Former MLB infielder Gordon Beckham embraces new career in commercial real estate
One of the best baseball players in University of Georgia history is ready to help an Atlanta real estate firm secure more mixed-use projects surrounding sports stadiums as opportunities in that space expand. Gordon Beckham has joined Carter, a legacy company that received a significant investment from Texas-based Hunt Cos. last year. The former ballplayer, who last appeared in a Major League Baseball game in 2019, has spent the last five years raising equity and sourcing multifamily acquisition deals for Kenco Residential while also dabbling as an analyst for Chicago White Sox games.
Carter is known for building several sports-anchored projects, including the initial stages of a riverfront development called the Banks in Cincinnati, the revitalization of Summerhill in Atlanta and an ongoing project next to Wake Forest University's off-campus football stadium.
The company does not want to stop there — and it can now deploy Beckham to pitch professional teams and universities on the concept.
"We couldn't think of a better person, frankly, to come in and help tell the Carter story in the mixed-use sports adjacent space," Carter CEO Scott Taylor told Atlanta Business Chronicle.
Gordon Beckham's interest in commercial real estate extends to his personal holdings. The Atlanta native owns a portfolio of multifamily assets that includes hundreds of units in Atlanta and Phoenix, according to his bio page at Kenco Residential.
At Carter, Beckham will also collaborate with development principal John Mears and fellow new hire Haden Masterson to identify new ventures for Varcity, a senior housing platform that integrates retirement communities into college campuses.
Masterson is joining as development partner and will provide oversight for a multifamily project in El Paso while also pursuing market-rate multifamily projects across Texas — a strategic expansion after Hunt's purchase.
“The expansion in Texas represents a natural growth trajectory for Carter following Hunt Cos.’ majority investment in the firm in 2025," Carter COO and CFO Jerome Hagley said in a statement. "Leveraging Hunt’s deep presence in Texas, Carter is positioned to accelerate its delivery of high-impact residential and mixed-use projects through the Southwest."
Carter also announced the hiring of senior development associate Will Meshad, financial analyst Chris Pinto and development associate David Maxwell, to support its growing development pipeline.
Beckham, who grew up in Atlanta and graduated from The Westminster Schools, will work with university presidents, athletic directors and professional team owners, who all increasingly want entertainment districts to supplement ticket and television revenue.
The University of Tennessee is among the schools advancing such a project, planning a $280 million development with a 440,000-square-foot condo-hotel, an outdoor concert stage, restaurants and parking. Carter's Wake Forest project, meanwhile, totals nearly $300 million in investment thus far, Taylor said.
The Battery Atlanta, which surrounds the Atlanta Braves' Truist Park, contributed to the sports-anchored real estate boom in the mid-2010s. The project showed teams the value of owning real estate around their stadium, where they can woo office, retail and residential tenants.
"This part of our business is here to stay," Taylor said. "Every major university and professional sports team are looking at leveraging vacant land, unlocking value with their land holdings, energizing their fan base and getting closer to their donors. There's so many different reasons why professional sports teams and major universities want to utilize their existing assets. ... So we think the runway is very long in this space."
By Henry Queen – Staff Reporter, Atlanta Business Chronicle