COM M UNI T Y
BY: CHELSEY KRAFT
NORMANITES IN THE SPOTLIGHT
F
or Jim Adair and his children, the family business stretches over four generations.
Jim works with his son, Zach Adair, and his daughter, Ashley Adair-Garner, to carry on the enterprise his father, Jimmy Adair, began more than 70 years ago. Shortly after leaving the military in 1946, Jimmy Adair partnered with his stepfather, Lee Biggs, to open A&B Lumber Company at 615 N Porter Ave. in Norman. That business evolved from homebuilding into land development, and from there, into Adair and Associates Real Estate, an enterprise Jimmy shared with his son, Jim. Decades later, Jim and his children are carrying on as the third and fourth generations of the family business, a destiny all three University of Oklahoma graduates looked forward to from the time they were children. boydstreet.com
The Adairs
Jim started work with the company in 1975, just before it moved to its downtown location at 111 N Peters Ave. in 1977.
“My dad and I worked together for 35 years, and it was delightful for me to get to move to the next generation,” Jim said. “We all feel like we’re super blessed to be able to do this,” Ashley said. “We all love coming to work, and I think that we’re unique in that a lot of families can’t even imagine working together. But we all get along great and actually have different personality types, so we complement each other, and it’s been really easy for us.” Adair and Associates works with a variety of real estate properties all over Norman, but the primary focus is the offices and retail spaces in downtown Norman. Ashley said they love buying 100-year old buildings in the area, fixing them up and seeing
them come to life again, and Jim added downtown is where their heart is. “Downtown’s got a historical charm that you just can’t replicate,” Jim said. “Downtown’s healthy, and we’ve got great partners in the city and the county … Between the county and the banking institutions, you’ve got a built-in office market down here. That supports the restaurants, and the unique thing about the restaurants is they’re all local.” Downtown has become an entertainment district in a lot of ways, Ashley said. Between the restaurants and breweries, there are shows at the Sooner Theatre and murals and other works of art to look at. There are multiple ways people can spend their time. The Adair’s are active with the Norman Chamber of Commerce, Norman Downtowners Association, Norman Arts Council and the Downtown Norman Fall Fest, which Ashley BOYD STREET MAGAZINE | 39
