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When Ron L. Brown decided to open his wealth management business in downtown Lexington, he never imagined that the building’s paint job would be what caused a stir.
For a better look, drop down onto the 100 block of West Main Street using Google’s
Street View, and it will take you back in time several months. Look southwest, and you see the great green expanse of the pop-up park used during the World Equestrian Games, not
the yawning CenterPointe crater that now lurks behind construction barriers, waiting for
whatever comes next.
Rotate your view 180 degrees toward 135 W. Main, and you’ll see a tidy commercial building, unremarkable except for the blue paint on the upper floors. It’s a
weak-toned, powdery, Tar Heel blue — nothing Wildcat about it. As a result, it had achieved among some in Big Blue Nation a status somewhere between pet peeve and scandal.
So when it was changed to an understated off -white before Brown moved in, the social
media comments that followed caught him by surprise.
“I had no idea anybody noticed,” Brown said with a laugh. “Apparently there was like a
100-comment thread running about it.”
R.L. Brown Wealth Management debuted in February, with Brown hoping both his career
and the surrounding downtown area are primed for growth and new energy.
“I just like being in the middle of all this,” Brown said. “I see great potential down here, but it’s just a matter of when it comes to fruition. But I think like a lot of things, you have to be an early mover if you want to be in the middle of it.”
Brown is a 2003 graduate of Asbury College, where the lean 6-foot-6 athlete was a forward on the basketball team. He has worked as a financial planner since, first with Wells Fargo Advisors and then with Keystone Financial Group. He said his plan was always to have his own company. Of course, for now at least Brown’s office window offers a prime view of a large hole and two silent cranes.
“You drive by on the street and it’s covered,” Brown said. “I get a bird’s-eye view here,
and all I can say is I don’t see much going on.”
He said he sees the inconvenience of the stalled project as just part of the price of getting
into a coveted location before an area takes off .
“It’s a double-edged sword. If I waited until all of this was constructed and built up, it’s
going to be a lot more expensive,” Brown said.
“Getting down here as early as I did, you don’t get as much foot traffic, just people coming
in off the street. But luckily I’m in a business where I don’t rely on that. I mean, it’s nice when someone walks through the door and has questions for you, but most of my appointments are scheduled in advance, so it works out.”
Still, Brown said, he expects mounting pressure on the project will eventually produce
results. Even if it takes more than a new coat of paint to make people happy.