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Mike Muron said his advice to the younger generation is simple. Find a profession that you are passionate about.
Mouron graduated from Mountain Brook High School before earning an accounting degree from the University of Alabama. After working as a CPA in Montgomery for several years, Moulon began pursuing his real estate career.
After repairing the house with his wife, Moron bought his first commercial property and moved away from accounting.
Decades later, Mr. Muron’s love of real estate inducted him into the Alabama Business Hall of Fame. Mouron said he was inducted as part of the 2022 class in November.
“It’s obviously a huge honor,” Moulon said.
Moulon started his career in the field of student housing while working as a developer for Montgomery. A “children’s condo”, as it was known at the time, was a condo intended for students or parents of students located on or near a college campus. After looking into funding, Mouron realized an apartment would be easier, so he wrote a letter outlining the possibility of changing to a student dormitory. This makes it a better investment for parents and a better opportunity for students.
He purchased a property near Athens, Georgia, home of the University of Georgia. The rest, as they say, is history.
After being hired by Birmingham in 1985 to develop student housing for Polar BEK, Mouron founded his own company, Capstone Development, in 1990.
“Capstone has a national footprint,” says Mouron.
Mouron said it would be interesting to work across the country.
“Campus is often a fun place to work,” says Mouron. “Usually, college is a pretty place.”
In 2012, at age 62, Mouron realized it was time to transition both himself and Capstone, so he split the company into four separate companies, put them in charge of department heads, and retired. Ten years later, Mouron said all four are doing very well.
Mr. Muron has had a national impact through his business, and even after his formal “retirement,” he has played a major role in the development of Homewood’s community. Mouron has developed the Valley Hotel, Edgar’s, Little Donkey and Rodney Scott’s BBQ on 18th Street South. He is also responsible for the Trustmark Bank at 29th Avenue South and the new Robertson Bank at 18th Place South, as well as the renovation of CAPTRUST at 27th Avenue South.
In the future, Mouron will bring a new Italian restaurant, Luca, to its former Valley Mall location, along with new homes for SouthPoint Bank and Hero Donuts.
Nearly all of the businesses Moulon moved to after purchasing the space remained within Homewood. This is something he is proud of, along with his relationship with city officials.
“When you do things well, they start trusting you,” Moulon said.
Muron said he believed his work “changed Homewood for the better.” He said he’s been hearing from his owners of neighboring businesses that the Valley Hotel has had a positive impact on their businesses.
Seeing 18th Street refurbished with several new businesses is “emotionally rewarding,” says Mouron.
“It’s creating job opportunities,” Moulon said.
Business success is proof that the incentives given by the city are effective, he said.
According to Mouron, the hotel attracts people from all over the world in particular, spending money not only on the hotel, but also on dining and retail.
In his native Mountain Brook, Moulon renovated and rented out the space now occupied by Little Hardware. He says growing up in Mountain Brook was a positive experience for him.
“It’s a great place to grow,” said Muron.
Mouron said he has a long-term friendship that stems from his experiences at Mountain Brook and the University of Alabama.
During his decades in the real estate industry, Mr. Moulon has seen many changes. He said the property was being developed by people investing their own money who would retain ownership. Today, funding sources are usually third parties, and developers often do not retain ownership. Mouron tries to retain ownership whenever possible. He is managing his partner and owns his one-third of the hotel’s ownership, Robertson Bank and he is also his 50% owner of CAPTRUST. He owns his Edgar’s, Rodney Scott’s and Little Donkey.
Mouron and his wife recently received the “William and Virginia Spencer Outstanding Philanthropist Award” from the Alabama Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and are also co-chairs of UA’s $1.5 billion capital campaign, Rising Tide.
It’s just one example of what Mouron wants to continue.
“I will bring my experience and capital and continue to strive to do good, both in capitalism and in philanthropy,” Muron said.
Rising costs of land and capital everywhere may make good development difficult in the future. Cities may need to find more effective ways to encourage development, he said.
“Development is very complicated,” says Mouron. “It’s not easy to read. Cities need to try to get smart.”
Muron admits he has no hobbies, and it’s easy to keep doing what you love.
“Fortunately, I enjoy what I do,” said Moulon. “It’s intellectually challenging and I keep in touch with a lot of people.
“I’m not quitting my job,” he said.
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