River Cities Business Journal: Construction

River Cities Business Journal

Jim Nelson came into the Mohave County market just as the housing market was about to slump - perfect timing.

When housing surpasses demand commercial development needs time to catch up.

And commercial development is Nelson's specialty.

The Southern Californian visited the area and not only liked it, but envisioned the opportunities for commercial buildings.

“I blew in here a few years ago and fell in love with the place,” Nelson said. “I started buying properties and now I have a home here on the river.”

In June he held an open house at Silver Creek Professional Plaza to introduce area Realtors to the extensive holdings he is offering for sale, lease/option and lease.

“What we are promoting here is not just this project, but the Bullhead City complex and other properties, which include Ranch Crossing and Alotta Storage behind Ranch Crossing,” Nelson said. “We own Mesa Business Park between Bullhead City and Fort Mojave and behind that we own 21 acres were on the verge of developing. We own a property on Rancho Colorado we're going to build offices and storage there.”

Right now the 10-acre Silver Creek Professional Plaza is the focus of most of his energies.

“It began as a business park. It was orignally set up for the small business man who had need for a little office space and some warehouse space,” Nelson said. “It turned in to a medical plaza.”

That is the target of his new building at Silver Creek.

“It will be for your typical office user, like insurance or professional office. What we're emphasizing is medical,” Nelson said. “We are offering everything in a Class A office building that is turnkey.”

He's also putting a number of financial options on the table for future tenants.

“We'll lease, sell, lease/option and in some cases we'll even finance it for them,” Nelson said.

Nelson bought two existing buildings at Silver Creek and then added another. Now he is working on the “Class A” office building and is finding the market ripe for his products.

“Our product has been extremely well received,” Nelson said. “The building we just broke ground on two weeks ago already has 35 percent occupancy. I've never had that happen before.”

In Mohave County his interests aren't just along the river.

A single story office/warehouse is in the works as well as another project.

“We have made a tentative agreement with the Airport Authority to do a multi-tenant industrial space,” Nelson said.

Busy as he is in the Bullhead City area, Nelson is not focused solely on this area.

“We're developing as far away as Atlanta, Ga., the Tri-Cities in Washington state and developments in Tucson and Mesquite, Nev.,” Nelson said, “and we have multiple projects in Southern California.”

The open house was to show Realtors suffering from the slowed housing market that there is another product available to sell and Nelson is anxious to have them selling it.

“We have a saying around here - ‘We love to pay commission checks,'” Nelson said.