Collie Christens En

C o llie Christensen: C a lifornia Dreaming in Wiggins, Mississippi California real estate developer Collie Christensen discovered a treasure trove of opportunities when he first visited Mississippi in 2006. “I was motivated to go to Mississippi to help the people there after Katrina,” recalled Christensen. “I have to admit. I had the wrong idea about the people there. What I was really nervous about in Mississippi was would I be able to fit in with the good old boy network? But I didn’t find that to be a problem at all.” What the CEO and founder of investment company Equus Eleven did find is what south Mississippians have always known. This is a great place to live, to build and to make money. “In coming to Mississippi, not only did I learn that my perception of Mississippi was somewhat outdated, I figured out that California has a lot to learn from Mississippi,” said Christensen. “One big thing is that they

STORY BY KRISTEN TWEDT PHOTOS COURTESY EQUUS ELEVEN

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have top-notch hospitality, friendliness and customer service there. My employees talk all the time about what a pleasure it is to see people greet you with a smile. Too much hustle and bustle in California often translates into too little attention to those things. Southern hospitality lives on there. I feel like I’ve developed good and lasting friendships in Mississippi.” Just nine days after Christensen’s first visit to Stone County, Equus Eleven purchased 121 acres with frontage on Highway 49, just across the street from Wal-Mart in Wiggins. The expansive residential and retail project has community leaders and transportation officials touting the enormous economic boon the development will mean in terms of jobs, homes and increased tax revenue. “This will be 700,000 square feet of retail designed much like an outlet mall offering more than 200 jobs,” said Jerry Alexander, Mayor of Wiggins. “Of the 121 acres, 60 will be dedicated to shopping. They’re putting in the retail first, then the residential. We’re hoping for a 10 to 15 percent increase in our tax revenue. We’re already at better than 50 percent occupancy. If you’re interested in getting in, the time is now.” Traffic through Wiggins is already heavy and expected to increase substantially. “Traffic counts done by MDOT last year indicate we

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average 20,000 cars a day on Highway 49 out here,” said Alexander. “That’s more than 8 million per year. The new connector to Highway 67 just 12 miles south of here will likely add to that. It just makes access between Wiggins and the Coast that much better. It means growth for all of us.” Southern District Transportation Commissioner Wayne Brown understands that developments like the Equus Eleven project will inevitably spark new growth along the heavily traveled corridor of Highway 49. “I see US Highway 49 in southeast Mississippi as Southeast Mississippi Main Street,” said Brown. “Its role as a commercial corridor is going to become more and more important.” Like any developer, Christensen investigated growth patterns, access to roads and utilities and projected needs for residential and business interests before investing here. With 23 years experience in financial enterprises and commercial development, he recognizes the potential for growth along the Highway 49 corridor as similar to what he has witnessed at home. “I have watched San Francisco and Sacramento grow together,” said Christensen of the 230 mile stretch between the California cities. “They have their own distinct personalities but they’ve grown together. I think within the next 15 years, Hattiesburg, Wiggins, and

Gulfport will grow the same way. I’ve watched that happen here, and I think that’s what will happen there. The hurricane and insurance issues will just continue the move north.” He also noted the tell-tale signs of communities ready to expand their retail base and residential development. “I learned that when WalMart comes, the others follow,” said Christensen. “I know that we can provide affordable housing and also meet the needs of the community. I see what the needs are, I envision what it will take to make it happen, and I follow through. It feels good to see it fly. It feels good when you help out others.” A millionaire by age 25, Christensen got his start in real estate as a young entrepreneur who bought apartments in Hawaii with a partner, renovated them as condos and resold them at a profit. With some of his proceeds, he bought his first limousine, what he considered the ultimate symbol of success. “My mom took one look at that and asked what I was going to do with a limousine,” recalled Christensen. “I thought about it and decided to start my own limo service. Within a few years, it was the largest limousine service in California. We were based in Sacramento and served all of Orange County and Palm Springs.” In 1983, Christensen landed the contract for limousine service for the Olympics. “Part of that contract said

that you had to have cellular phones. I remember asking ‘What’s a cellular phone?’ I had worked for two years to get that contract. I spent $100,000 for phones that I didn’t have. I remember thinking, ‘I’m in the wrong business.’ So, I started researching cellular phones.” He sold the limo service and delved into the cellular phone market. His new business became the Cellular One server for northern California and all of Nevada. Christensen sold out

to ATT in 1993, another highly profitable endeavor. The son of a single mom who dedicated her life to serving the needs of others, the young and industrious Christensen lent little credence to his mother’s own brand of success. “When I was young, I thought success was all about making money,” said Christensen. “My mom didn’t have any money, so I didn’t think of her as successful at the time. She had been crippled in a

car accident when I was little. She worked with Alcoholics Anonymous groups and suicide prevention lines. She ran a home for battered women.” At age 30, the hard realization hit Christensen that he had missed the mark in dismissing his mother’s benevolent service to others. “I was at my mom’s funeral,” remembered Christensen. “Hundreds of people turned out for that. They all talked to me about how she had turned

