Alfred James Clark, a contracting titan whose
Bethesda-based Clark Construction Group evolved into the one of the nation's
building powerhouses, died Friday of congestive heart failure. He was 87.
The Clark name is synonymous with the Washington region's
economic and building boom, having tackled a dizzying number of projects —
among them 28 Metro stations, the World Bank headquarters, Verizon Center,
FedEx Field, Nationals Park, Arena Stage, Washington Harbour and the U.S. Coast
Guard Headquarters at St. Elizabeths. There are simply too many projects to
count, stretching from D.C. to the West Coast.
Clark, the son of an insurance salesman, was born in
Richmond in 1927, moving to the D.C. area at the age of 6. He attended
Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School and graduated from Devitt Preparatory School
in the District. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Maryland
in civil engineering, and held honorary doctorates from five universities.
The roots of Clark Construction date to 1906, with the founding
of the George Hyman Construction Co. In 1950, Clark was hired by Hyman for a
job at the University of Maryland, and by the early 1960s, he took over as the
firm's general manager. In 1969, Clark bought the company and was named
president and CEO. Eight years later, he founded a subsidiary, Omni
Construction, that would become Clark Construction in 1996 with the merger of
Omni and Hyman.
Described by friends and colleagues as smart, fair,
measured and intensely competitive (he was known to get on the phone and use
high-pressure tactics to land jobs, even for small interior buildouts), Clark
built Clark Construction into a giant with more $4.5 billion in annual revenue.
Its current projects include the first phase of The Wharf, the Silver Line
extension to Loudoun County, the Smithsonian's National Museum of African
American History and Culture, the SalesForce Tower in San Francisco and 150
North Riverside in Chicago.
"They have a voracious appetite," John
"Chip" Akridge, head of District-based John Akridge Cos., told the
Washington Business Journal for a 1998 Clark profile. "They're competitive
on every job we've had in the marketplace. They keep everybody on their
toes."
A billionaire, Clark commuted daily by helicopter between
his estate on Maryland's Eastern Shore and Clark Construction's Bethesda
headquarters. He was, albeit quietly, a friend to many of the area's most
powerful business and political leaders, but rarely attended local business
gatherings.
He built a privately-held empire, and he did it away from
the spotlight. Before there was Clark Construction there was Clark Enterprises,
a holding company founded in 1972 for Clark's various holdings. The Clark
Enterprises portfolio today includes Shirley Contracting Co., Atkinson
Construction, office and residential developments, and $300 million in capital
and current investments in tech, education, oil and gas, social media and
healthcare.
“When I did a high-profile project, I was not the
developer of it,” Clark said in this 2006 WBJ interview, one of his last. “I
did a lot of buildings with Ollie Carr, but he was always the developer. He had
the interviews. That wasn’t my job. My job was to build, and that’s still my
job — and I like that better than interviews.”
Clark's individual philanthropy was legendary, benefiting
the University of Maryland, Johns Hopkins University, George Washington
University, the Samaritan Inns. The UMd. engineering school bears his name, as
does the A. James Clark Engineering Scholars Program at George Washington University.
His company, in that spirit, contributed more than $16 million to charitable
organizations in 2013.
"Mr. Clark's generosity and friendship to our
university will be greatly missed," GW President Steven Knapp wrote in a
message to students, faculty and staff. "We can take solace from the fact
that his legacy here will live on for generations to come."
Clark is survived by his wife of 64 years, Alice Bratton
Clark, their three children and 10 grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at the Washington
National Cathedral, though details have not yet been released.
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