Real estate developer, manager Jim Wilson III dies
Jim Wilson III, an Alabama real estate investor and businessman whose company developed the Riverchase Galleria and still manages the adjoining officer tower called The Offices at 3000 Riverchase, died Saturday in his home after a brief illness, his company said in a statement.
Wilson was 59.
He served as chairman and CEO of Jim Wilson & Associates, a Montgomery-based real estate and investment firm that was founded by his father, Jim Wilson Jr.
In addition to the Riverchase Galleria, JWA developed several other real estate projects that included the Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge; EastChase, a 330-acre development in Montgomery; and Redstone Gateway, a 470-acre business park adjacent to the U.S. Army Post Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville. The firm also invested in start-ups and established operating companies, including A&W Enterprises and 42 Equity. In addition, JWA created two residential communities in Montgomery – Wynlakes, a 1,000-acre golf course community, and New Park, a 1,000-acre mixed-use development.
Wilson served on the board of trustees of the University of Alabama system, where he was chairman of the Athletics Committee, and as president of the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital Authority.
A native of Montgomery, Wilson was born June 14, 1963, to Wynona and James Wilson Jr. He graduated from the Montgomery Academy and earned a degree in business administration at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, where he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.
After graduating from Alabama in 1985, Wilson moved to New York City, where he worked in commercial real estate at Manufacturers Hanover and met his wife, Susie Forst. They married in 1987.
A few months after their wedding, Wilson went to work for his father at JWA. In 1989, he and his wife welcomed their first child, Lillian, and two years later, their second daughter, Wesley.
In addition to serving on the Alabama board of trustees and UAB Health System board, Wilson was president of Wynlakes Golf and Country Club, and he served on the boards of the American Liver Foundation of Alabama, Bryant-Jordan Student Athletic Program, American Sports Medicine Institute, Business Council of Alabama, Montgomery Symphony Orchestra, Baptist Hospital, Boy Scouts of America, First Baptist Church Foundation, Metro YMCA, Tukabatchee Area Council, Montgomery Council on Aging and Jackson Hospital Foundation. He also was a member of the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama.
Wilson also supported MANE, an organization that provides therapeutic horseback riding opportunities to children and adults. His wife serves on that organization’s board.
“Jim will be remembered for his unrivaled charisma, unfiltered humor and unfettered love of his family and friends,” the company said in a statement. “Jim was kind, fun, boisterous, and just like his father, an expert in the art of celebration. If you were with Jim Wilson III, you were having a great time.”
He was preceded in death by his father, James W. Wilson Jr. He is survived by his wife of 35 years, Susie; two daughters, Lillian Pascale and Wesley Clingman; mother, Wynona Wilson; siblings, Elizabeth Hunter (Eric), Winston Reese (Gene) and Will Wilson (Kelly); sons in law, Matthew V. Pascale and James F. Clingman IV; and five grandchildren, JW and Nate Pascale, and Lucy, Wyn and Fully Clingman.
Wilson’s funeral is set for 10 a.m. on Wednesday, March 15, at First Baptist Church in Montgomery. A graveside service is planned afterward at Alabama Heritage Cemetery.
His family requests that any donations in his honor be sent to MANE at maneweb.org or 3699 Wallahatchie Road, Pike Road, AL 36064.