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A family-run business, Hannegan Real Estate & Construction is in the
business of general contracting, land development, commercial properties and
new homes sales and leasing. A sister company, Hannegan Homes L.L.C., is
currently building homes to sell starting in the $130s in Wright City and
Troy, Mo. Located in the former Ahman's Drugstore on North Main Street, the
company is composed of three Hannegan brothers: Dave and Mike, who started
the business, and latecomer, Tom, the youngest brother. Hannegan Real Estate
and Construction is a member of the Home Builders Association of Greater St.
Louis, the St. Charles Association of Realtors, the International Council of
Shopping Centers and the St. Charles Chamber of Commerce.
Tom Hannegan attended Lindenwood University, receiving a master's degree in
science and human resource management in 1998. The affable St. Charles
native has channeled his considerable energies into community involvement
and has been recognized for his help with the Boys and Girls Club of St.
Charles, the Dove Foundation and Community Living Inc. Tom has been
appointed by Gov. Matt Blunt to the Citizens Advisory Committee on
Corrections, a hand-picked group that makes recommendations on the jail
system in Missouri. Tom is an avid attendee of movies and theater
productions. He enjoys traveling when the mood strikes, the more distant the
location, the better.
You got into real estate via a rather circuitous route. Talk about that
please.
"I've had a wide variety of work experiences. I have my master's degree in
human resource management, so I did HR for Station Casino-St. Charles, now
called Ameristar. Then I went to the hospitals - St. John's, St. Luke's and
St. Anthony's when it was Unity Health Care - and I did HR there. After
that, I worked for MCI WorldCom, and eventually I saw the writing on the
wall with the Bernie Evers' [CEO of MCI WorldCom] scandal. Meanwhile, my
brothers had started this company where they were doing some construction
projects and asked me to join them. "
How did that work out? Was it easy or hard to find your role in the
company?
"In order to join them, I went and got my Missouri real estate license, and
then I got my Missouri broker's license, so I'm a broker now, which is
helpful because there's so much involved in what we do, and we each have a
little piece of the puzzle. My strength is in sales as well as doing
advertising and marketing and trying to put the deals together, where my
brothers have more experience in the actual construction itself, working
with the subcontractors and doing the scheduling and that sort of thing. "
So as a relative newcomer to the field of real estate were there any major
surprises?
"Not really because we were smart and had the business well-thought out. We
started off by forging partnerships. So, of course, you don't have all the
financial risk, but you do have people with considerable experience. One of
those people is Larry Chapman. Larry used to be with TriStar Business
Communities, and now he's with ClayCo. We were 50-50 partners with Larry out
at WingHaven [a community development in O'Fallon] where we did an office
park in which Hannegan was the construction site, and Larry handled the
leasing side of it, and from that we learned and grew and got some other
jobs. "
One for all and all for one, right?
"Exactly. And the other job we partnered up on was H&S Corporate Park on New
Town Boulevard, and that's a partnership with the Scheidiggers, the
corporate group, and we got ourselves going on the commercial side,. And
instead of doing big office buildings, our focus was on the small end user
commercial side and that was a good niche for us, to cater to the small end
user, and that's what we did to get ourselves going. And then we decided we
wanted to try the new homes construction, and so we went out to Troy;
hopefully, we will get some of the spillover from Wentzville. We think
people are moving west. "
Moving west? Do you think that St. Charles County is getting filled up?
"Well, there are areas where land is not available, and if it is available,
it's very pricey. So there're opportunities for people that need affordable
housing if they're willing to go out towards Wentzville and beyond. "
What do you think about New Town, the idea of creating a small town near a
floodplain. There's going to be something like 5,200 homes there.
"I think it's absolutely great, a city within a city! In fact, we have
bought property there, a work-live unit, which is two apartments and then
office space or retail space at the bottom. We have purchased that as an
investment property, and right now it's under construction, and if we didn't
believe in it, we would not have purchased it. New Town is not going to be
for everybody, but it's definitely a great concept, being able to know your
neighbors and walk to the store and to restaurants. Also, I think they took
into account the floodplain issues. They had a small army of engineers
working on the project to make sure it was livable, and it's certainly
something I'm not worried about. Some people will become worried by the hype
involving the floodplains, and I think that's what it is, a lot of hype. I'm
confident that it is a safe area to build in or I would not be investing
money in it. "
We've heard on the news several times in the last week that the housing
starts have declined for the country. One report even said, "the bubble had
burst. " Your opinion?
