Legendary Leader
UHR Rockport Properties Photography by TresPiña Photography Written by Ruth Gnirk
Mark Uhr has been a catalyst of community growth for three decades. He has transformed himself and the surrounding environment first as a commercial builder, and then as a residential developer. He and his wife are well-rooted in Rockport and continue to serve the Coastal Bend community through civic and social engagements. He is currently building custom homes and resort-style apartment complexes in the area and has won awards for his designs as well. Mark and his father had been in the turbomachinery business together for many years. After learning that the federal Resolution Trust Corporation would be auctioning off property in the Rockport Country Club, the two set out to improve their community through real estate. Mark Uhr started his real estate career as a commercial real estate broker focusing on brokering land, office buildings, and pad sites for 20 • September 2021
regional and national tenants including fast-food restaurants and auto parts stores. For 10 years, Mark worked for private companies as a build-tosuit developer, building auto part stores for Auto Zone, Chief Auto Parts, and Hi-Lo Auto Parts. He built 38 stores in three states. “I was dealing with corporations, not with people,” said Mark. Upon successfully obtaining the 200 lots and 70 acres in the Rockport Country Club with his father, Mark relocated to Rockport. Mark recognized that he had an opportunity to make a more personal impact on the community by shifting gears to residential home-building. He built and sold a spec house in the Rockport Country Club Estates, and that was the birth of Rockport Properties Inc.
“In the beginning, we were affectionately called ‘Midnight Realty’ because I would answer the phone any time I got a call,” said Mark. “I don’t have 9-5 hours because I know that people make their decisions after 5 pm when they have time. This is a 24-7 job.” “It was just my father and me for that first year,” Mark recalled. “24 years later, I have had as many as 18 REALTORS® working for me at a time.” Mark loves inviting newly licensed REALTORS® to his team. “They don’t have bad habits and they are teachable,” he said with a smile. In addition, Rockport Properties, Inc. had the first business website in town. Now they have a full-time IT professional on staff to handle all the needs of their agents and customers. “We’ve come a long way, from handwritten contracts to DocuSign®,” added Mark. Over the past 30-plus years, Mark has seen great change in the industry. “I have seen four cycles of real estate in this area. It has followed the fluctuation in the economy based on the oil and gas industry,” said Uhr. @realproducers
