call people back. Take care of your tenants and be responsive, don’t let people have to call you back two and three times.”
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF DOWNTOWN REDEVELOPMENT?
“I think it is exciting. We are already seeing some changes taking place with the lofts across the street that Mike Langton is developing, the Vestcor project and hopefully the Roosevelt Hotel will be converted into apartments, too.”
DO YOU SEE MORE CHANGES ON THE HORIZON?
“We have seen a lot of interest in people wanting to convert the buildings on this street [Adams] to apartments. We have three buildings on this street that we own and two of them could be converted into apartments or office space. The old Barnett Bank building has had a lot of interest for conversion. I think you are going to see some big changes in the next two or three years. I think it’s really going to clean things up and become a lot more active. The library is going to be built and the Duval County Courthouse construction will start. We have a lot of interest in people wanting to bring entertainment downtown, but the problem we have right now is that there isn’t enough retail space to do that. Once the buildings are developed, that is really going to enhance the retail areas and develop more interest in the other buildings.”
FAVORITE THING ABOUT COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE
“Working with the clients and helping to get a product that they truly like and they are satisfied with. I’m very result oriented.”
MOST CHALLENGING THING ABOUT COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE?
“I think the most challenging thing is that you are working with different personalities all the time and not working with one group of people. You are working with a bunch of different people, trying to satisfy their wants and needs and trying to find them office space that they truly like.”
BIRTHPLACE
Morganton, N.C.
MOVED TO JACKSONVILLE
“When I was 10. This is home.”
FAMILY
She has been married to Frank for 32 years. They have two children, Lisa and Jennifer and three grandchildren, Holden, Hunter and Emily with one on the way.
RESIDES
She and her husband bought an older house in Lake Asbury and have been renovating it for two years.
HOBBIES
Traveling, fishing, reading and playing baseball with her grandchildren.
FAVORITES
Mullins recently read “Mr. Murder” by Dean Koontz. Her favorite movie is “Gone With the Wind.” When relaxing at home, she enjoys tuning into “CSI”, “24” and “The Agency.” When dining out, she prefers Santioni’s in Mandarin and when traveling, her favorite place is Hawaii.