Erik Mensah

The Collier Companies

Our story began on December 27, 1972, when our Founder and Chairman, Nathan S. Collier, purchased a modest single duplex in Gainesville, Florida. He then continued to steadily expand his real estate portfolio, acquiring three or four properties each year, championing the entrepreneurial energy that is integral to our company's success. By January of 1980, Collier had earned a strong reputation along with the trust of local investors and lenders. His portfolio grew to 25 homes in College Park, a neighborhood just north of The University of Florida. Since our humble beginnings, our company's intuition and ambition have allowed us to reach many more landmark achievements. Now known as The Collier Companies, our organization adopted the principles of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People as the cornerstone of our company's culture. These tenets became deeply woven into our corporate culture, inspiring us to rebrand our properties in College Park with the name ‘Paradigm Properties'. This would serve us as a poignant, lasting reminder to view the world with a strong sense of awareness and insight. Today, The Collier Companies stands as the largest provider of student housing owned by a private individual in the nation. Our portfolio comprises over 12,000 apartment homes in the Southeast region of the United States, continuing to grow and expand. We've set our sights on success with an aggressive initiative to double our number of apartment homes over the next decade. We credit our legacy to our deep-rooted company culture and a dedicated team of people who are unified by their entrepreneurial spirit and love of learning.