A story of a man’s humble beginning with a great passion for development
Andrew Mattiace decided at age 12 that he wanted to be the man who owns real estate, not work for the man that owns the building.
The President and founder of Mattiace Properties, Inc., Mattiace is also the CEO of Mattiace Properties and its affiliated companies, The Mattiace Company and Mattiace Development Company, LLC, all based in Jackson. All total, Mattiace runs 32 companies located in Mississippi, Tennessee, and Georgia.
Mattiace’s grandparents lived in Binetto, Italy, a quaint village in southern Italy. “My father was the youngest of six brothers,” said Mattiace. The family immigrated to the United States through Ellis Island in New York City. “My grandfather and grandmother uprooted their lives with their children and came to America to pursue the dream and the country of opportunity”
Mattiace’s father grew up in Manhattan, but when he turned 18 he joined the Army. After being assigned to various locations, the elder Mattiace eventually ended up in Jackson, Mississippi on Capitol Street at the old air base located there at the time.
“Dad married a beautiful young woman from a small town in Mississippi, Doris Bourne, and my siblings and I grew up in humble beginnings in South Jackson, on Shirley Drive,” said Mattiace. “My dad was an extremely hard worker but earned about twenty dollars a week. In fact, since he couldn’t afford tuition for my three brothers, sister and I at St. Therese school, he would paint the buildings on weekends in trade.”
Mattiace respectfully challenged his father one day about that arrangement.
“I noticed guys coming to the job sites where Dad and my brothers and I worked. They were always driving expensive cars and I asked him who they were,” recalled Mattiace. “He told me they were the owners and that we were the workers. That’s when I decided that I would be an owner one day. Certainly not out of disrespect for my father; but just to be on the proverbial other side.”
Having reached that “other side” Mattiace has achieved levels of excellence in his career that are certainly enviable. Yet, he continues to “work harder than ever” in his own words, usually starting his day before sunrise and ending it long after night has set in.
Mattiace graduated from St. Joseph High School in Jackson where he earned a scholarship to attend Belhaven University, obtaining a B.S. in Accounting. While at Belhaven, he served on the president’s council. He recevied the Outstanding Leadership Award and was elected Team Captain.
“My coaches and teachers in high school and college , including Bill Raphel, D.M. Howie, and the great Jim McLeod the baseball coach who was responsible for my four-year full ride at Belhaven, were so critically important to me in my formative years,” said Mattiace. “I learned lessons of discipline and integrity that have stayed with me to this day.”
Mattiace’s entry in the workforce came in accounting, but his passion for real estate and dealmaking led to the start of his own firm. Prior to starting his own company, Mattiace served as the Hinds County Finance Director and Deputy Chancery Clerk.
Mattiace Properties, Inc. was founded in 1979 and has been actively involved in real estate development in excess of 4 million square feet of retail and office buildings in Mississippi and the Southeast. And that growth and expansion continues to this day.
Among numerous accolades, Mattiace is a past recipient of the Belhaven University Business Award and City of Ridgeland Economic Development Award. He is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers and has served on its Governmental Affairs committee and as a speaker at several ICSC Conferences.
Mattiace has also served on the Board of Directors of Community Bank of Mississippi, Willowood Developmental Center, and The Bond Home of Madison. Additionally, he has served as Chairman and continues to serve as a Board Member of Downtown Jackson Partners and the Capital Club of Jackson.
“I thoroughly enjoy and appreciate working with and participating in civic and business organizations with great board members,” said Mattiace. “Serving on boards and giving back means a lot to me and it is very gratifying.”
Mattiace Properties proudly maintains its headquarters in Downtown Jackson. Since 1985, the company’s area of concentration has been on upscale shopping centers, retail strip shopping centers, malls, office buildings and industrial sites for major development activity in Mississippi and the entire Southeastern United States.
“I do have a sense of loyalty to downtown Jackson, and it’s ingrained in our entire organization,” said Mattiace. “Yes, I could run my business anywhere, but I choose to be in Jackson at Capital Towers downtown.” Mattiace purchased Capital Towers 20 years ago with his partner John Ellis Soloman and have converted the building to mixed-use office and residential.