"I think people have to be really careful when they hear things from the
media because they tend to paint with a broad brush. When they're saying
things like this, they're not talking specifically about St. Charles.
They're talking about differing regions of the country - East Coast, West
Coast, New England - and combining all the stats, so you've just got to be
careful about what you're taking in and digest it right. Locally, I think
it's more of a buyer's market at this time. We're having a brisk business
with building homes out west. We also have our traditional real estate
operation representing buyers and sellers, and we haven't seen a slowdown or
any ripples in the way it's working right now. And one thing people need to
remember, interest rates: Even if they're up to 7 percent or so, it's far
better than 10 to 15 years ago when they were 18 percent. So the rates are
still competitive to present-day home buyers. "
What would your typical day be like?
"Every day I come into the office and see what's going on. Like I said, I
spend much of my time looking for deals, looking for land. I do the
marketing, the advertising, the administrative stuff. I supervise the real
estate agents. I try to be a spokesperson for our company. "
How do you look for land?
"Due diligence. After you've established yourself, one of the nice things
that happens is people come to you with deals. We look at anything that
comes across our table, some we take, and some we pass on. And then there's
something just as simple as getting in the car and driving around and
looking. "
I was going to ask if you ever just get in the car start scouting around at
random.
"Sure, that's how we got the H&S ground on New Town Boulevard. We drove by
that, liked what we saw, went and did the negotiations. "
It must be nice: You see it, you want it, you buy it.
"Well, you have to have the staying power, let's put it that way. With a lot
of the construction projects, the payoffs aren't until the end of the
project. So you definitely have to have the staying power, and as I said,
we've been lucky to be able to work with some great partners, and because of
that, things are going very well. "
Do you carry a briefcase?
"I don't. I'm a person that doesn't even wear a watch. I have a built-in
clock. "
Do you have a mentor, someone who helped you along the way?
"There are actually three: One is Donza Martin, and she was my manager at
MCI Worldcom. The other two are Larry Chapman of ClayCo and Jerry
Scheidigger of Corporate Group. "
What do you consider your predominant personality trait?
"Outgoing, entrepreneurial, a risk-taker. Family-oriented, too. My family
and friends are very important to me, and that also speaks to loyalty. I'm
very loyal when I get into deals with people. I mean what I say, and I
expect them to mean what they say. I'm not going to shortchange a business
partner. "
What do you do when you're not working real estate deals?
"I get involved with community events. I like to work with not-for-profits,
mostly doing the marketing and the advertising. One recent event I did was
held at the Katy Depot on the St. Charles riverfront. Deb Smith, who heads
the Dove Foundation, and I put together a charitable dinner for Barnes-St.
Peters Hospital and Saints Joachim and Ann Care Center. It was a real
challenge because we put it together in three weeks-time. It was one of the
first times the city let the Depot be used for a gala event like that, and
because the Depot doesn't have a kitchen, it's not a banquet facility, we
had to do a lot of talking to Main Street restaurants, who came through for
us. It was a huge success, and it made a lot of money for the Dove
Foundation, which in turn helps the community. "
Do you read for erudition or for pleasure?
"Most of what I read is business-related, but I do enjoy reading. The most
recent book I've read is about 'guerilla warfare' sales-marketing
techniques. I'm always trying to find ways to try to motivate our agents who
are out on our new home sites. "
You're a fan of the theater. What was the last great production you saw?
"I'd have to say 'Chicago' at the Fox Theater. I have season tickets to the
Fox. I go to The Muny, too, in the summer.
And you are, shall we say, well-traveled?
I love to travel! Spin the globe, anywhere the finger points to, my bags are
packed, I'm ready to go. I like to experience different things, different
food, different cultures. I've been to Europe, been to Jamaica, been to
Hawaii. My favorite place is London. I'm thinking about going to Australia
in July. "
What goals do you still hope to accomplish, personal or professional?
"One of my goals is to hire more real estate agents and grow the company.
And I am looking into other business opportunities, which are not even
connected to the real estate business, a possible restaurant venture. "
Three years in the real estate field, you've gotten your feet wet. Is there
some lesson you've learned that you'd like to pass on?
"Work hard and play hard. That was the advice that people had given me when
I first started out, and it still rings true."
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Equal Housing Opportunity