6A / NEWS / FRIDAY, MAY 6, 2011 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
"When you're a builder, a developer, that means change," Compton said. "People don't like change."
Ask someone prominent in Lawrence politics, construction or business what he or she thinks about Compton; they are sure to know him from his brief stint in
- the city commission and have an opinion about him and his business practices. But ask a college student, and you'll likely receive a blank stare, even though hundreds of them live in his buildings. He donates thousands of dollars to Kansas Athletics each year, and his
close friends include well-known names such as Larry Brown, former Kansas basketball coach, and Quin Snyder, former basketball coach for the University of Missouri.
Compton has managed to remain unknown to average Lawrence residents who probably would recognize the name of his business: First Management. Since Compton incorporated the company in 1991, it has grown to employ more than 150 people and manage more than 2,500 apartments, most of which are in Lawrence.
In addition to owning apartments, Compton has transitioned from being a bar owner to being a landlord for numerous businesses and bars, including the Granada, Encore, the Buckle and 3 Spoons. He probably owns more property in Lawrence than any other person or entity other than the city and the University of Kansas. First Management is currently constructing one of Compton's biggest projects yet — a seven-story building at Ninth and New Hampshire streets downtown that will solidify him as "Lawrence's landlord."
MOVING TO THE CITY
Long before he was owner and president of a multimillion-dollar development and management business, Compton raised pigs on the family farm while growing up
in Wellington, a town of about 8,600 in south-central Kansas. Each day after school, while others went to athletics practices, he headed to work. On weekends and during the summers he worked for different farmers. Working was a main part of his life. When Compton decided to buy his first truck his sophomore year of high school, he sold his pigs and paid cash, not asking for help from his parents.
"I wouldn't change that part of my life for nothing," he said.
Aftergraduating from Wellington High School in 1978, Compton decided to follow his brother and several classmates to the University of Kansas, where he joined Phi Delta Theta fraternity and fell in love with the Lawrence lifestyle.
"When you come to KU from a small town, that's like going to New York for a lot of kids," he said.
Compton drove into town in a 1968 blue Chevrolet pickup truck, only to discover that many people in town drove newer cars and generally lived differently than they did in rural Kansas.
"I wanted that," he said. "To own your own home and not have to worry about the basics. Not that I didn't have that growing up, but we didn't have it to that extent."
Compton decided to take his first step toward getting that lifestyle when, as a 20-year-old junior in college, a bank took a chance and gave him a $20,000 loan to buy his first business, a bar named Bottoms Up at 715 Massachusetts St.
The small-town farm kid who would help shape the face and skyline of Lawrence had been given his start — and it was a success. With few expenses as a college student, he was able to take profits from Bottoms Up and invest them into his next idea — a pattern that kept his businesses growing.
Compton later received loans from Les Dreiling, then a loan officer at Lawrence National Bank and now the president of Lawrence Bank. Dreiling described Compton as a "blue-jean, roll-your-sleeve-up, get-to-work-and-get-after-it" kind of guy.
"My first impression of him was that he was sharp, energetic," Dreiling said. "He knew what he was doing. He had a lot of energy and drive. He was personable and willing to put in the time and
Compton graduated from the University in 1982 with a bachelor's degree in general studies. While many of his fellow graduates scrounged for jobs, he already had a profitable bar business. By the late 1980s, Compton owned several bars and a string of rental houses in town.
effort to make things work."
"I loved the business, and I loved being around customers and people," he said.
The bar business doesn't exactly have a regular workday, though. As Compton began approaching his 30s and started dating his future wife, he realized it was going to be tough to maintain a relationship, have a family and baby-sit his businesses every night. He decided to transition away from owning the places where students went to drink and relax and instead focus on providing them with places to live.
FIRST MANAGEMENT
"I started finding out that the real estate business was a little bit more of a stable business," he said. "It was more of a daytime operation."
He married his wife, Lara, in 1989. She was from Chicago and had graduated from the University in 1988 with a degree in art history. In the early 1990s, Compton focused on renovating older houses in the Oread Neighborhood or tearing them down to build duplexes or triplexes such as Carson Place, 1121 Louisiana St., which First Management still owns.
Jeff Hatfield, a Lawrence developer and co-owner of Larry Hatfield Appraisals, has worked with Compton on a few projects, but has been his competitor on others.
"I think he really was well ahead of the curve in terms of finding projects to develop around KU that always have a constant and steady stream of tenants," he said.
Less than 10 years after graduat
Doug Compton grew up in Wellington, a town of 8,600 in south-central Kansas. He raised pigs growing up and worked for different farmers on weekends and during the summers.
Contributed photo
spread properties had acquired. He also took an interest in the local political scene, running for city commissioner in 1993. At the time he ran for commissioner, he thought that Lawrence wasn't very
First Management to manage the widespread properties he
development friendly and that the city was off track on what drove the economics of Lawrence.
chemistry changes. We're not the same community."
