Jim Borders is President and CEO of Novare Group, a real estate investment and development company based in Atlanta, Georgia. Mr. Borders began his professional career as an attorney with Atlanta law firm King & Spalding and later practiced as a turnaround consultant at GrandWest & Associates. In 1992, Mr. Borders founded the predecessor of Novare Group. The company’s first investments were in self-storage facilities and office buildings, and the success of those projects led to the development of apartments and condominiums, including adaptive reuse of several buildings in and around Atlanta.
In 2002, the company partnered with Wood Partners to deliver its first high-rise development, Metropolis, which has been widely credited with sparking residential demand that helped transform Midtown Atlanta into the vibrant neighborhood that it is today. The company has continued to focus its activity on high-rise mixed-use communities and developed over 19,950 multifamily units in 65 communities in Alexandria, Athens, Atlanta, Austin, Birmingham, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Frisco, Nashville, Newnan, Chattanooga, Charlotte, Cherokee County, Columbia, Madison, Orlando, Pooler, Port Wentworth, Powder Springs, Raleigh, Richmond Hill, Sugar Hill, Tampa, and Tallahassee. Eighteen buildings have been SkyHouse® branded communities, a rapid build efficient high-rise concept that was a result of prior experience and observations in development and construction. In 2017, Novare Group began executing on suburban garden style and town center developments, some with other development firms in its Novare Development Resources division, and some with its internal development teams.
Mr. Borders serves on the board of directors of Brand Properties, LLC, Buckhead Coalition, Midtown Alliance, Central Atlanta Progress, and as a trustee of the Georgia Tech Foundation, Inc. He has been recognized with lifetime achievement awards from the Atlanta Commercial Board of Realtors in 2000, Georgia State University J. Mack Robinson School of Business in 2006, and the Urban Land Institute in 2015. Under Mr. Borders’ leadership, Novare Group has been recognized with two ULI Project of the Year Awards and three Projects of Excellence. Mr. Borders received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1983 and a J.D./M.B.A. degree from the University of Georgia in 1988.