NEIL VAN UUM
VICE PRESIDENT
Neil Van Uum is a highly accomplished entrepreneur and real estate professional with a distinguished career spanning over three (3) decades. In 1987, he founded Joseph Booksellers, a venture he meticulously grew into a successful chain of nine (9) bookstores, each featuring full-service restaurants across six (6) states. His entrepreneurial acumen further extended to investments in three (3) additional restaurants and the establishment of three (3) hospital gift shops, including the nation’s largest at the Cleveland Clinic: Main Campus. Under his leadership, Joseph Booksellers achieved remarkable success, reaching $48 million in sales and employing 700 individuals, earning the company dozens of awards and a coveted front-page profile in the Wall Street Journal. After twenty-five (25) thriving years, the evolving landscape of book retail led him to strategically divest three (3) stores and ultimately close the last location in 2019.
Throughout his career, Neil has built strong, lasting relationships with developers, brokers, and tenants across the Midwest and Southeast. He has personally overseen all aspects of site selection, lease negotiation, store build-outs, and closures. Since 2009, he has served as an independent consultant with Fairmount Properties, contributing his expertise to mixed-use development procurement and leasing across hotel, restaurant, retail, and service sectors.
Neil’s work has been instrumental in the pre-development and leasing efforts for major projects including: the Marshall Innovation & Entertainment District and the Marshall Health Innovation District, both at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia; Ball State Entertainment District at Ball State in Muncie, Indiana; Oregon Town Center in Oregon, Ohio; and Northern Point at Northern Kentucky University in Highland Heights, Kentucky. Neil also leads leasing efforts for First & Main in Hudson, Ohio
Education
- B.S.B.A., Marketing, John Carroll University
Professional Affiliations
- L’Arche-Cleveland, Board of Directors
- Internation Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
- Urban Land Institute
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