Triangle Business Journal Names Chatham Park Developers Business Persons of the Year
Preston Development Company is the brains behind the beauty of Beau Coast. Considered the gold standard of business and residential development in North Carolina, it should come as no surprise that the Triangle Business Journal has named Tim Smith and Julian “Bubba” Rawl – co-founders of Preston Development – Business Persons of the Year for 2025.
The Triangle Business Journal is the leading source of local business news, data and networking for the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill, North Carolina, region. In the article accompanying the recognition of Smith and Rawl, there’s an exploration of the latest projects they are undertaking and their visionary prowess that has played a significant part in their success.
Tim Smith and Bubba Rawl are both in their 70s, but have no plans to slow down. They have more than 30 years working in development, but that wasn’t the start for either of them. Smith started as an engineer and is the son of one of the founders of the Food Lion grocery chain. Rawl originally owned a sportswear business he sold to Nike in 1981.
Over the past three decades, Smith and Rawl have established a solid foundation in Raleigh, Cary, and the Research Triangle Park and expanded further to the coast. They’ve created superb living with first-class communities, upscale residential communities, and commercial developments that have become landmarks in the cities where they are located.
Part of what makes their projects succeed is that communities are planned and built with families in mind. Smith and Rawl care about creating beautiful, sustainable communities that stand the test of time. Exceptional quality paired with real concern about the people they work with and ultimately work for results in consistently successful communities that are solid investments for everyone.
Beau Coast is a perfect example of the thought they put into their master-planned communities, creating a place where people can enjoy a range of homes and onsite amenities that complement the historic coastal town’s offerings.
The company’s current project is also its biggest. Chatham Park is one of the largest planned communities in North Carolina history. Located adjacent to Jordan Lake and the Haw River in historic Pittsboro, the project has been in the making for more than fifteen years. Built as a live, work, play, and learn environment, it will feature more than 22,000 homes, including Asteria, a Storyliving by Disney residential neighborhood within the master-planned community.
The ability to work for nearly two decades building a project like Chatham Park is a testament to the vision of Smith and Rawl. It is this ability to plan and see what others couldn’t that earned them the recognition as the 2025 Business Persons of the Year.
The ability of Preston Development and its founders to see and promote the potential of an area has resulted in a highly respected business. They pay the same respect to the people who work, play, and live in each of these forward-thinking projects, creating spaces people can easily enjoy. To learn more about the vision that has made Beau Coast such an idyllic place to call home, reach out and contact us today.
