`Hudson Holding is led by 30-something developers with old fashioned ideas`

Hudson's holdings
Current real estate properties of Hudson Holding Co.:

Mercer County Assistance Office _ 22,000 square feet, Hermitage.
Hermitage Labor and Industry _ 2,700 square feet, Hermitage.
Hazleton State Police Hangar _ 4,400 square feet, Hazleton.
First Western Bank office _ 3,300 square feet, Hermitage.
Sharon Regional HealthPlace _ 8,775 square feet, Farrell.
Everett and Hurite Ophthalmologists office _ 2,452 square feet, Hermitage.
Social Security Administration office _ 5,200 square feet, Hermitage.
Dr. David Wood office _ 2,500 square feet, Hermitage.
Peppertree Village Condominiums _ five residential units in place with 12 additional units coming next spring.
The Carbarn Shops (an office complex) _ 45,000 square feet, Sewickley.
Erie Probation and Parole Office _ 8,200 square feet, Erie.
A.G. Edwards Investments office _ 4,000 square feet, Hermitage.
Dr. Rebecca Hanigosky office _ 3,421 square feet, Hermitage.
Merrill Lynch Investments office _ 1,200 square feet, Hermitage.
Dr. Salcedo office _ 2,085 square feet, Hermitage.
Dr. Michael Messina _ 2,400 square feet, Hermitage.

The company recently signed a deal to buy an 11,000- square- foot medical office building in st. Augustine, Fla. and has an offer to buy a 20,000- square -foot office in Raleigh, N.C.

By Michael Roknick
Herald Business Editor

Most contractors want to get an early start on construction projects.

John Hudson got an early start on contracting.

Barely a teen-ager in the early 1970s, his father drove him and his brother to the boondocks to wire a home. Their father let them work alone.

``We had to learn something,'' Hudson said. ``We couldn't go anywhere.''

By the time he was 18, the Hudsons had worked their way up to remodeling rooms.

``When we got our first buzz-saw, we thought we were really something,'' Hudson recalled.

From those early struggling days, Hudson _ with help from family members and friends _ has built Hudson Holding Co. Headquartered in Sharon, the development company leases 16 offices in Pennsylvania, 13 locally, and just signed a deal to buy an office in St. Augustine, Fla.

Earlier this year, the Hudson family reshuffled ownership of its businesses.

Mark Hudson, John's brother, bought Hudson Construction Inc., a general contracting company, from John and their sister Susan and their friend Mark Voytik.

John, Susan and Voytik bought Mark out of Hudson Investment Properties, which was a developer of state-leased buildings, and Kerrwood Investment Group, which owns medical and professional condominium units in Hermitage.

Hudson Investment had owned 30 buildings that were leased to the state. Nine of those buildings were sold for $23 million to Girard Estates, a Philadelphia trust fund.

A large chunk of the proceeds from that sale was used by John, Susan and Voytik to buy Mark out of Hudson Investment and Kerrwood Investment. A portion of those funds will be used by the three partners for future real estate investments.

As part of the deal, 10 buildings owned by Hudson Investment were transferred to Mark Hudson. The remaining 11 properties are being held by Hudson Holding.

Hudson Group, a newly formed company, which is owned by the three partners, is a general contracting company. Hudson Group is forecasting $5 million in sales this year and will now be a competitor of Hudson Construction.

All of this buying, selling and forming new companies has resulted in the three partners becoming true developers. The 30-something trio have that Mod Squad youthful look but are all business when it comes to deals.

Through Hudson Holding, they are looking to build up their inventory of offices.

``Now we can bring investors into our projects,'' Mark Hudson said. ``We want to target high-volume areas with low-vacancy rates.''

Chapel Hill, N.C., which has an office vacancy rate of 1.7 percent, is getting scrutinized by the company. The go-go retail market is a no-no for the partnership _ too unstable. Instead, the company's focus will be old-fashioned long-term profits.

``We don't want to be in a position where we get a quick nickel and then a slow dime,'' Hudson said.

Kerrwood Investment will continue its path of being a home developer. The company continues to be the developer for Steeplechase, a housing development along Robertson Road in Hermitage and the nearby Golden Run development. A new phase of the development is now under way for Golden Run with bigger lots.

While Hudson Group stands at the ready to build homes, neither development demands that lot owners hire the company for construction.

``How many lots do you think I'd sell if that were the case?'' Hudson said. ``I don't want to tell people who to use.''

For now, the partners agree that architecture work for projects will be hired out.

``I'll tell you straight up I'm not an architect,'' John said. ``We'll stay in developing real estate and general construction.''

Future work for the organization will rely on reputation.

``Most of the work we're doing now is repeat business,'' he said. ``People who have used us in the past want to keep on using us, and I think that's a great strength.''

Although Hudson is the most vocal member of the group, he cringes at being tagged as the leader. The health conscious, herbal tea sipping Hermitage resident appears to be more at ease in his trade as he ages.

Always being the youngest kid on the block in a business dominated by gray hair had its squeamish moments.

``I would go to meetings and the people would say, `Is your dad coming?,' '' Hudson recalled.

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Updated Oct. 20, 1997
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