Courtesy of Jackson-Shaw

Jackson-Shaw Founder Lewis Shaw II passed away at 82.

Lewis Shaw II, who founded Dallas-based Jackson-Shaw and grew it into a major national player that has completed 63M SF of development, has died. 

Shaw was 82 at the time of his passing on March 5 following a brief illness, D Magazine reported.

Shaw grew up in Ohio and graduated from Wittenburg University in 1966, according to an obituary. After college, he spent seven years in the U.S. Air Force. He moved to Dallas after the Air Force and worked at IBM for a short time.

Shaw met Jim Jackson and joined his small contracting firm, J.C. Jackson Co., in 1974. Jackson died a few years later, and Shaw bought the company and renamed it Jackson-Shaw. He would go on to grow it to a national development firm and complete $3.6B in transactions, according to the firm’s website.

The company has expanded in several markets including Austin; Charlotte, North Carolina; Jacksonville, Florida; and Las Vegas. Its recent projects include the 535K SF Greensport Logistics Park in Houston and a 1.7M SF Lakeview Business District project in Rowlett, Texas.

Shaw also co-founded American General Hospitality Inc. in 1980, a company that merged with Meristar Hotels & Resorts 18 years later.

He was inducted into the North Texas Commercial Association of Realtors Hall of Fame in 2003 and was part of the Wittenberg University Board of Directors, the Dallas Business Journal reported.