John Williams, co-founder, chairman and CEO of Preferred Apartment Communities, has died at the age of 75.
Williams founded Post Properties in 1970 and took the company public as a REIT in 1993. He resigned as chairman of Post Properties in 2003. When he resigned, the company had approximately 30,000 apartment units and had averaged funds from operations growth of 7 percent per year commencing with the Post Properties initial public offering.
Williams served in his roles at Preferred Apartment Communities since September 2009.
Over the course of his career, Williams directed and coordinated the development, construction, and management of more than $15 billion in real estate developments.
Preferred Apartment Communities posted on its website the following statement on Monday:
“Preferred Apartment Communities is profoundly saddened to announce that the company's co-founder, chairman and CEO, John Williams unexpectedly passed away earlier today. The company's board of directors has appointed vice-chairman and CIO Daniel DuPree to succeed Williams as chairman of the board and CEO. Leonard Silverstein, a co-founder of the company along with Williams, has been appointed vice-chairman of the board and will continue as president and COO.”
Williams was listed on National Real Estate Investor’s list of “The 20th Century’s Most Influential Developers,” and he received the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s award for “Atlanta Residential Developer of The Decade,” for the 1990s. The Harvard Business School extended its “Community Leadership Award” to Williams in 2000. He received numerous honors and awards from Cobb County, Ga., including, “The Mack Henderson Public Service Award,” in 2005.
Williams was recently inducted into the Multi-Housing News Hall of Fame: First Class in 2004, and given, The Four Pillar Award in 2007 by The Council for Quality Growth. He was always very active in varied philanthropic activities, outreaches, and organizations in Georgia and around the world. In the spring of 2008, Williams was inducted into the Georgia State University J. Mack Robinson College of Business Hall of Fame as well as the Georgia Institute of Technology College of Management Hall of Fame.
Williams served on the board of directors of the Atlanta Falcons of which he is also a minority owner. He previously served on the boards of Riverside Bancshares, where he was the largest stockholder, the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority, the Atlanta Regional Commission, Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau, Post Secondary/Vocational Education, and the Executive Committee of the National Apartment Association.
Williams also served on the board of directors of NationsBank and Barnett Banks, Crawford & Company, Post Properties, and Rentech. He is the founder and past chairman of the Cumberland Community Improvement District.
He served as president of the Homebuilders Association of Metropolitan Atlanta, chairman of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, chairman of the Metro Business Forum, chairman of the Regional Business Coalition, chairman of the Cobb-Marietta Coliseum and Exhibit Hall Authority, and chairman of the Cobb County Chamber of Commerce, serving two terms.
