James Winfrey Wilson III, an Alabama business leader whose firm, Jim Wilson & Associates, spearheaded some of the state’s best-known commercial real estate developments, has died at age 59.
Wilson died at his home in Montgomery on March 11, the company announced. A cause of death was not released.
Wilson and his brother Will expanded JWA, the company founded by their father, Jim Wilson Jr., who died in 2006.
The company, founded in 1975, began building an average of four malls per year. In 1986, the $300 million Riverchase Galleria, billed as the largest shopping center in the Southeast, opened after JWA purchased 58 acres and Herbert Corp. bought 78 hectares of land where the mall stands.
JWA also developed the Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge; EastChase in Montgomery; and Redstone Gateway business park in Huntsville.
The firm also invests in start-ups and builds operating companies, including A&W Enterprises and 42 Equity. In addition, JWA is developing two residential communities in Montgomery – Wynlakes, a 1,000-acre golf course community, and New Park, a 1,000-acre mixed-use development.
Wilson also served on the Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama system where he was Chair of the Athletics Committee, and as President of the University of Alabama Birmingham Hospital Authority.
Wilson graduated from Montgomery Academy and earned a degree in business administration from The University of Alabama, where he was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.
After graduating from college in 1985, Wilson moved to New York City where he worked in commercial real estate at Manufacturers Hanover and met his wife, Susie Forst. The couple married in 1987, in Rye, New York.
After the wedding, Wilson went to work for his father.
“Jim is a dynamic leader and an influential philanthropist. He uses his time and resources to improve the lives of many,” the company’s statement read.
“Jim will be remembered for his unmatched charisma, unfiltered humor and unconditional love for his family and friends. Jim was kind, funny, boisterous, and like his father, an expert in the art of celebration. When you’re with Jim Wilson III, you’re happy.
Wilson is survived by his wife of 35 years, Susie; two daughters, Lillian Pascale and Wesley Clingman; mother, Wynona Wilson; siblings, Elizabeth Hunter, Winston Reese and Will Wilson; sons-in-law, Matthew V. Pascale and James F. Clingman IV; and five grandchildren, JW and Nate Pascale, Lucy, Wyn and Fully Clingman.
The funeral will be March 15 in Montgomery.
