Our Team
Cathy Sloss Jones
President and CEO
Catherine Sloss Jones is President and CEO of Sloss Real Estate Company, Inc., an urban redevelopment firm founded by her grandfather in 1920.
She is the driving force behind Pepper Place, a vibrant mixed-use design district, home to a nationally recognized farmers market with 10,000 weekly visitors, which was started by Jones in 2000. Sloss also developed Park Place, which transformed blighted public housing into Birmingham’s first HOPE VI project. She also built One Federal Place, a prominent office building and renovated the historic Young and Vann Building – along with numerous other historic structures throughout the city center.
Jones serves on multiple boards, including the Lakeshore Foundation, the Birmingham Museum of Art and Sloss Furnaces. She chairs the Lakeview Business Association and the Alabama Chapter of the Urban Land Institute (ULI). She also serves on the National Steering Committee for Locus, Smart Growth America’s Coalition of Real Estate Developers and Investors. She attended Harvard University as a Loeb Fellow in 2007 and was a visiting scholar at Harvard’s graduate school of design in 2008.
Businesswoman of the Year (BBJ), Women Who Make A Difference, (Birmingham News), Executives of Influence (BBJ). And last year she was chosen to be a member of the Alabama Academy of Honor
Cathy Sloss
President and CEO
Catherine Sloss Jones is President and CEO of Sloss Real Estate Company, Inc., an urban redevelopment firm founded by her grandfather in 1920. Noteworthy achievements include Pepper Place, a vibrant mixed-use design district in Lakeview, home to a nationally recognized farmers market with 10,000 weekly visitors, started by Jones in 2000. Her company also developed Park Place, transforming blighted public housing into Birmingham’s first HOPE VI project, now a jewel in the downtown. She built One Federal Place, a prominent office building and pocket park and renovated the historic Young and Vann Building along with numerous other historic structures throughout the city center.
Jones serves on boards, including the Lakeshore Foundation, the Birmingham Museum of Art and Sloss Furnaces. She chairs the Lakeview Business Association and the Alabama Chapter of the Urban Land Institute (ULI). She also serves on the National Steering Committee for Locus, Smart Growth America’s Coalition of Real Estate Developers and Investors. She attended Harvard University as a Loeb Fellow in 2007 and was a visiting scholar at Harvard’s graduate school of design in 2008.
Honors include: Businesswoman of the Year (BBJ), Women Who Make A Difference, (Birmingham News), Executives of Influence (BBJ). And last year she was chosen to be a member of the Alabama Academy of Honor.
Lisa Beasley
Market at Pepper Place – Manager
Oversees the registration, scheduling, and layout of the weekly Market; performs farm visits to market vendors, attends agricultural and farming conferences, schedules Saturday morning chef demonstrations and musicians, organizes volunteers, and ensures the market runs smoothly every Saturday, rain or shine.
Lisa lived many lives before she became the Pepper Place Market Manager. Before she came to Sloss Real Estate, she was a radio producer, a broadcast news producer, a mom, a Community Events Director for WBRC TV, and the State Marketing Director for the American Cancer Society. But after all that Lisa says: “My job as Manager at the Market at Pepper Place has been the most personally satisfying job I’ve ever had. As much as I loved producing for broadcast television, I have enjoyed getting to know our state’s farmers and learning about farmers markets and our food.” It’s really a labor of love for Lisa to show others what she’s known for so long. “It makes me happy to see others discover the beauty and creativity that thrives in our city.”
Bachelor’s in English Literature, Sociology, and Secondary Education– University of Alabama at Birmingham
Vicki Bolton
Controller
Responsible for the company’s financial statements, general ledger, cost accounting, payroll, accounts payable, accounts receivable, budgeting, and tax compliance.
Sloss Real Estate is dedicated to maintaining as much of Birmingham’s history as possible while also moving its developments efficiently and creatively into the future. That’s part of why Vicki fits so well here. Whether she’s at the office or pursing her hobby as a judge for the Antique Automobile Club of America, Vicki sees the value in preserving and improving upon what came before. “I think it’s important to try and improve the world around you,” says Vicki. With over 30 years of real estate experience, Vicki is just the right person to steer us into the future.
