Chance meeting leads to years of real estate projects

September 30, 2017

12:00 AM

Photos by Jeffrey S. Hall Photography

On a sunny Tuesday afternoon in May 1998, Brent Crawford and Bob Hoying met by happenstance at Heritage Golf Club in Hilliard.

When the course attendant told Crawford there wasn’t enough room for him to play alone, he was forced to look for another solo golfer. Lucky for him, he ran into Hoying at the tee box.

“It was unique for us, because neither of us go out and play by ourselves, and (we) certainly don’t play with strangers,” says Crawford. “But we both went (alone) to the course that day.”

At the time, Crawford was managing about 1,000 properties, up from the 100 he had when he graduated from The Ohio State University.

“Now, mind you, I was at OSU at the same time (as Hoying), so I knew who he was. He did not know how famous I was at the time,” Crawford says laughing.

Over the course of 18 holes, Crawford had the chance to tell Hoying how much he enjoyed the real estate and development industry. Hoying was looking for a career path beyond the NFL, and real estate started to sound like a good option. The following evening, the two met for dinner with their wives, and the rest was history.

“We just sort of furthered that (relationship) and he said, ‘That’s a direction I’d like to go,’ and I thought, well, that’d be a great addition to the business,” says Crawford. “So, we formed our partnership officially and did our first investment together in 1998.”

Now, Crawford Hoying is a full-service real estate and property management company with more than 200 team members and 20 communities with more than 15,000 residents. Both partners wear many hats and are a part of nearly every aspect of the business.

Photo courtesy of Bob Hoying

The Hoying Family

“There really isn’t any day that’s like the last one you had,” says Hoying. “We get the chance to do a little bit of everything, so that’s fun for us. … We get into development, into construction meetings, leasing meetings, management, and early on with the architecture and how we lay out a site is very exciting.”

Though their busy schedules make it hard for Crawford and Hoying to get out on the golf course, the two say that their office environment can be just as enjoyable.

“What’s great about (Crawford Hoying) is that it’s fun to come to work,” says Crawford. “Sunday nights … I get antsy because I’m ready to get to work, because the people we’re working with are the people we hang out with in the office and outside the office. So, really, this is our network of friends. … We are having fun at what we do.”

When he’s not working, Hoying enjoys spending time with his wife, Jill, and their children, Jake, 15; Ava, 12; Layla, 9; and Nash, 5. The Hoying family attends St. Brigid of Kildare Catholic Parish, and all of the children attend St. Brigid of Kildare School, with the exception of Jake, now a freshman at Bishop Watterson High School.

The family’s relationship with St. Brigid began when Hoying was attending OSU. He was the speaker for the parish’s first confirmation class in 1994, and the community surrounding the church made Dublin an appealing place to raise a family.

Photo courtesy of Brent Crawford

The Crawford family loves to travel abroad, Africa being on of their favorite regions. They visited Kenya in 2016 and have plans to return.

“(Jill and I) felt a connection out there,” Hoying says. “We are both from the northwest part of the state, and so Dublin seemed like a good fit for us.”

Outside of work, Crawford enjoys traveling with his wife, Liz, and their children Adam, 19, and Sara, 17. The family has called Dublin home since 2002, but they love to explore countries around the world when they get the chance.

“We just like to experience different things, and honestly, a lot of what we see in those (foreign) places are things that I come back with, because they just do it differently there, and in a lot of cases, it’s better,” says Crawford.

Nelson Yoder, also a Dublin resident and founding partner of the development team, joined Crawford Hoying in 2012 with the intention of developing more class A mixed-use projects. The Bridge Park development is arguably the most exciting project the company is working on now, with mixed-use space that several restaurants and businesses call home.

“We try to be very particular about who we hire because, as much as it is from an intelligence and technical skills perspective, it’s a personality fit, and that generally comes down to being a nice person and treating people with respect,” says Crawford. “If you do great things with great people, you’ll have great results.”

Still, though Bridge Park may be in the spotlight, at any given time, the company is working on multiple projects of all different sizes.

“I think a lot of people see Bridge Park and think that all we are doing is larger projects, but in reality, we are working on a number of projects that are only 3 or 4 acres,” says Hoying.

No matter the size, all projects have a similar goal: to bring communities together. Bridge Park’s self-sufficient and walkable urban design is a great example of Crawford Hoying developing properties that encourage people to flourish in an otherwise underutilized space.

“It’s all about people going back into the core,” says Hoying.

Crawford Hoying’s Water Street District development in Dayton is very similar to Bridge Park. They both combine residential and commercial space in the hearts of their communities.

“We want to transform areas and have an impact on the community, and we’ve done that in Dayton,” says Crawford. “Our Water Street project has been an important development for us.”

Both Crawford and Hoying credit the success of their partnership to trust in each other and in their team. Unlike a lot of companies, Crawford Hoying isn’t afraid to spend resources on hiring people who are above and beyond the average employee.

Photos by Jeffrey S. Hall Photography

“We try to be very particular about who we hire because, as much as it is from an intelligence and technical skills perspective, it’s a personality fit, and that generally comes down to being a nice person and treating people with respect,” says Crawford. “If you do great things with great people, you’ll have great results.”

Crawford Hoying is looking to expand outside of the Columbus and Dayton areas, with a new 100-acre development in Deerfield Township in southwest Ohio breaking ground next spring.

“I think we see it expanding outward from here, but Dublin always being our home base,” says Crawford. “We live here. This is our headquarters.”

Jenny Wise is an assistant editor. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.