Mathias Properties adds full-service real estate brokerage

Springdale-based commercial real estate company Mathias Properties Inc. recently expanded with Mathias Real Estate, a full-service real estate brokerage.

Mathias Real Estate joins other Mathias Properties subsidiaries: MP Construction, Mathias Shopping Center and Mathias Ranch. Mathias Properties has about 40 employees.

Mathias Properties historically has focused on developing and managing retail shopping centers, warehouses and office buildings. By adding Mathias Real Estate, the company can also serve clients looking to purchase or sell a residential, farm or commercial property, said Bleaux Barnes, principal broker and Mathias Real Estate owner.

Barnes is the son-in-law of Sam Mathias, founder of Mathias Properties, and has more than 10 years of real estate experience. Barnes founded real estate company MadSky & Associates in Fayetteville and previously was a leasing and property manager for Mathias Properties.

“Sam has led by example,” Barnes said. “One of the most important things he taught me is to be innovative — to always look for new ways to serve our clients.”

Asked why Mathias Real Estate was formed within Mathias Properties, Barnes noted the Northwest Arkansas real estate market’s growth and the company’s opportunity to continue to be innovative. Barnes and his wife, Samantha, own MadSky & Associates, while Mathias owns Mathias Properties.

“It was great timing to expand and offer some additional services to clients,” Barnes said. “Historically, Mathias Properties has done a great job branding the properties that they manage and own. MadSky & Associates had represented more of the clients buying and selling and management.”

Mathias highlighted the new services with the addition of the full-service brokerage. “It’s very rewarding when we can offer a new benefit to our established clients while also welcoming new clients,” he said. “We look forward to offering new services — real estate auctions, for example — through the new company.

“This expansion wouldn’t be possible without our company’s employees,” Mathias added. “Through their talent and dedication, they have built a strong, multifaceted company that continues to support new lines of service.”

MADSKY ON BOARD
All 12 agents and staff of MadSky & Associates have joined the new company and have relocated to the Mathias Properties office in Springdale. That includes Samantha Barnes — Bleaux Barnes’ wife and Mathias’ daughter — who serves as finance director for the real estate company. Samantha Barnes had served in that role for 10 years at MadSky. The Barnes’ son and Mathias’ grandson, Skyler Barnes, joined Mathias Properties earlier this year as a construction manager after working for MadSky. He’s also a minority owner of Mathias Real Estate.

“Becoming the third generation of the family to serve Mathias Properties clients is an honor for me,” Skyler Barnes said. “I am committed to continuing the tradition of client-first service.”

He grew up working in property management at MadSky & Associates, played basketball for the University of the Ozarks in Clarksville, and earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He became a construction manager for MadSky’s residential projects before joining Mathias Properties.

“My family has been incredibly supportive,” he said. “I’m truly grateful for the ways they shared their knowledge and provided experiences that trained me for my career. I’m ready to continue learning within the Mathias organization.”

“Skyler has always exhibited maturity beyond his years,” Mathias said. “He is a hard worker and a team player — definitely a leader. I couldn’t be prouder to have him join the company and continue to grow it.”

Asked about working with his son and father-in-law, Bleaux Barnes explained that Skyler has grown up alongside the family and always helped, whether in construction, real estate or farming. After returning home from college, he worked for his parents at MadSky for a year on the business’ construction side.

“We welcomed him but also advised him to maybe look outside the family for a career,” Bleaux Barnes said. “After working with him for a year, we looked forward [to] continuing that working relationship, and with this addition, we continue to look forward to that from now on.”

Skyler Barnes underscored his family’s support and the experience they have offered him, including the opportunities at MadSky & Associates to work in property management and oversee its residential construction projects.

“It is a very proud and honoring moment to be able to work with the family,” he added. “I learned a lot after getting out of college and look forward to continuing to learn a lot from them.”

SKILLS & SERVICES
Bleaux Barnes noted the skills and advantages that employees of MadSky bring to Mathias Properties with the addition of a principal broker, executive brokers and multiple real estate agents. They work with clients looking to buy and sell property. Also, one agent is a licensed auctioneer. Meanwhile, Mathias Properties agents focus on leasing and occupancy for its properties.

From late September to early October, MadSky employees joined Mathias Real Estate after the company was formed. About 10 years ago, MadSky became a licensed real estate company. It previously was MadSky Rentals for about five years, Bleaux Barnes said. MadSky was formed from the names of the Barnes’ children: Madison and Skyler. The Barnes’ daughter, Madison, is a minority owner in Mathias Real Estate.

“We took what we were doing for third-party clients in MadSky Rentals and merged that into MadSky & Associates with a licensed real estate company,” Bleaux Barnes said.

MadSky & Associates will be dissolved at the end of 2020, he noted. Its employees will be doing similar work with Mathias Real Estate. The real estate agents are mainly helping customers buy and sell residential real estate, but the company offers all services, including commercial, raw land and auctioneering services.

Mathias Real Estate is licensed in Arkansas, but as a principal broker, it is working to obtain its license for Oklahoma and Missouri, Bleaux Barnes said. It is expected to have the licenses by January.

“With the third generation, with the structure and the employees that are here to date with Mathias Properties, we look forward to the value and the addition of the company and growing the companies as a whole,” he said.

Mathias Properties was founded in the early 1970s and serves a market encompassing a 300-mile radius of its Springdale headquarters.