Bachelor of Science and MBA — University of Alabama at Birmingham
Lochrane Smith
Director of Leasing and Business Development
As a Classics major in college, Lochrane studied abroad in Rome and spent hours inspecting maps to try and understand how cities connect to best serve their populations. Lochrane’s vision for commercial real estate in Birmingham goes way beyond buildings, developments and office space. “I not only want Birmingham to be a place where the residents are proud of the community, but I also want Birmingham to attract the brightest scientists, most innovative entrepreneurs and most successful business leaders to the city.” A dedicated volunteer with medical research and education nonprofits in the city, Lochrane is doing all she can to make her personal mission a reality.
Bachelor’s/Master’s of Arts, History, Classical Civilization – University of Richmond
Callan Childs
Director of Design & Development
Callan provides big-picture concept and design efforts and detail-oriented budgeting and implementation management, representing Sloss Real Estate to the City of Birmingham’s planning, zoning, engineering and economic development departments. She manages the pre-development and development for the company’s projects, paying particular attention to project concepting, design, budgets, schedule and construction.
After spending her entire career in architecture, planning, and interior design, Callan came to Sloss Real Estate because, as she puts it, “Sloss has a history of vision for redevelopment, a present vision for sustainability and growth, and a future vision of innovation both citywide and in our neighborhoods that embraces working with Birmingham through public/private partnerships.” Having lived on the West Coast and in the Rocky Mountains before returning to her home of Birmingham, Callan saw a lot of progress in medium-sized cities, and she thinks Birmingham has that same potential. “I want to help that happen,” she says.
Bachelors of Architecture – Washington University in St. Louis
Masters in Architecture – Southern California Institute of Architecture
Registered Architect in Alabama and Colorado
NCARBCity of Homewood Historic Preservation Commission
Creative Montessori School Board of Directors/Strategic Planning Committee
Greater Birmingham Tourism Tomorrow Master Plan Implementation Committee
PARCA Roundtable
YWCA Junior Board
Michelle Cole
Vice President
Oversees and coordinates Sloss Real Estate Company’s portfolio from a financial, operational and capital prospective and emphasizes adding value to the properties individually, and as a whole.
Give her a spreadsheet and a little bit of time, and she’ll find a way to make a deal work that is beneficial for everybody. Michelle’s approach to real estate transactions is a little more altruistic than most commercial real estate asset managers, and that’s why we love her. “Sloss Real Estate presents an opportunity for small, niche type businesses to have a space for their trade. And it’s an opportunity for me to get to shape Birmingham, even in just a small part, to reach its full potential.” And that generous spirit goes beyond her work at Sloss. If she weren’t in real estate, “I would probably just rescue all the dogs that I could.”
Bachelor’s in Accounting – University of Alabama
Quinton Craig
Maintenance Engineer
Maintenance Engineer/Onsite Pepper Place Farmer’s Market Operations Manager. Maintains all building maintenance issues at Pepper Place and manages operations of the seasonal Farmer’s Market
We couldn’t do it without Quinton. Because Pepper Place is such a big part of Sloss Real Estate’s holdings, and because it stands as an emblem of our dedication to Birmingham, we need Quinton — our dedicated man on the ground for 17 years — to ensure everything is always running smoothly on 3rdAvenue. Birmingham has been Quinton’s lifelong homeand working with Sloss and the Pepper Place Farmer’s Market has given him the opportunity to help grow and change the city that means so much to him.
Graduate of Tarrant High School
Ashley Walker Fuller
SENIOR FINANCIAL ANALYST
Manages and interprets the financial side of Sloss Real Estate Company.
Ashley has seen a lot of growth since she moved to Birmingham in 2011. “It’s so exciting to live in a place where you can watch revitalization take place. Decades from now people are going to look back and remember this as a time when Birmingham got its flare back. I’m proud to be part of that.” As the Asset Management Analyst at Sloss Real Estate, Ashley’s knowledge and skills in commercial real estate are growing every day, as is her enthusiasm for Alabama football. “Roll tide!”
