Ask a younger Jerome Karam about his career plans; he intended to be a lawyer. He went to law school, graduated with honors, and started his practice. He was doing precisely what he mapped out when he started the journey, owning a private personal injury practice.
However, the desire to work as a lawyer wasn’t quite as strong as getting into real estate development and repurposing. After starting by dabbling a little bit here and there, he took the plunge and launched JMK5 Holdings.
Now referred to as a real estate tycoon in the greater Houston area and Louisiana, Jerome‘s new career path has him happier than ever.
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Life As A Lawyer
When Jerome Karam headed off to Louisiana State University, he always had plans to attend law school. After graduating from LSU, he obtained his Juris Doctor Degree from Texas Southern University in 1990.
Shortly after getting out of college, Jerome had the opportunity to open up his own private personal injury practice. With very humble beginnings as a young and hungry lawyer, he grew the practice to representing thousands of clients over the next decade.
Real estate was always in the back of his mind, but he viewed it more as a hobby than anything else. While he had a very humble real estate portfolio early on, he started seeing more and more growth opportunities.
Eventually, the opportunity and interest in real estate redevelopment became too much for him to ignore. Instead of trying to juggle both careers, he took the plunge and jumped into real estate development full-time.
Launching JMK5 Holdings
Jerome Karam founded JMK5 Holdings to purchase and re-develop real estate. Very early on, Jerome decided that he wanted to focus on redevelopment instead of other types of real estate.
He felt that with his knowledge and a strong team behind him, it would be straightforward to create brand-new opportunities in an existing location.
It didn’t take long for JMK5 Holdings to develop a thriving reputation with sizeable big-box properties that fell on hard times. Instead of looking for a new tenant to replace the entire building, Jerome and his team turned them into multi-use commercial sites.
Each year, the company adds new and exciting properties to the mix. It’s not only about commercial real estate, as residential options are becoming more prevalent.
Completed Projects
JMK5 Holdings has numerous completed projects that are serving areas of Houston right now. Some have completely transformed the area and inspired other developers to turn a fledgling section of town into something much bigger.
Mainland City Centre used to be called the Mall of Mainland before Jerome Karam purchased it in 2015. Jerome Karam saw the opportunity to make changes and made upgrades and improvements before re-opening Mainland City Centre.
It has something for everyone and is a perfect fit for the city. The mall hosts events that bring in the entire community frequently, as it has a prime location that’s easy to reach.
Falstaff Brewery is a historic building that once employed many people in Galveston, Texas. However, the building sat vacant for years after the brewing company closed and moved away from the city.
Jerome found a way to turn the existing building into a hotel, storage facility, and event center. It’s received outstanding reviews since re-opening, and many are surprised with how easy it was to keep the aesthetic relatively the same.
An Eye on Future Real Estate Development
Jerome Karam has been more comfortable moving away from the Greater Houston Area. First, he went back to Louisiana and started making investments in intriguing properties. Now, he’s looking at other states and seeing what’s out there for his team.
With redevelopment being the focus, it is essential to take time to find suitable properties to purchase. Jerome doesn’t want to be a developer who makes a purchase and instantly levels an existing building.
He would instead take his time and find something that can be salvageable so that locals don’t feel like he is coming in and trying to change everything.
In many ways, Jerome’s always focused on keeping this a trustworthy family business. Not only does his wife Leslie help out, but so do all five children. The entire family working on a day-to-day basis with operations keeps them close-knit.
The Jerome Karam Difference
Since the very beginning, Jerome Karam‘s particular focus will prevent him from ever becoming too big and not caring about the overall quality of properties. There need to be several different features with any property for it to stand out and be a sound investment.
Jerome hopes to continue to have different viewpoints in the future as he considers the redeveloping of properties. Most communities don’t want to see a building that stood for decades ripped apart. It becomes even more challenging when a building that doesn’t fit goes up.
Jerome might not be working as an active lawyer, but his hard work and dedication to get through law school show that he’s always been willing to go the extra mile.
Not many people have a chance to say that they are making money with a true passion of theirs. Having a chance to impact the community also helps out significantly.
Anyone looking to keep up with completed and in-progress projects can visit the JMK5 Holdings website. Jerome Karam is constantly posting pictures and updates, so people know where the building progress stands.