Bill Struever

CEO, Struever Brothers and Eccles & Rouse

Bill Struever prides himself on discovering hidden value where no one else sees it. As one of the country’s preeminent urban developers, Struever and the company he co-founded in his mother’s basement, Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse, have a history of revitalizing economically obsolete cities. A major player in Baltimore’s waterfront restoration, Struever has mastered taking old, failed factories and reclaiming them for 21st century needs.

Struever is passionate about urban renewal. “I die of boredom when I go out to the suburbs,” he says. “Cities and neighborhoods reflect the essence of what our society is all about. It’s an incredible mixing of different kinds of uses, people and activities. The rich urban panorama makes life worth living.”

Successful Business Model: Partnering Private and Public Improvement

Struever’s firm doesn’t just refurbish structures, they reinvigorate communities by attracting entrepreneurial and commercial ventures through collaboration and intense public/private partnership. “It’s a wonderful story,” he says, “of the coming together, starting at very different points and perspectives between the community, developer, and property owner for a much better plan than anybody had ever started with.”

Accordingly, the $63 million renovation of a former Proctor & Gamble (P&G) mill in a working class neighborhood in Baltimore is now a campus of buildings named for P&G's soap products -- Joy, Cascade, Ivory, Tide. With a fantastic view of the harbor, the site has attracted both high-profile tenants like Advertising.com as well as small, boutique companies and tech firms.

Struever’s business model includes a unique and important component: civic advocacy. “An important ingredient in our approach to rebuilding communities,” Struever affirms, “is a broad view of community service on the basis that investing just in real estate deals isn’t enough to be effective moving development.” His staff serves on some 40 boards in the city of Baltimore and Struever himself is involved with numerous organizations.

For his efforts Struever was named the Baltimore Sun’s “Marylander of the Year” for 2000, Baltimore Business Journal’s “Business Person of the Year”, and the “Maryland Entrepreneur of the Year” by Ernst and Young and received the Business and Leadership Award by the Maryland Small Business Advisory Council.

Struever’s current big project is the city of Providence. He and his firm have partnered with the Heritage Harbor Corporation to remodel the 102-year old Narragansett power plant on the Providence River. The $50-million renovation will include 40 condominiums, retail shops, offices and a museum. The project incorporates many of the same elements of Struever’s past successes – the waterfront, an old industrial building, mixed commercial use, nearby public improvements, private financing, and historic tax credits.

These achievements have led Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse to incredible financial success. All well and good says Struever. “But my primary goal,” he says, “is to make a difference in making a better world and hope that the people in my company can play a major role in doing good.”