Esteemed developer Tom Cousins, who was born and raised in Georgia, passed away late last month at age 93. Over the course of his extraordinary life, he became not only one of the most influential real estate and urban development visionaries of our time but also a philanthropist who vowed to create lasting change—and fulfilled that promise.
In 1995, Cousins was honored as the first recipient of ULI Atlanta’s Industry Impact Award (then called the Frank Carter Award), which recognizes individuals whose contributions have profoundly shaped metropolitan Atlanta. In 2009, Cousins, alongside Warren Buffett and hedge fund manager Julian Robertson, founded Purpose Built Communities to revitalize neighborhoods nationwide.
Cousins served as chairman of his namesake firm, Cousins Properties, which he founded in 1958. His vision helped define Atlanta’s skyline, with landmark developments such as the 50-story 191 Peachtree Tower downtown and the Bank of America Plaza in midtown. He was also behind the creation of CNN Center (now The Center) and the Omni Coliseum. Known for his uncompromising commitment to quality, Cousins enlisted some of the world’s most celebrated architects—including Philip Johnson, Kevin Roche, and I.M. Pei—to bring his projects to life.
“Our industry and city have lost a giant,” said David Allman, owner and chairman of Regent Partners and a past chair of ULI Atlanta’s Advisory Board who serves on its Governance Committee and the Livable Communities Council. “Beyond his many contributions to shaping Atlanta’s skyline, his civic legacy shines even brighter. His innovative efforts and model to transform the East Lake community of Atlanta propelled his vision to transform families and communities across the country. He epitomized what outsized impact real estate developers can have when they leverage their platform of affluence and influence. He and his work have profoundly informed and inspired my journey.”
Cousins’ legacy extends far beyond the buildings he built. His work touched lives and transformed communities. His firm, Cousins Properties, has been a longtime supporter of ULI Atlanta. That culture of civic leadership he instilled has shaped how its people engage with ULI and the broader community. Although he made his mark in real estate, it was his passion for sports, particularly golf, that became one of the most enduring hallmarks of his life’s work.
A devoted sports enthusiast, Cousins—alongside Governor Carl Sanders—was instrumental in the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks’ coming to the city in 1968. He also introduced professional hockey to Atlanta with the arrival of the Flames in 1972.
Golf became the centerpiece of his community impact, though. In the early 1990s, Cousins grew increasingly concerned about the cycle of poverty and committed himself to finding solutions to it. In 1993, he purchased East Lake Golf Club, a course where, as a boy, he had watched his hero Bobby Jones play. Once a prestigious venue, the club, located just five miles east of downtown Atlanta, had fallen into disrepair. Cousins transformed the course by securing support from corporate donors and dedicating a portion of membership fees to launch the East Lake Foundation, which focused on the adjacent East Lake Meadows public housing community. Partnering with the Housing Authority of the City of Atlanta, the foundation replaced East Lake Meadows with the $100 million Villages of East Lake, a mixed-income community that includes a YMCA, Atlanta’s first charter elementary school, a preschool, and green space for recreation.
“Tom Cousins’ impact is evident throughout Atlanta, and he wasn’t afraid to take big swings to try and solve problems that others believed intractable,” said Carol Naughton, CEO of Purpose Built Communities and a ULI Global Governing Trustee. “Tom and his family maintained a 30-year commitment to the East Lake neighborhood, working with civic, business, and public-sector leaders to strengthen the neighborhood so that everyone [there] had a real chance at the American dream. As a real estate developer, he understood intuitively the connection between place and opportunity. As people—especially children—started to thrive in East Lake, the approach became a model for other communities in Atlanta and [ones] across the country. Today, Purpose Built Communities supports dozens of these comprehensive neighborhood transformation initiatives.”
Now, East Lake Golf Club consistently earns rankings among the nation’s top courses and hosts premier PGA Tour events. Cousins’ efforts won him the United States Golf Association’s Bob Jones Award in 2001, induction into the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 2018, and the Urban Land Institute’s Award for Excellence in 2001.
Naughton recalled how much the entire community’s success story meant to Cousins. “Tom loved seeing the young golfers’ progress, and his proudest moment might have been in 2019, when the Drew Boys Varsity Golf Team won the state championship, the first time an Atlanta public school had ever won a state championship in golf, and, I believe, the first time anywhere in the country [that] an all-Black team won a state championship in golf.”
Cousins was a proponent of mentoring, and much of his legacy will be defined by the lives he affected through his actions. “He taught me so [much that has] stayed with me from the moment he said it to me or, even more amazing, from the moment I watched him do it,” recalled Joel Murphy, CEO of Murphy Capital & Advisory Group, who served as president of Cousins Properties’ retail division from 1992 to 2008. “I’ll never forget when he laid out his East Lake vision to a group of us back in 1993. It was breathtaking. I’ll also never forget when he looked down the table at me and said, “Now, Joel, go get me a Publix. The people at East Lake need and deserve one.” When Tom said something like that to you, there was only one response: ‘Yes, sir, I’m on it!’ He treated everyone with respect and built meaningful relationships over a lifetime because he focused on the other person’s success, not his own. He was a gift to everyone he ever encountered.”
“Tom Cousins represented, to me, the epitome of what I expected a successful real estate developer to be,” said Bob Voyles, principal and founder of Seven Oaks Company, past ULI District Chair for Atlanta, and a member of the Governance Committee and the Livable Communities Council. “An intense competitor, Tom and his teams were always gracious, even as they would deftly snag a tenant prospect we both were pursuing. More importantly, however, Tom’s personification of ‘the Atlanta way’ provided a role model for all of us who competed with him and later followed him in our careers. Giving back to the community that has provided you a livelihood sounds quaint to some people today, but it’s shaped the core of who he was. And it was a very powerful witness. It is no accident that Tom’s commitment came from a deep Christian faith, lived out in shoe leather and his commitment of time and resources. Atlanta and our industry are much the better for his time here.”
“Tom Cousins was an extraordinary person,” said Colin Connolly, president and CEO of Cousins Properties. “His leadership helped shape not only the Atlanta skyline, but also the broader residential and commercial real estate landscape across the Sun Belt. Tom’s impact extended far beyond the buildings he developed. He believed deeply in giving back and in the power of business to serve communities. His transformation of Atlanta’s East Lake neighborhood is a powerful example of this belief. With Tom, it was not just what he did that was special, it was also how he did it. His legacy lives on in the culture of Cousins Properties today and we will miss him dearly.”
