Selling Downtown
Many people who spend time Downtown may be familiar with the name Tucker Beck.
Thats because his name, along with partner Sam Bond, is prominently displayed on Crye-Leike Commercial real estate signs throughout the Downtown area. Although Beck handles commercial real estate transactions in other areas of town, his work is concentrated Downtown, he said.
Born in Horseshoe Lake, Ark., Beck still considers himself a Memphian. His father was a farmer, and the family lived in Arkansas until Beck was 9 years old. After moving to Memphis, Becks father was one of the first people to convert a Downtown warehouse into apartments. Thats where Becks intrigue with Downtown real estate began, and it has only grown stronger through the years.
"I was riding my bike and dodging bums when I was a kid. Ive been playing down there since I was a kid," he said.
Becks mother was a residential real estate broker for 20 years, and he saw the daily frustrations she dealt with in closing transactions. When he graduated from college in 1986, however, it was restaurants not real estate that attracted him. He worked as a bartender and restaurant manager at establishments ranging from Houstons and Half Shell to Captain Bilbos and Circle Cafe.
Beck said he believes his experience working in restaurants was beneficial to him because it taught him people skills. "It led me into being able to deal with people. In this business you run into all kinds of people," he said.
In 1994, Beck decided it was time for a change, and he went to work for RFS Realty. Later, he went to see Dan Whipple at Crye-Leike and told him he wanted to sell commercial real estate. Bond, a veteran in the real estate industry, was joining the company at the same time, and thats when the two decided to work as partners in the Downtown market.
"Sam and I tackle Downtown on a 50-50 basis," he said.
It has been a successful partnership for both men. During the past five years, they have sold or leased two to three dozen Downtown buildings. "We complement each other real well," he said.
Becks gregarious nature is a contrast to Bond, who takes a more conservative approach to the business. Seeing dilapidated, 100-year-old buildings brought back to their former luster is a part of the job Beck finds particularly satisfying.
Beck attributes his success in part to being able to work with Crye-Leike principals Harold Crye and Dick Leike, whom he said maintain a close relationship with employees. Each year, the partners take their top 300 agents on a trip, a break Beck said he enjoys. This year the agents are looking forward to going to Hawaii, he said.
The trip this year comes on the heels of another professional feather in Becks cap earning his designation as a certified commercial investment member a goal hes been working toward since he got into the business. This designation is earned after completion of graduate-level curriculum and attaining qualifying experience. The designation is made through the Chicago-based Commercial Investment Real Estate Institute.