He won the election and was elected to a two-year term.
"I think a lot of people don't realize that Down took some
"The University is what runs this community," Compton said. "What happens up on that hill with 25,000 college kids, you pull that out of Lawrence, the dynamics, the
very interesting and sometimes unpopular positions," said Marilyn Bittenbender, senior vice president of Colliers International and a member of the K an s a s Real Estate Commission. "And when I
say unpopular, they were unpopular within his own business and within his industry."
"Those are the kind of things that I think Doug is not always acknowledged for, but that he really was instrumental in helping shape a higher standard of development for Lawrence", Bittenbender said. "It has helped projects be better and help our community be better over time."
Bittenbender said one of his unpopular positions was favoring a new storm water ordinance. The ordinance required all new construction and developments to detain rainwater onsite, preventing flooding in parts of Lawrence. However, it also added costs to developers' and property owners' projects.
Compton ran for re-election two years later, but lost. A Lawrence Journal-World article at the time implied he lost because of his opposition to changing the city's human relations ordinance to protect the gay and lesbian community from discrimination.
" T he human relations ordinance was a bigger issue than I thought it was," Compton told the newspaper after the election, "but I'll go to bed knowing I did the right thing."
Compton said his decision 16 years ago was very complicated and he would not vote the same way today. He said he would never discriminate no matter the race, religion, color or sexual preference of a person.
displayed as much interest in city politics. Instead, he focuses on First Management, which has developed into a multifaceted company with
Since that vote ended his career as city commissioner, Compton hasn't
residential and commercial management divisions, along with diu
sions for construction, lawn and landscape work, excavating, painting, plumbing, roofing, maintenance and housekeeping. Though it may seem as if the company is all-inclusive. Competition said First Management provided only
about 20 percent of the services on any given project.
Compton's business associates say he is very hands-on with projects and won't ask anyone to do something he wouldn't do himself.
"All of this." Compton said, motioning to his computer, cellphone and desk, "it's a trap. I can't afford to be stuck here eight hours a day. I've got to see what's going on out there."
Perhaps that is why Compton can be seen driving in his pickup to check up on his properties during weekends, pulling a stray weed in the summer and plowing snow in the winter. When he goes out to eat, he often chooses a restaurant in one of his buildings so he can see if the tenants have been having any problems. His lunch or dinner choices could include Cielto Lindo, Pita Pit, Pyramid Pizza, Ingredient, Encore Café, Esquina, Runza Restaurant, Spangles and Biemer's BBQ.
A CONTROVERSIAL COMPANY
The size and effect of First Management's influence also makes it a target for criticism.
"A lot of people see him as a ball hog, think that he always has to own everything and control everything," Hatfield said. "But with all of the developments I've done, both developments from relationships and developments from a business standpoint, he's always been more than fair."
Bittenbender thinks there is a
Contributed photo
After graduating from Wellington High School in 1978, Compton attended the University of Kansas. He bought his first bar during his junior year.
disconnect between big developers like Compton and the rest of Lawrence.
"They see he built this big house, and he's got money and all that," she said. "What they don't understand is the risk that he is taking every day and that he could lose it all, tomorrow."
Many of Compton's developments have created jobs and revenue for the city, though they weren't always popular with residents of Lawrence. One controversial development was the Wal-Mart at Sixth and Wakara streets a few years ago. Compton said some were against it because they thought it would create excessive traffic or because they simply didn't like Wal-Mart.
"I think people vote at the cash register," Compton said. "If you don't like somebody, then you don't go there."
Compton stands confidently next to the job trailer for his newest project, a seven-story, mixed-use building on the corner of Ninth and New Hampshire streets downtown. Across the street, men in hard hats work to make up lost time on the project. Because of the snow at the beginning of the year, the project is about three weeks behind.
901 NEW HAMPSHIRE
Looking over the construction-site, as he does regularly, a concerned but determined look comes over Compton's face.
"What time's that rain coming?" he asks his project manager. "Well, probably have to wait to pour the concrete until tomorrow."
Once again, bad weather has interfered.
"You can't do anything about Mother Nature," Compton said. "You just have to work around it the best you can."
Compton talks about what he envisions for the completed building. First floor: a health club with 17-foot ceilings, a rock climbing wall and locker rooms in the basement. An outdoor patio will provide a place for outdoor fitness, such as flipping tires. A coffee and wine bar on the north side of the first floor will have an outdoor patio of its own.
First Management will move its headquarters from its current location at 601 N. Iowa St. to the second floor, downsizing from 16,000 square feet to 10,000 square feet.
Contributed phot
Doug Compton taught his wife Lara in 1989. Lara graduated from the University of Kansas in 1989 with a degree in art history.
1
http://www.moviemedia.cn/ 版权所有，侵权必究
1
3