Commercial real estate veteran helped assemble land for noteworthy
uptown and UCity projects

Louis Rose Jr., chairman and chief executive of NAI Southern Real Estate and a fixture in
Charlotte’s commercial real estate scene, died Sunday night on March 14, 2010. He was 80.
Rose ran the city’s oldest continuously operating real estate company since becoming
president in 1971, when he took over from his father, Louis Rose. The younger Rose joined
the company in 1963.

During his career, Rose Jr. helped assemble tracts of land for projects across the city,
including the home of Central Piedmont Community College in Elizabeth and a two-block span
that would include Bank of America Corporate Center and the Blumenthal Center for
Performing Arts in uptown. He also was active in projects involving University Research Park
and helped assemble the land for the Gateway Center on West Trade Street, the
Transamerica Building on North Tryon Street and the land that now is the Raintree
development on Highway 51.

Those who knew him described Rose as a loyal friend, dedicated family member and
committed church member. Childhood friend and former Carolinas Panthers general counsel
Dick Thigpen said Rose was successful in business in part because he was straightforward
and could relate well to people. Rose arrived at the office by 7 every morning so he could be
the first to retrieve the mail, Thigpen said.
“Anybody that dealt with him knew exactly what was going on, what he was thinking, what he
was representing,” Thigpen said. “He never tried to mislead anybody. Regardless of the
situation, he respected people on the other side of the table and they respected him.”
Rose, who died of congestive heart failure, was still going to the office early enough to be the
first to get the mail up until about a month ago, friends told the Observer.

Rose eagerly paid attention to what was happening in the community, said longtime friend
Alan Dickson, a founder and retired chairman of Ruddick Corp.
“He’s always been very good at gathering information,” Dickson said. “He could follow the
rumor trail better than anybody. And more often than not, his readings were quite good.”

An avid golfer, Rose liked to tease his friends and play jokes on them, said Dr. Claude
Hollingsworth, who lived next door to the Rose family in Eastover for 40 years.
On the golf course, Rose would secretly untie his fellow golfers’ golf bags, which would fall off
their golf cart as they drove away, Hollingsworth said. “He had lots of fun over the years.”
A Duke University graduate, Rose served in the U.S. Air Force and worked at Allison-Erwin
Co. before joining his father at Southern Real Estate.

He was a board member of Charlotte City Club, Quail Hollow Club and Charlotte Country Club
and a deacon and elder at Myers Park Presbyterian Church. He is survived by family members
including his wife, Jocelyn Ragan Rose, two sons Louis Rose III and Caldwell Rose, and
daughter Jocelyn Sikes Rose, and six grandchildren.

By Kerry Singe
Charlotte Observer

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