From Deals to Decades: Bill Bowling's Influence on West Michigan Commercial Real Estate Evolution

Max + Chris Show

Discover the legacy of Bill Bowling, a powerhouse in commercial real estate. With a track record of building and leading successful brokerage firms and developing impactful commercial real estate projects, Bill's visionary approach has left an indelible mark on the industry. Join us as we explore the highlights of his career, that define his legendary status in the world of commercial real estate.
[00:00:00] Welcome to the Max and Chris show. I think we're at episode 17 right now. So, uh, welcome to our guests. We have a special, special, really special guest here today. We have Bill Bowling with Bradley company. So Bill, thanks for spending some time with us today. Well, great. I'm excited to be here. I'm taking advantage of you because I'm 80 years old now and I'm wrapping up my career.

[00:00:29] And I wanted to have this brief summary, if we could, somewhere that they can play for my grandkids someday. So, when you mentioned doing it, I said, do I get a copy of it? And they said, yes. And I said, I'm there. That's awesome. And you came with lessons already today too, because we found out there's a 3437.

[00:00:50] Southwest. And you gotta drive up there. You'll be very impressed. Just don't send our fan mail there. Yeah, that's probably where it's all going. Absolutely. That's where it's all going. Actually, we did just get, and I won't say who it is yet, but we did just get our first uh, Our first, what do you call it?

[00:01:12] Sponsor. Sponsor for the podcast. Yeah. We got our first. Well, congratulations. Step in the right direction. Only took 17 episodes. Yeah, we'll see what, maybe another 17 we can get another one and this won't be a hobby anymore. Yeah. Bradley Company want to sponsor us? That'd be a little weird, but I like it.

[00:01:30] Guys, I don't own any stock. I have nothing to say there. Just be the yes man. But I think they might do that. Call Jeff. Yeah, like, hey, but use us instead. We'll take your money. Yeah, well, thank you. Yeah, we really appreciate you coming down here to do this. So, 80 years. 80 years. Take us back from the very beginning.

[00:01:56] Um, I'd like to take us back to the beginning of Bill Bowling. Uh, not as I was being born or anything, but a little, uh, a little in front of that, the conception of when I was, when I was in high school, I played a lot of football, a lot of baseball, and sometimes I got off the bench in basketball, um, but I was a pretty darn good baseball player and I Uh, a bunch of offers, uh, Oklahoma, uh, Tennessee, uh, uh, and a company called Michigan.

[00:02:39] And Don Lund was a baseball coach there then. And so as I weighed all of my choices. I said, I want to go to Michigan. In those days you couldn't sign your scholarship until after you graduated. So we graduated on June 6th and I drove over to Don Lund's office in Ann Arbor. I'm from Monroe, Michigan, so that's a half hour drive.

[00:03:03] Yep. And I get there and as I walk in, uh, to his office, he looks up and he goes, oh, and my heart dropped. And I'm going, what? And he said, I just got a chance to get Fritz Fischer, who is a left handed fireballer, eventually got to AAA baseball. And he said, so I don't have a scholarship for you. And I said, Coach, I've turned everybody else down.

[00:03:34] And it's June 6th. What do I do now? So I drove back to my house in Monroe, which is about a half hour drive. And as I'm pulling in the driveway, there's a car sitting there that I don't know who it is. And as I'm walking into the living room. I hear my dad talking and he says, no, Captain Lawrence, uh, Bill's over signing, uh, with Michigan right now.

[00:03:59] And I said, well, dad, I'm not Captain Lawrence. How are you? He was the baseball coach at the Air Force Academy. Wow. And so I ended up going out to. The Air Force Academy, and I had one rule from the coach, absolutely do not play basketball intramurally, and I did and just s