Bachelor’s in Finance – University of Alabama
ULI Alabama Management Committee Member
Bekah Hayes
Accounting Clerk
Keeps financial records updated, prepares reports and reconciles bank statements.
Bekah might be an accountant by trade, but she has a servant’s heart. After studying Christian Counseling at Jacksonville Theological Seminary, she combined her talents with her financial skill set to help over 500 third-world children find sponsors. Now, as a member of the Sloss Real Estate team, she hopes to help build a better Birmingham. “I believed we are all called not to live life for ourselves but to give our time, talent, and treasure. Sloss is an opportunity to use my gifts to help the company and the city in turn.”
Christian Counseling – Jacksonville Theological Seminary
Certified Professional Financial Life Coach – American Association of Christian Counsellors
Michele Shields
Executive Assistant to Cathy Sloss Jones
Responsible for the care, anticipation, planning, and (at times) prodding to keep Sloss Real Estate running day-to-day.
Michele has spent most of her career in entertainment–concerts, television, promotions, and ticketing–most recently at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex and CBS Television in New York City. A native of England, she came to the States in the 1990s, and ended up in Birmingham by happenstance. She loves her adopted city and being a part of the Sloss team as it allows her surround herself with, “people who are not afraid to step outside the lines and are each visionary in their own area.”
One of Michele’s greatest work achievements came when she was working at the BJCC in 2015 on ticketing and stage placement for three back-to-back Garth Brooks shows and had to reconcile a $6,000,000 budget–which she did to the penny. When not at SRE, she travels, walks, hikes, and visit with friends. Michele is an avid reader, gardener, and astrologist who also likes to write and run her non-profit, Feel to Heal.
Leigh Sloss-Corra
Executive Director, The Market at Pepper Place
Oversees Market operations, fundraising, marketing, Friends of the Market membership program, and relationship-building with Alabama farmers, vendors, shoppers and corporate and community partners.
Birmingham is in Leigh’s DNA. Her family built historic Sloss Furnaces around which the city of Birmingham sprung up. Her family founded the real estate company that bears her name. After growing up in Birmingham, Leigh tried to get away, but the pull of the Magic City prevailed. After living and working for twenty years in New England, Leigh came back to Birmingham as a head of the Time Lifestyle Video Group. Eventually, or inevitably, she came on to lead the Market at Pepper Place. “Three years later,” she says, “I can’t imagine doing anything else.”
Bachelor of Arts – Brown University
Master of Arts – Columbia University
MAINTENANCE ENGINEER
Maintain and manage Sloss’ primary assets–its real estate.
Michael views his job as a way to meet new people and takes pride in meeting the challenges of keeping Sloss Real Estate’s properties in top shape. He is driven by his desire to see a cleaner environment not just at the properties he maintains and views his job as an opportunity to do his part in that. Michael has been in property maintenance and management for 36 years for a number of different companies and is very proud of serving others and his community everyday. Homelessness is something that concerns him a great deal and hopes the city of Birmingham continues to work toward solutions.
When not on and around our properties, he enjoys exploring new places, reading, and ballroom dancing. But you better watch out if you’re doing something wrong at one of our properties, if not working here, Michael would be a police officer.
Kristy Ward
DIRECTOR OF PROPERTY MANAGEMENT
Responsible for managing Sloss Real Estate properties day-to-day.
Kris absolutely loves Birmingham. She grew up here and is raising her family here. She sees her job at Sloss Real Estate as a way to give back and help build the city she loves. Prior to SRE, Kris was Director of Operations at Alabama Outdoors where she oversaw all of the chain’s retail locations and was a member of the executive leadership team. Her knowledge of retail store operations and marketing makes her an integral part of the Sloss team as it works to expand the retail options in downtown Birmingham.
When she’s not making sure our properties are in tip-top shape, Kris enjoys travel to experience new cities and cultures, spending time with family and friends–especially outdoors, and exploring new retail concepts in the one city in which she’d like to live if not Birmingham–Charleston, South Carolina.
College of Charleston, UAB, Altamont School