By Jessica Luther
Stewart Beal comes by his entrepreneurial drive honestly, with a family history of success in the business world. His grandfather bought and renamed JC Beal Construction Inc. in 1962; his father then took over in 1987 and the business grew from around $1 million annually in sales to $25 million.
Stewart started following these footsteps at a young age, starting his own lawn care business at the age of 13. He went door-to-door with flyers for the business, then would hire a crew to do the landscaping, lawn mowing, fall cleanup and snow removal. By the time he sold it to his business partner at the age of 19, the company had 15 employees and did $1 million in sales each year.
During summers, he also worked as a demolition laborer at his father’s business, and fell in love with construction and demolition work. After graduating from Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor, Stewart went on to the University of Colorado for a year before returning to Michigan. After running his own business and working at his father’s company doing demolition on University of Michigan construction projects, Colorado didn’t fuel his entrepreneurial spirit.
“In Colorado, I wasn’t running a business for the first time in many years,” Stewart explained. “I got sick of it, so I came back.”
He finished up his bachelor’s in business at Eastern Michigan University, and noticed a market for real estate in Ypsilanti while living there. During his senior year, he began bidding on demolition projects in the area. Eventually, after graduating in December of 2006, Stewart formed the trio of companies for which he is now president. Beal Properties, LLC is a focused on rentals and apartments in Ypsilanti and Toledo; Beal Inc. is a demolition contracting company; and Beal Facility Maintenance is a maintenance company that will work with property owners throughout southern Michigan and northern Ohio.
The demotion business employs 80 people and does selective demolition, involving gutting existing buildings, and structural demolition, which removes the entire building, as well as asbestos abatement and waste removal using the dumpster operation. Beal Properties, LLC owns 32 multi-resident properties in Ypsilanti that is mostly student housing, and a 58-unit apartment complex in Toledo that they are currently renovating. Overall, they own 210 apartments in both cities. At 26 years old, Stewart employs 110 people and owns 35 buildings throughout Michigan and Ohio.
Beal Facility Maintenance is the next step, combining Stewart’s construction and real estate experience to aid business owners. For those who don’t want a live-in management company for their properties, Stewart will provide janitorial services, lawn care, snow removal, construction, emergency response and lockout services. He said they plan to start small, with property owners with one building, such as a dentist’s office or a restaurant, although they are able to work with larger properties, such as the million square foot factory in Dexter, Michigan, they currently help maintain.
Stewart described the way Beal Facility Maintenance would work as individualized the each client. A menu of options would be presented to each property owner, with choices and costs for all the services, including security. The client would choose which services were required, and Beal’s business development manager would draft a proposal that could be negotiated, followed by a two-year contract. As Stewart described, the goal would be to service the buildings before anything goes wrong, including keeping them up to code for inspections from agencies like the health department.
Stewart hopes to make the business available on a “Midwest scale,” as he put it. With offices in Ann Arbor, Detroit, Toledo, Ypsilanti and one coming to Grand Rapids, the company has northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan covered for now. Stewart’s business sense has paid off, with no little thanks to his family’s example.
“My father encouraged hard work,” Stewart described. “I saw from him that it paid off in the long run.”
Beal Properties LLC and Beal Facilities Maintenance
Stewart Beal
221 Felch St. Suite 7
Ann Arbor, MI 48226 or 425 W. Bancroft Toledo, OH 43620
Phone: 734.662.6133, ext. 111
Email: sbeal@gobeal.com
Website: www.gobeal.com