Mattiace also owns the historic Lamar Life clock tower in downtown Jackson and has completed a full restoration with residential loft apartments and office space.
From his downtown headquarters, however, Mattiace’s reach is expansive.
“The Southeast’s commercial real estate industry has often been on a different cycle from the rest of the country,” Mattiace has been quoted as saying. “Knowledge of this sector and strong tenant relationships, combined with the best people, has been key in the company’s development of more than five million square feet and more than 100,000 jobs created,” he said.
Mattiace and his companies have also played a major role in the Metro Jackson office market, currently managing in excess of one million square feet of office in the Jackson Central Business District. His affiliated companies—The Mattiace Company, Mattiace Properties, Inc. and Mattiace Restaurant Company, have been named in the Top 100 Owners and Managers in the nation by Retail Traffic magazine, and were named as a Top 100 Private Company in Mississippi and Best Commercial Real Estate Firm by The Mississippi Business Journal.
Mattiace was also behind the redevelopment and new building projects that took place in Mississippi in the Fondren district of Jackson with his partner Mike Peters, The Forum at Grandview in Madison, Tupelo Power Center at Barnes Crossing, and Meridian Walmart and Lowe’s. Mattiace company is responsible for bringing the first Target store and the only Costco store to the state. The company is developing the largest undertaking to date, Renaissance at Colony Park in Ridgeland with “My iconic partners Jim Barksdale and Buster Bailey”. Mattiace maintains that Renaissance is the premier retail and dining destination in Mississippi.
Renaissance, which Mattiace describes as a “lifestyle center” has received numerous design and development awards and was named Best Shopping Destination by Mississippi Magazine, the Mississippi Business Journal and Delta Business Journal, and was chosen Family Favorite Shopping Center/Mall by Parents & Kids Magazine.
Mattiace said the site of the Ridgeland development was selected and designed due to its proximity to the Capital and affluent suburbs along with its accessibility and visibility from Interstate 55 and Highland Colony Parkway and easy access from Interstate 220 and the Natchez Trace.
“We’ve been able to recruit the finest in national, regional and local tenants to create a merchandise mix that provides for cross-shopping and dining among the stores,” said Mattiace. “The center design, architectural hardscapes, landscaping and water features come together to create a vibrant destination offering the visitor a unique environment second to none in this region in terms of an exciting shopping, dining and entertainment experience. This helps Mississippi’s economic base and enhances the reputation that the area is a great place to live and work—which it is.”
Mattiace’s wife, Jan, son, Jason, and nephew, Mark McCormack play major roles in the companies making it a true “family affair.”
“Jason is my gladiator,” said Mattiace. “He works almost as hard as me and is always on call. My daughter, Jessica, lives in Charleston, South Carolina, but I’m trying to recruit her back to work with us. Of course, Jan has been working with the company for 15 years as Director of Communications and she’s the warden of the whole operation,” he said. Mark McCormack, the COO, has evolved over 25 years with the company and created important relationships with the new younger retail executives.
In his early years Mattice was a licensed pilot. He says he rarely has time to completely get away from work, but would enjoy flying again, and traveling, as well. “To be honest, though, I consider work as a hobby of sorts,” he said. “I’m a bad musician, having been in bands in my youth, and still play from time to time. I golf occasionally on Saturday afternoons, which I consider therapeutic. But usually, work consumes me but I mean that as a positive thing.
“I’ve held jobs since the age of 10,” continued Mattiace. “Work is important to me and I enjoy being productive and making deals. What I we do now is actually harder now than it was, say, 20 years ago. I do not plan to retire as I still enjoy the challeneges of the industry. Our office personel says that I’m just getting started.”
As for what’s ahead for this energetic and visionary entrepreneur? “In the next five years, we will develop and build approximately 2 million square feet of additional property and also build residential developments,” predicted Mattiace. “We are positive about the future, and the great state of Mississippi.”
