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Published on: 4/1/2005    Last Visited: 4/1/2005

RALEIGH – James Thomas Webb, 43, has been breathing new life into old, blighted neighborhoods for 20 years.

James Thomas Webb of Raleigh is CEO of CitiRise Redevelopment LLC in Raleigh.

photo/cynthia dean

Webb is the CEO of CitiRise Redevelopment LLC in Raleigh.The company buys and refurbishes properties in run-down neighborhoods in the Carolinas, Tennessee, Virginia and Louisiana.

Webb started in the business soon after graduating from North Carolina Central University.Coming from a family of builders, Webb said he always wanted to become a developer.His father was a builder so he already knew about the construction side of the trade.

After a short stint at law school, Webb dropped out to go after his dream of becoming a developer.”I decided to do something totally against the grain,” he said.”Everybody thought I was crazy.I had a sister with two PhDs.”

Webb grew up learning construction by trailing his father and older brother.”By age 13 I was working hard,” he said. 
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However, Webb said the company has worked on projects that run up to the $3- to $4-million-dollar range.

Derrick Marlow of Durham has been working under the tutelage of Webb for many years, rising from plumber to maintenance man to project assessment manager to construction project manager.  
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Marlow said Webb gave him a chance when others wouldn’t. 
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“He (Webb) saw something in me that no one else saw,” he said.

Webb also hires construction crew workers from prisons and drug rehabilitation centers.The program gives participants new hope as well as guidance.

Webb said during his lowest point in the business those men were the only ones who stood by him even when he could not afford to pay.He filed bankruptcy in the 1990s before starting over.

Webb especially remembers three men who offered to work for him a few days out of the week free of charge until he got back on his feet.”They were right there beside me when others were running,” he said.

Curtis Daniels of Memphis, Tenn., has been with Webb for over 20 years. 
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“He’s like a brother to me,” Daniels said about Webb. 
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“Knowing the work of Mr. Webb, he gives them a first-time job experience,” Pittman said. 
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Webb has high hopes for the company, but he said he is not worried about its success.

“The work of CitiRise is bigger than us,” he said.

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