Jerry Halsey takes sole reins of Halsey Thrasher Harpole Real Estate Group

Jonesboro-based Halsey Thrasher Harpole Real Estate Group turns 10 years old in 2024 and the company is undergoing a dramatic change.

Jerry L. Halsey Jr., one of the three original owners, has taken the reins as the sole proprietor of the company.

The names of the other two original owners — Roddy Thrasher and Gary Harpole — will remain with the company, but Halsey will be sole owner. Thrasher and Harpole will focus on selling and developing commercial real estate, serving their client base, and expanding their personal portfolios, but they will no longer be directly involved in the day-to-day management of the business.

“This transition signifies not only a shift in ownership but also a strategic shift in our focus and operations. As we reflect on our successful 10 years in business, we are excited to embark on our next decade with a renewed commitment to excellence, quality, and growth for many years to come,” said Halsey in announcing the move.

The real estate company will continue to specialize in commercial and residential brokerage, development, and property management, and it is expanding outside of Northeast Arkansas to central Arkansas with projects. Other markets for expansion may also be considered, Halsey said.

Halsey sat down with Talk Business & Politics Editor-in-Chief Roby Brock to discuss the anniversary of the company and to hear more about the vision for where the company is headed.

Roby Brock: You will be the sole proprietor of the agency now. Tell me why this move at the 10-year mark?

Jerry Halsey: We didn’t really swap dollars as much as we just divided the assets. We had 10 years of a good run and most of it was a good time. There were a lot of heartaches as you try to grow a business as anybody does. But there just became a time whenever it was obvious that everybody had some different things that they wanted to do and it literally took an afternoon. Everybody knew what they wanted to do and it was pretty quick.

Brock: It sounds like an amicable departure to me.

Halsey: They’re still here. Their names are still on the door. They’re getting to go out and do their developments, their business, and I think we’ve worked it out where everybody kind of has their lane.

Brock: You are a Jonesboro-based company, but you’re expanding into the city of Benton in central Arkansas. What led to this?

Halsey: We were fortunate enough to find a really good team, Amy Hubbard and Dione Jessup. Dione’s husband financed me back in the ’90s when I was getting started, so my relationship with him goes back to Simmons Bank when he lived in Jonesboro. We’ve talked through the years about that [Benton] being a great market. About six or eight months ago that conversation got serious. Once we found the right team and the right opportunity, we just took it.

Brock: Tell me what business conditions are like right now. We’ve got higher interest rates, but we’ve been dealing with them for awhile. What’s the state of commercial development right now? Are you seeing anything not go through because of economic conditions or do you just think it’s a little bit more challenging to navigate?

Halsey: It is more challenging to navigate. I can tell you, whenever you’re in the middle of a development and you’ve been borrowing money at 3.5%, and now they’re wanting to do 8[%], 8.5%, it changes.

I’m doing some build-to-suits and you’ve got people who say, ’This is my business model, I can pay this rent.’ And if the numbers work, you just underwrite it differently and you don’t have a lot of vacancy in this market.

What you’re seeing is some of the older space is getting a premium because what’s happened is you’ve got the older space and that market rent and the new space could be as much as triple what that other space is. Well, the cost of building new, the rents haven’t necessarily caught up with that. So unless you’ve got a tenant for that space, chances are you’re going to try to do something in some older space, and therefore the older space is getting renovated.

Brock: That’s not bad either because you need to infill in your city centers. You need to not let stuff get old and dilapidated with all the new stuff on the fringes. I would say that’s probably not a bad thing that we’re seeing some of the older properties rehab.

Halsey: I don’t think it’s a bad thing, but I’m the beneficiary of some of that stuff, so I would have that opinion.

Brock: Where’s this company going to be in 10 to 15 years?

Halsey: I don’t know that answer. You’re probably going to have to ask the generation behind me. We’re going to really focus on quality agents, giving quality service and being very customer-focused and client-focused.