destinations: south ms deve l o p m e n t their lives around. All these people gave her credit for saving them. I bawled like a baby. I realized that the most successful person I ever knew was my mom. She was the best mentor I ever had.” One large lesson Christensen took from his mother’s guidance was that anything is possible if you believe you can do it. It is this approach that led him to establish the California Trade Exchange (CTE), a franchise of the International Trade Exchange (ITEX). With 160 offices in the United States and seven countries, the healthy CTE cultivated by Christensen was eventually bought out by ITEX, making Christensen the largest shareholder of stock in ITEX and the company’s CEO. “I had been just this hard

working street kid and never spent a day in college,” said Christensen. “Here’s a company with thousands of employees and board members with P h D s . I didn’t have much of a resume because I had never worked for anyone. When I went for the interview for that position of CEO, I told them I actually did have a PhD—poor, hungry and determined. They all laughed, and I figured that was it, it was all over. But they hired me.” Demands on his time and travel abroad kept Christensen from enjoying his family life the way he desired. He stepped down from his position at ITEX in 2001 to pursue his first love, real estate development. “I have four kids,” said

Christensen, who lives in Sacramento with wife Kira and children Rikki, C.J., Gracie and Caden. “Every time I would read a successful story of a powerful CEO, it would talk about the great success they were, but their personal lives were a train wreck.” Christensen stepped down as CEO but stayed the largest shareholder at ITEX to allow more time for family interests. “From age 19 to age 43, I learned that I always made more money buying and selling real estate. The way things had been, I wasn’t there to be a Sunday school teacher or be there for my kids the way I wanted. I became a real estate developer so I could be there for them, like I promised.” Recalling his mother’s inspi-

ration, Christensen also felt driven to give something back to communities struggling to provide essential housing and medical care. “Every spring through my church, I take about 50 high school students down to Mexico, places like Mexicali, and build houses for the homeless,” said Christensen. “Each year we go different places. We do it through various agencies, like universities. We find the poorest of the poor and go build one to five houses. We build with no power tools, just hand tools. By serving others, it really blesses you.” Christensen also travels to Guatemala on medical missions. “I go as a grunt worker for the doctors and nurses,” laughed Christensen. “I just go and do whatever they need. ” While eager to help those in need, Christensen makes no bones about his ability to push a deal when stakes are high. “I’m a tough negotiator,” said Christensen. “I like to win. Real estate development appeals to me because I have always liked construction. I like the sense of accomplishment you get when something is completed and it really makes a big difference in the quality of life for people.” “Tragically, Mississippi lost 70,000 homes after Katrina,” said Christensen. “But I’m thinking that would interest any developer. Look at the jobs that are coming, with the casinos and tourism and new business. Add the ‘GO Zone’ opportunities with tax credits and grants, and I can’t believe

every developer isn’t looking at Mississippi.” Then there’s the affordability of investing in construction here. “Permit fees in Stone County cost $450. In Elk Grove, CA, that would be around $80,000. I can build a house in Wiggins for what the permit fees are here.” Living in Sacramento most of his life, Christensen commends his home state for its talent in cultivating smart communities. “One thing that I have to give California credit for is that they have truly learned to build beautiful, planned communities,” said Christensen. “The problem is the bureaucracy. Mississippi is pro-growth. Equus Eleven has an eagerness to build and modernize and build the right kind of communities. That’s what I’m excited about, using our experience here and making it work in Mississippi.” Going green is a priority, too, but one that will come in time for his interests in Mississippi. “We started a green division at Equus Eleven,” said C h r i s t e n s e n . “The reason we haven’t unveiled a lot of that there is because the challenge is the expense of the products. Our green division has some incredible products. We are currently building in Cabo San Lucas which is at the end of Baja, CA. Real estate there is very expensive because it’s the western U.S. playground year round. I’ve got a couple of guys in Mississippi meeting with me about going green. We’re on it.” As a board member for the

California Museum for Women’s History and Art, which includes California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and wife Maria Shriver, Christensen says “green build” is always a topic of conversation and concern there. H e feels Mississippi’s needs are urgent and better served by targeted development that will get things rolling in the right direction. “Right now, what I think Mississippi needs is a focus on affordable housing where we get communities rebuilt and thriving again. I tell people that now that the media has gone away, people act like everything is fine and hunky dory. But we know better. The surface has barely been scratched. Get that infrastructure in place first and go from there.” Finding success in Mississippi proves to be a welcome challenge for this investor and developer, one that he feels certain will be a win-win relationship between Equus Eleven and the future of South Mississippi. “I never planned on being a billionaire. That’s not something I aspired to be, but God has blessed me on how to be financially successful,” said Christensen. “I want to leave a legacy that my children will be proud of. They’ll be able to say that I honored my commitment to them, and that’s what’s most important to me.”

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